<div dir="ltr"><div>Benn,</div><div><br></div><div>It's possible to validate barcodes for length via ASpace by modifying config.rb (ref. <a href="https://github.com/archivesspace/archivesspace/blob/master/docs/user/configuring-archivesspace.md">https://github.com/archivesspace/archivesspace/blob/master/docs/user/configuring-archivesspace.md</a>). If the min and max values are set to the same length, then barcodes will only validate if they're either 0 or that exact length. You won't need to do anything elaborate to implement this - just add the correct values to config.rb and restart ASpace, and it'll immediately go into effect.<br></div><div><br></div><div>I'm not aware of anything in ASpace that will do more elaborate validation (e.g. verifying that a barcode's check digits are correct); this would likely require either a plugin or feature request.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div>--Alex<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 1:39 PM Benn Joseph <<a href="mailto:benn.joseph@northwestern.edu">benn.joseph@northwestern.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Good afternoon,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Over the past few years, our standard procedure when processing a new collection has been to barcode the finished boxes and assign those barcodes to their Top Containers in ASpace.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">ArchivesSpace does a great job of keeping a user from assigning a barcode that has already been assigned elsewhere--which we recently discovered after mistakenly being given a sheet of piggyback barcodes that
had already been assigned to various other collections. The system reports an error: “Barcode – A barcode must be unique within a repository”. Great!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">One thing it doesn’t do is check for valid barcodes against a schema. For instance, we try to be very careful about only using barcode scanners to enter barcodes into ArchivesSpace, but every now and then one
will get entered by hand, or there will be an accidental keystroke after scanning. In those cases, it would be ideal if ASpace were able to validate this number to ensure that it’s correct (I understand that Alma does this using a Codabar 13 validation routine,
though there are other validation options that would also look for a check digit). Would this be a plugin? A feature request? Would it even be possible?
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">The reason it’s important for us to ensure barcode accuracy is that a large volume of our collections get sent offsite to a facility that uses GFA as their inventory system. So, if we enter the barcode for a
box that is incorrect in ASpace and GFA records it differently, it ends up being very difficult to recall that box if a researcher requests it.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Thanks!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">--Benn<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:rgb(13,13,13)">Benn Joseph<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:rgb(13,13,13)">Head of Archival Processing<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:rgb(13,13,13)">Northwestern University Libraries<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:rgb(78,42,132)">Northwestern University<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.library.northwestern.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">www.library.northwestern.edu</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:benn.joseph@northwestern.edu%0d" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">benn.joseph@northwestern.edu</span></a><u><u></u><u></u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:rgb(13,13,13)">847.467.6581</span><span style="font-size:9pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Alexander Duryee<div>Metadata Archivist</div><div>New York Public Library</div><div>(917)-229-9590</div><div><a href="mailto:alexanderduryee@nypl.org" target="_blank">alexanderduryee@nypl.org</a></div></div></div></div></div>