1. Using templates on Aleph

2. Opening a template
There are some templates already available on Aleph. To open one, go to Cataloging menu – Open Template, or use shortcut CTRL+A.
A pop-up box will appear with a list of templates in the left hand column. The ‘acq’ templates will open basic templates to create records from scratch.
Other templates available are Book, Brief, CD-Rom, and Conference.

3. Creating a template
To create your own template, go to Cataloging menu – New Record
Create a new record, adding the fields that you want in the template

4. Creating a template (continued)
To save the template, go to Cataloging menu – Create Template on Local Drive
In the box that pops up, name the template
It will then be saved in the templates menu.
User-created templates are saved at the bottom of the list of templates. The file names are also in capital letters (the names of templates already on Aleph are in lower case).

5. Amending a template on Aleph
To amend a template, firstly open the template you want to amend.
When you have finished editing, go to Cataloging menu – Create Template on Local Drive.
In the box that pops up, give the template the same name as the original template. A message will appear telling you it already exists. Click the Override button. The template is now saved as the new version.

6. Merging a template
If you have an open bib record and wish to add a template to it (e.g. adding RDA fields) go to Edit Actions menu – Expand from Template.
In the box that pops up, find the template that you want to use and click Open
This will insert the fields from the template into the open bib record.

7. Deleting a template
You cannot delete a template within Aleph itself. Templates are stored on your local drive and you can delete them from there as you would with any file.
The file path will be something like this: N:\PCSettings\al500\catalog\template\
You can also amend the titles of templates by accessing the files on the local drive.

8. Sharing templates
To share a template with others, access the template on the local drive (see instructions for Deleting a template)
You can then share the file with someone by copying it to a shared drive or sending as an attachment. They can then save the template in their own local drive.