At its core, the Lookup Manager performs its job in exactly the same way as any other Manager Dialog in Mystic:

• Select an item in the left hand list
• Edit the item details in the right hand side
• Update the item

Because of the large number of different types of items, called Categories however, there are a few additional things to cover.

The Lookup Manager displays all of the items that can be edited in a list on the left hand side of the dialog, in the same way as all other managers. However, because there are a large number of possible categories of data (an overview of what the categories do can be found in the Lookup Manager: Overview of the data categories article), you first need to select which category of data items you want to see.

You can do this by selecting the Category from the drop-down above the list. If there are a large number of items, you can also enter a filtering word or phrase which will reduce the number if items displayed.

If you do not see a particular category in the Lookup Manager that you wish to edit, it may simply be that the display of its category group is turned off - this is done to reduce the number of categories displayed in the drop-down list box at any one time to reduce confusion from the large numbers. In order to make it visible, select the [Options] toolbar tab and toggle on the toolbar icons in the [Reader Categories], [Item Categories] or [System] toolbar groups as required.

Once a list of items is displayed, scroll to the entry that you need and select it - the details of the item are displayed in the fields on the right hand side of the dialog.

The basic use of the Lookup Manager is identical to other managers:

• If there are a large number of items to display, the Lookup Manager will page the list - use th [Back] and [Forward] toolbar icons to move through the pages of items found.

• To edit an item select it from the left hand list to display its details in the right hand side of the dialog.

• To save any changes to the item, click the [Update] toolbar icon or the [Update] button in the details area.

• To create a new item, ensure that you have selected the correct category where you want the item to be then click the [Create] toolbar icon. A new dummy entry is placed into the left hand list - select it and edit it as normal.

• To remove an existing item, select it from the left hand list to display its details then click the [Remove] toolbar icon to request its removal.

Within the Lookup Manager basic uses, there is one additional toolbar icon called [Default]. All categories have a default item which is used when no other item is selected or when an automated update is requested by a suitably authorised staff user to fix missing data in item and reader records.

To make an item the default for a category, ensure that the required category is selected then select the required item from the left hand list to display its details. Click the [Default] toolbar icon to request that it is made the default for the category (Mystic will request confirmation). Once set, the item which holds default status for the category will be displayed in the list in bold.

For the vast majority of items that can be edited in the Lookup Manager only a single field is important, or even used. This is the [Text] field, and contains the plain-text which is displayed on screen in lists and drop-down pick-lists. For this type of foundation data, no other field displayed in the Lookup Manager is important and can be ignored.

The exception to this use of the [Text] field is when the item in question is a configuration parameter - in this case the [Text] field is used as a description of the parameter and the important value is stored in one of the other fields. These items are largely system level items however, and rarely need editing by local staff.

Here is an overview of the other fields, and what they are used for. Note that some of these fields are automatically removed from the screen if not required and therefore may not appear at all times. This is normal.

Plain-text values can be changed, not least as a result of operating Mystic in non-English languages. As a result, some important values in the Lookup Manager have a unique System Key which Mystic itself can use to identify the lookup item, regardless of what a user has changed the text to be.

No item created by a local user requires a System Key - they are useful only if Mystic knows how to use a specific key internally.

The Alias field allows the entry of one or more aliases for the item. This mechanism is most commonly used for Categories such as Keywords where alternate search terms can be entered without the need to create a new entry in the category, or manually attach it to a Catalogue Item (a search of either the keyword or any aliases listed has the same effect).

The HUB Sync check box is for information only.

This checkbox indicates whether the textual content of the item has been synchronised with the main HUB Bibliographic database. When synchronised, the local lookup value stores a universally unique UUID linking it to the master record in the HUB (not displayed to human users).

The check box initially labelled Single Use can be misleading as its use actually changes according to the nature of the category being displayed. In most uses, it represents a boolean True/False, Yes/No or On/Off setting which is related to the nature of the Text of the item. The label of the Single Use field changes accordingly to reflect what the on/off setting means in practice.

The Extra Info fields provide open, plain text storage for any additional information which is required by the lookup value. By far the most common use of the Extra Info fields is by the application configuration items such as in the System Information category. They are rarely used by normal Item or Reader categories.

Some categories require a larger amount of specialised information to be entered - such as the Reader Audience category, which needs to record which Item Audiences are permitted to be viewed / borrowed; or the Circulation Profile which needs to store the number of items permitted, and how long they can be borrowed for.

When required, the module is displayed beneath the normal fields (described above) and simply become part of the normal editing dialog.

The following links describe the specialised modules that may be displayed in the Lookup Manager:

• Closure Days
  
• HID Formats
  
• Item Category
  
• Media
  
• Reader Audience
  
• Reader Circulation Profile
  
• Reader Groups
  

The following additional functions are available to the Lookup Manager which are not normally found in other Manager Dialogs:

• Merging lookup items
  
• Splitting lookup items
  
• Finding duplicates in a category
  

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