Auction Pricelists

These instructions describe how to download and link to auction pricelists. Bibliographic records are created for each catalog received and include a link to a PDF version of the pricelist, whether or not a pricelist exists. We have links to pricelists for sales held from December 2009-present. The attachment (link at bottom) is a copy of these instructions including Millennium Global Update screenshots.

I. Pricelisting for auction catalogs – creating and managing the files

A. Download files

• Download pricelists in PDF format to S:\Auction Catalogs\Price lists.
• Save the files as “[OCLC number of catalog].pdf”
• If necessary, use Adobe Acrobat to combine multi-PDF pricelists into one file. For example, combine 535123687-1.pdf and 535123687-2.pdf into 535123687.pdf. Delete the part files (in this example, -1 and -2) once combined.

B. Upload files to our Amazon Web Services S3 file storage account

• See this post for information: http://libmma.org/watsinfo/2011/09/16/amazon-web-services-account-for-watson/
• Log in to the S3 service at http://aws.amazon.com/console/ using the watsonlibrary@gmail.com account.
  • If you are asked for a verification code when you try to log in to Amazon AWS, coordinate a time with us to attempt a login, as codes are valid for only 10 minutes. We will provide you with the code that is emailed to us.
• Select the “price-lists” bucket.
• Click ‘Upload’ and ‘Add files’ – browse to find the files in S:\Auction Catalogs\Price lists, select them all (CTRL+A), and click ‘open.’
• Click Next.
• VERY IMPORTANT – Expand "Manage public permissions" and check the four "Read" boxes under Objects and Object permissions:

• Click “Upload.” (No need to go through the Set properties and Review steps.)
• Once the file transfer is complete, spot check a few that you've uploaded to make sure they are accessible. When you're confident, delete the files from the S drive.

II. Periodically, clean up bib records via Global update

Each bib record for new auctions (Jan. 2010-current) should be created including an 856 link to a pricelist (whether or not that pricelist file yet exists). It may be necessary to update records occasionally to insert links that were omitted.

A. Gather a review file of bib records:

• Index – DATE OF SALE: 201001 to [two months from now, e.g. use 201112 if running the list in October 2011]
• Bib – MAT TYPE = s
• Bib – MARC TAG 856: All fields don’t have “price-lists.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com”
• When the list is done, dedupe it.

B. Edit the review file’s records using Global Update

1. Copy variable length field – 001 to 956 42 – it’s VERY IMPORTANT to change the Field Group Tag to ‘y’
2. Add to beginning of variable length field – 956 42: |uhttp://price-lists.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/
3. Add to end of variable length field – 956 42: .pdf|zCheck for price list
4. Change variable length field – convert 956 to 856.
5. Process

C. Optional: URL checker

Process review file through Millennium’s URL checker, to see if some links work. Disregard 404 errors.

III. Auction house assignments

1. Watson: Christie's through Aug. 2012, Sotheby's, Hotel Drouot (including Tajan), Phillips, everything else we receive
2. Frick: Swann, Skinner, Doyle, Rago (within collection scope) Sept. 2012-current; Bonhams, Sept 2012-Mar. 2013; Dorotheum, Sept. 2012-Jan. 2013
3. National Gallery of Art: Christie's, Sept. 2012-current
4. Getty: Dorotheum, Bruun Rasmussen, Lempertz, Villa Grisebach, Jan. 2013-current
5. Cleveland: Bonhams, Apr. 2013-current