Data Sources Options
Tellico can use various sources for importing data, which can be configured in the Data Sources Dialog. There are several available types of sources:
New sources may be added by clicking the button, while existing ones may be modified or deleted, using the or buttons. The order of the sources, which shows up in the entry updating menus, can also be changed.
Additional templates may be downloaded from the author's online repository by clicking the Download button. Those scripts are gpg-signed by the author to guard against dangerous scripts from unknown sources, which could cause damage to your system.
Never install and run a script from an untrusted source. They are executed with the same permissions as the user, and as a result, could modify or delete files or otherwise mess up your system.
Many of the data sources offer more information than the default fields in Tellico. Those other fields are shown on the right of the configuration box. If any of those fields are checked, they will be added to the collection when an entry is added from that source.
Using the Amazon Web Services, Tellico can search any of six different international sites operated by Amazon.com for information: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, and Canada.
Configuring each Amazon.com source involves three settings: the server location, image size, and associate's ID. Some information from Amazon.com may include an image, such as a book or video cover. That image may be downloaded in three different sizes, depending on the item. The associate's ID must be used to access the Amazon.com Web Services, and is included in the links back to the item, as dictated by the license agreement for the use of the Amazon.com Web Services.
The Internet Movie Database provides information about movies and videos. When a search is conducted for a Person, if more than one possible result is returned, a dialog box is opened to allow you to select the correct person. The configuration options include setting the web server address and whether images are grabbed or not. Since IMDb can return a large number of cast members, you can limit that to a certain number.
The z39.50 protocol is used to access libraries and bibliographic information providers around the world. Lists of public z39.50 servers are available from indexdata.dk, among others. Tellico comes with several preset configurations for major libraries, or you can specify the connection information manually.
Tellico is able to read data in the MODS, USMARC/MARC21, or UNIMARC format, using the yaz library. In addition, there is limited support for the GRS-1 format.
To use one of the preset libraries, check the box and then select the library. The other configuration entries will be disabled. If you need to set the information manually, uncheck the preset box.
The default port for z39.50 access is 210, but some servers may use a different one. Tellico assumes the server uses the MARC-8 character encoding, unless configured otherwise. If an incorrect character encoding is used, an error message may appear on the program output, or possibly no entries are retrieved.
Some servers require a username and password for access. Tellico can use and save that password, but be aware that is written to the Tellico configuration file in plain text and is not secure. For most public servers, the username and password fields may be left empty.
SRU stands for Search/Retrieve via URL and is a standard search protocol for Internet searches. Some libraries use it for providing access to their data catalogs. Among them, the US Library of Congress is probably the best known.
Entrez is the integrated, text-based search and retrieval system used at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The most well-known Entrez database is PubMed, the database for life science articles from many biological journals. At the moment, the only Entrez database supported by Tellico is PubMed.
The Yahoo! Audio Search may be used to search for music album information.
AnimeNfo is a popular site for information on anime, or Japanese animation.
IBS, or Internet Bookstore Italia, is an online Italian bookstore.
ISBNdb.com is an online book database, with data collection libraries around the world.
If GCstar is installed, Tellico is able to take advantage of the wide range of search plugins available for GCstar. Depending on the collection type, various online resources are available for usage as a data source in Tellico
arXiv.org, Bibsonomy, Citebase, and CrossRef are online databases for academic articles and bibliographic information. For access to the CrossRef source, you must request an account and add your account information to the data source configuration.
As an easier way for Tellico to integrate with third-party plugins, external scripts or applications may be used as an interface for searching other information sources. Tellico will execute a command, and pass the search terms as command-line options.
Some scripts are distributed with Tellico itself. Allocine.fr is an online French bookstore. This data source requires Python to be installed. The Spanish Ministry of Culture is an online Spanish book database. This data source also required requires Python to be installed. Dark Horse Comics is a comic book publisher. This data source also requires Python. BoardGameGeek is a website with extensive data for board games, and the script requires ruby.
The collection type returned by the script must be set, along with the data format. Not only can Tellico import data from scripts that use the default Tellico XML format, but it can also import other formats as well, such as bibtex.
The full path to the application should be entered in the source options. Be aware that the application is executed on the system with the same permissions as the current user, so do not use scripts from untrusted sources. Check the boxes next to the search keys supported by the application, and enter the required command line options in the edit box. The search value will be inserted where %1 appears.
For updating entries already in the collection, the final checkbox and edit box are used to determine the command-line options. The entry fields used to find an update must be entered, in the same format as used for Dependent fields.
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