This page describes how to batch edit records.
⚠️ Exercise caution when using this tool. We strongly recommend downloading a copy of your database prior to making batch edits
There are two options for batch editing specimen records: you can change a value for 1) the entire set of records in your collection or 2) change a value for a subset of records.
⚠️ It is easy to inadvertently change text you did not intend to change. Generally, the more specific your “Current Value:” text, the less likely you are to run into unintended consequences. If possible, get an estimate from your record table of how many records should be affected, and check that against the number of records cited in the warning. If the numbers do not match, rethink your strategy.
It is not possible to check the record count when sorting by “Modified By” first. Doing so returns a count of the number of fields edited by the “Modified By” user for all records to be affected, rather than the number of records to be affected.
✅ Example of a good use of batch edit: Standardizing plant collector names. If you are standardizing all Wherry’s collections to “Edgar T. Wherry,” then you could enter “E. T. Wherry” in Current Value and “Edgar T. Wherry” in New Value in batch edit for the collector field name, and update. Repeat for alternate forms of this name (e.g., “E T Wherry,” Edgar T Wherry”).
❌ Example of a bad use of batch edit: Changing cardinal directions. For example, if you entered “n.” in Current Value and “N” in New Value in batch edit for the locality in an attempt to change lower case abbreviated instances of the cardinal direction north, you would accomplish that, but you would also change any other character string with “n.” such as a sentence ending in the letter n. This would result in batch misplacements of “N” where “n.” should be. For example, “Next to the station. East side” would be transformed into “Next to the statioN East side.”
Cynthia Skema, Ann Barber, ed: Katie Pearson, Lindsay Walker. Batch Editing. In: Symbiota Support Hub (2021). Symbiota Documentation. https://biokic.github.io/symbiota-docs/coll_manager/edit/batch/. Created on 28 Oct 2021, last edited on 22 Feb 2024.