Hi,

at our library, there's an emerging need to process title lists from
vendors for various purposes, such as checking that the titles purchased
can be discovered via discovery system and/or OPAC. It appears that the
formats in which those lists are provided are non-uniform, as is the
process of obtaining them.

For example, one vendor - let's call them "Expedition Scrolls" - provides
title lists for download to Excel, but which upon closer inspection turn
out to be HTML tables. They are encoded using an odd mixture of CP1250 and
HTML entities. Other vendors use entirely different formats.

My question is whether there are efforts, software, or anything related to
streamlining the acquisition and processing of vendor title lists in
software systems that aid in the collection development and maintenance
process. Any pointers would be appreciated.

 - Godmar