Data refreshing in OAI harvests

Hello Omeka users!

I have a question about how the OAI harvester plug-in works. Basically, I am wondering if changes I make to a record in the Omeka interface will be preserved or wiped out when I re-harvest, if the feed hasn't changed. Also, will changes in the feed override any changes I make through the interface?

I want to make some corrections to records that have metadata errors. I want to re-harvest the whole collection for changes in other records without having the incorrect, non-changed records wipe out my work in the Omeka interface. However if the records I have fixed in Omkea change on the feed side in the future, I still want to be able to harvest those changes.

I think this should work, since OAI seems to look only for changes in the feed since the last harvest, rather than comparing the existing database to the feed. A test seems to suggest this works, but I want any input you all can give me before I start hand fixing 100 records or so. I hope my "successful" test doesn't just mean the feed is not harvesting properly!

Thanks for any advice you can give, and sorry for the long-winded post,
-CAMc

A "refresh" of an OAI harvest through the harvester will only pick up records that the OAI repository reports have been added or changed since the last harvest.

Records that have been updated on the repository side will overwrite changes to their element texts, but records that haven't been updated shouldn't be affected at all.

Perfect!

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to be sure that my changes would last as long as the originals were unchanged, but would still accept updates if the originals were fixed in the future.

Thanks very much

-CAMc