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DE004
Decision2 min read

Delete with care: double confirmation and a trash bin

Deleting a record is the one action in the catalogue that can destroy years of work with a single click. So we made it slow. On purpose.

Alexander Ananyev

Most actions in the catalogue can be undone: correct a field, return a copy to the shelf, unhide a record. Deletion is different. The record goes together with its items, history and links. A mistake here costs the most.

First — perhaps don’t delete?

Most of the time deletion isn’t needed. A duplicate, a record under review, a temporarily unavailable book — all of these are handled by the “Hide” button. The record disappears from the public catalogue but stays in the system and can be brought back at any time.

If you really must delete

  1. The first dialogTitle, call number, number of copies and a warning about the consequences. The system checks whether any copy has active requests, holds or loans. If so, deletion is refused and the reason is given.
  2. The second dialogYou have to type the record’s call number — or the word DELETE if there is none. Only then does the button become active.
  3. The trashA deleted record stays in the trash for 30 days and can be restored with one click. After that it is erased for good.
Katlog: the second step of deletion — typing the confirmation and the “Move to trash” button
This record has no call number, so the word “УДАЛИТЬ” (DELETE) has to be typed — only then does the “Move to trash” button become active. The screenshot shows the Russian interface.
Why type the call numberYou can click “Yes” out of habit without reading. You can’t type a call number out of habit: you have to look at what you are deleting.

Deleted means deleted

There is a trap that is easy to forget. If, six months later, you load a fresh export from the old catalogue, the deleted record will be in it again — and the import would add it as new. So the system remembers the numbers of deleted records even after the trash is emptied, and repeat imports skip them. Such a record can come back only by a deliberate decision.

Katlog: the “Trash” with a deleted record and a “Restore” button
The trash keeps deleted records for 30 days.

And the log

Every deletion and restoration is logged: who, when, which record. If someone asks a month later where a book went, the answer will be there.