The BASIN tab is designed to match records from manual input or automatically from BookTrakker 
Hit Lists against the Amazon database to generate ASIN’s for use in creating new records or adding 
ASIN’s to records that do not presently have them. 

The entire setup and retrieval of data for the matching process is done on the BASIN tab only. Do 
not use the Search tab for BASIN matching. 

If you have records in BookTrakker without ASIN's in the ISBN field then you create a Hit List for 
matching records against the Amazon database automatically.

If you are seeking BASIN's for older, pre-ISBN books then you use the manual input section at the 
top of GrabIt!.

GrabIt! can retrieve ISBN’s, ASIN’s and BASIN’s depending on what the user types into the upper 
Biblio table or from the data in records from a Hit List in BookTrakker. The accuracy of the 
automatic process depends largely on the data used to match records to ASIN’s.  Maximum 
accuracy is obtained with Author, Title, Cover, Publisher and Date of publication. 
Manual input is limited to Author and Title only, for this version.

The BASIN system can be run against a predefined Hit List from BookTrakker or by manual 
searching, using the Biblio search grid at the top. You must use a Hit List based on Search Criteria. 
Category type Hit Lists will not work. Manual lookup only allows for addition of ASIN’s 
to the ASIN/ISBN lookup table for further processing, since there are no corresponding record 
numbers in BookTrakker for manual searches. 

A. Template: Templates for the BASIN process only get their information from the BASIN  
tab.You can set up Templates for the BASIN matching based on any number of selections on the 
BASIN tab. Because Amazon is adding new records to its database, you will need to rerun the 
BASIN matching system periodically to get the new ASIN’s into your BookTrakker database. 

B. Hit List. Selects the Hit list in BookTrakker to match for ASIN generation. This can be your 
entire inventory or selected records. The automatic ASIN matching is driven by Hit Lists. For an 
explanation of Hit Lists, click the Hit Lists tab on the left side of the Inventory screen in 
BookTrakker, then press F1 on your keyboard. 

C. Word Count. Word count is what words in Author/Title/Publisher are used for matching, left 
to right,  against the Amazon database, not including words from Words to Exclude, over on the 
right. Words to Exclude are common words you do not want to match on, you can add to this list. 
If the Title in BookTrakker is “Science and Technology in Art Today” and Title count is set to 4 
then matching would be done on all of these words, in no particular order: science, technology, 
art, today. 

D. Amazon Binding. Retrieves records from BookTrakker to match against Amazon data in the 
pre-match database. Retrieval is based on the following rules for content in the BookTrakker 
Cover field: 

Hardcover: Matches on any word in Cover that includes “Hard”, as well as Cloth, HC & HB.

Paperback: Matches on any word in Cover that includes “Soft” or “Paperback”, as well as Wraps, 
SC, SB, & PB.

Spiral-bound: Matches on Spiral Bound, Metal comb binding

Plastic Comb: Matches on Plastic Comb

Not Specified: No match in Cover required. All records in the Hit List are processed. If Not 
specified is selected, then Binding in Matching is not enabled. 

F. Use Publisher: Based on the number of words set in Word Count, GrabIt! matches Publisher 
from BookTrakker against the pre-match database. All matches that qualify are saved, the rest 
are rejected and deleted.  If you check the Loose checkbox then any match of any one word from 
your Publisher that matches any one word from Amazon constitutes a match for the record.

G. Use Date: Matches Date in BookTrakker against Date in the pre-match database in GrabIt!. 
All matches that qualify are saved, the rest are rejected and deleted. 

H. Use Binding: Matches the translated Cover in BookTrakker to the equivalent in the 
pre-match database. If Hardcover was specified in the Amazon Binding section, then records 
would be matched only to the same Binding in the pre-match database, coming from Amazon. 

The Matching process is additive: If one method is checked then only records that match make 
it into the results table. Add in one or more choices and both or all three have to match for the 
record to be included in results. Checking all three plus using Author/Title & Publisher in Word 
count, with high numbers set, increases the accuracy of the resultant match.

Matching also has Loose for Publisher. Use this to match any one word in Publisher with any one 
word from Amazon. We advise users to only do this after using the previous, tight matching, to 
avoid errors. 

I. Max Result Limit: Using minimal Author/Title information can result in hundreds if not 
thousands of possible matches. Setting Max Result Limit means that if results exceed the number 
in this field, then GrabIt! skips that input and moves onto the next one. 

J. Export Single Results: When checked, GrabIt! will export the ASIN/ISBN into the 
BookTrakker ASIN or ISBN field when there is only one final match to the input data. This can 
be both a benefit and a liability. If tight matching is used then matches have a very high 
confidence factor, approaching 100% accuracy. If matching is loose then matches are much 
less reliable, and can even be incorrect for many results. If in doubt, do not use Export Single 
Results. 

K. Exclude Single Letters: Checking this will exclude all single letters with/without periods from 
the data gathered from BookTrakker. So G. P. Putnam's Sons will result in g.p if this is unchecked, 
but if checked, then putnam's sons is what will be used for matching. Obviously "putnam's sons" 
has a higher probability of matching than "g.p." Excluding single letters applies to Author, Title 
and Publisher.

L. Get BT Records: After selecting your Hit List, click Get BT Records to retrieve records from 
BookTrakker. 

M. Get Amazon Data: This button is used to retrieve all records from Amazon that match the 
Author/Title fields, whether from a BookTrakker Hit List or from manual data entry on the top Biblio 
tab.   

N. Rematch Records: Use this button to Rematch Records when you uncheck one or more of the 
Matching selections. Caution: Matches may not be as accurate as they should be, so be careful here.

Processing a BookTrakker Hit List to Match Amazon for BASIN’s

A. Create a Hit List in BookTrakker. 

1. Click the Hit Lists tab, left side of main Inventory screen in BookTrakker.
2. Click New. Name it. Click OK.
3. Click in the empty field under Search Field, just to the right of the *.
4. Select Status from the dropdown list.
5. Click again in the empty field, just below Status.
6. Select ISBN from the dropdown list.
7. Over on the right, under Search Type, you will see Beginning of Field (most likely)
8. Change to Entire Field if it doesn’t already have that selected.
9. Click again in the empty field, just below ISBN.
10. Select ASIN from the dropdown list.
11. Over on the right, under Search Type, you will see Beginning of Field (most likely)
12. Change to Entire Field if it doesn’t already have that selected.
    

You should end up with your Hit List setup looking like this: (ISBN only for 3.3 or earlier)

Do NOT, under any circumstances, click into the Search Criteria field for ISBN, this will invalidate 
the setup, and you will have to do it over. 

You should end up with all Available records that do not have content in the ISBN or ASIN field. 

If you want further Search Criteria, such as Cover, then select them before running the Hit List. 

B. Select this Hit List in GrabIt!, and process for ASIN’s. For our example, we have Export Single 
Results unchecked, so nothing will be exported to BookTrakker. 

1. Select Hit List from the dropdown list selector on the BASIN tab.
2. Do your setup for matching. For your first pass we would advise the following, which are the 
   defaults that ship with GrabIt!: 
   
   Word Count: Author, 2; Title, 5; Publisher, 2.  
   
   Matching: All three boxes checked:

    3. Click Get BT Records button. 

GrabIt! will retrieve all records without ISBN’s that match Hardcover from BookTrakker, then parse 
out of Author/Title/Publisher all the words, left to right, up to the number specified in Word Count, 
minus the Words To Exclude. It will then report the number of results with a message box.

Click OK to continue. 

  4. Click Get Amazon Data button 

GrabIt! will connect to the Amazon database and retrieve all listings that match the Author/Title
combination from BookTrakker, subject to the Max Results Limit, and populate the pre-match 
database in GrabIt!.  For the setup above, if you have Export Single Records checked, GrabIt! will 
match your Publisher, Date and Binding data against all the records retrieved from Amazon. If a 
single result can be obtained by this process then GrabIt! will transfer the ASIN into the ISBN field 
in BookTrakker, then delete all input and results from the search for that record, then move onto the 
next one. 

If no single match can be generated from the  input data and criteria, then GrabIt! displays all the 
results into the Biblio Results table in the middle section, for further processing. 

At the end of this process GrabIt! reports the number of ASIN’s exported to BookTrakker.

For the records that resulted in multiple possible matches, you can see these in the Biblio list in the 
middle section. 

To process, do the following:

This adds the ASIN/ISBN to the ASIN/ISBN field in BookTrakker for the respective record number, 
then deletes the input and output associated with this record, and moves onto the next result.

If none of the records from Amazon match what you have in BookTrakker, and you want to delete 
them, then click the red Del button to the immediate left of the input listing at the top:

When you need to know which records got ASIN's or ISBN's again, just select the "Upload" 
Hit List and click Execute. The list will empty every time you do an upload.

You can also do searches using Author/Title records that are typed in, rather than being derived 
from the BookTrakker database. The main difference between manual and automated ASIN 
matching is there are no matches taking place that are derived from BookTrakker data. Therefore, 
all you can do is perform a search on Amazon using GrabIt! to isolate the correct ASIN, then when 
you select your choice it feeds into the ASIN/ISBN lookup process to retrieve all of the available 
data associated with the ASIN. 

You have two methods to acquire data: 

1. The green button on the left of each data entry row.

2. Click Get Amazon Data button on the BASIN tab. 

Either one will end up with the same results:

Export Single Results does not operate in manual lookup mode, there is no corresponding 
record in BookTrakker to export to. Nor does the Publisher or Date get used in input, this 
information is strictly for your own benefit to compare Results to input. Binding is not 
accessible at all. 

Click the Green Add button to the left of the result that matches your book to add the ASIN 
to the ASIN/ISBN lookup tab for further processing. Unlike automatic mode, GrabIt! does not 
delete the results when you click the Add button.   

When you click the Add button, notice the Book ID field on the Biblio tab at the top, it records 
the new Record Number in BookTrakker that will correspond to the BASIN you just added to 
the ASIN/ISBN lookup table.

For all operations, if you want to see Amazon results on their website, click the Blue Amz button, 
then click the maximize button upper right corner to make the Amazon website full screen. 

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Last Modified:  March 28, 2013