How to export ZIMS data to MedARKS

MedARKS Export request in ZIMS For Medical
Contact Species360 Support

First, we have to be sure that ZIMS has an email for you - when the export is done, ZIMS will send an email to you at the address listed in the "communication details" section of your information.
To check or update that email:

1) ZIMS Export - checking your email address information in ZIMS

2) ZIMS Export - requesting an export file

3) ZIMS Export - download and install an export file

4) ZIMS Export - replacing the Taxlist.dbf file

ZIMS to MedARKS Export

Checking your ZIMS contact information (only need to do this step once)

Start ZIMS, login and click on the ZIMS Start button

2. Then Institution and My Institution

3. Locate the Staff at ... section and expand to see details

4. Select your name, Click on Actions and View/Edit Communication Details

5. Check your Email address in ZIMS and click on Edit Mode if a change needs to be made, or Cancel if no changes need to be made and close the Institution Search window

6. If necessary, enter or correct your Email address, click on Save and close the Institution Search window

ZIMS to MedARKS Export

Requesting a ZIMS Export file

1. Start ZIMS, login to the program, click on the ZIMS Start button, select Tools from the menu and finally choose Data Export from the submenu.

2. When the Data Export window opens, select MedARKS as the software type.

3. Only if your MedARKS system has a separate ARKS collections based on taxonomy ( a Mammal collection, a Bird collection, etc) should you check the box labeled Split Data Into Classes If Duplicate Local IDs Exist. Most institutions only have a single ARKS collection and will not need to check this box.

4. Click on Submit Request to enter your export request into the system queue. In about 24 hours, when the export process is complete, you will receive an email from support@isis.org with the Subject of:

“Your MedARKS Data Export is Ready for Download. Click Link to Download Then UnZip”.

This email message contains a link to your ZIMS export file.

ZIMS to MedARKS Export

Download and install a ZIMS export file

Within 24 hours after submitting an export request, you should receive an email from support@isis.org with the subject line: Your MedARKS Data Export Is Ready For Download. Click Link To Download Then Unzip.

When you open this message, there will be a link to the ZIMS export file on the ISIS servers. Click on the link to start the file download.

Some browsers will prompt you to Open or Save, while other browsers will automatically download and save the file in a Downloads folder on your local hard drive. If you get prompted, choose "Save As" and specify that the export file is saved into the \ARKS3 folder on your network or local hard drive. Ultimately however, the location of this file is not important as long as you can locate the file after the download is complete and extract the contents of this file into the correct location.

First be sure EVERYONE has logged out of MedARKS.

You will want to create 2 folders on your desktop. 1 called New ARKS 3 and 1 called Old ARKS 3. Go to your current ARKS3 folder that your MedARKS uses. This may be on a shared drive if your MedARKS is used by more than one computer. If you are running it on a single machine and no other computers then it will be on your c-drive. Open this ARKS 3 folder and move all of the folders withon it to the Old ARKS3 folder that you just created on your desktop. This can be kept until your next export then discarded.

In the NEW ARKS3 folder you will save this export and extract it here.

Newer version of Windows have the ability to extract (unzip) the file built into the system. Right click on the file and look for the Extract All (or something similar) option on the dropdown menu.

If there is no suitable option present, you will need to first install some software that will allow you to unzip the file. There are a number of freeware and shareware utilities available on the internet. One popular option is available at:

http://7-zip.soft32.com/free-download

Choosing the Extract All option will start the Wizard that will assist with the file extraction process. Click on the Next button to start the Wizard.

You can then move all of the contents of the extract subfolder in the New ARKS3 folder to your empty ARKS3 folder on your network drive or on your c-drive if not on a server. You can then close this folder and restart MedARKS and it will run through a cleanup, pack and sort.

Updating MedARKS taxlist

Your ZIMS to MedARKS export should upate the taxonomic list automatically. However, early versions of the ZIMS export process produced some flaws in the taxlist.dbf file and attempting to lookup a species in MedARKS could triggers errors or “lock up” the program. The "Validate and fix the ARKS taxonomic file" utility included in version 5.54.e fixes these flaws, but another option is to simply replace the taxlist.dbf file with a clean version of this file from Species360. for assistance, Contact Species360 Support , then:

Make sure that MedARKS is shutdown (quit the program) on all workstations that use MedARKS. You are about to replace a critical ARKS3 data file and if anyone is using MedARKS (and therefore using the existing ARKS3 file), the replacement will probably not work correctly.
Download the replacement taxlist.dbf file
Save the downloaded file into the ARKS3 folder to replace the existing taxlist.dbf file
Finally, start MedARKS. When you get to the main MedARKS menu, choose option 9 from the main MedARKS menu and then option 8 (Reindex ARKS data files). When the indexing is complete, you are ready to use MedARKS with the new taxonomic information available to MedARKS.

Revised 5 March 2025
* Species360 Organizational name change added on 07/18/2016