OCLC Batchloads July 17, 2007
Posted by bibservatmac in OCLC, collection analysis, holdings.1 comment so far
Over the next year or two, we hope to do some intensive collection management work. In support of that, we have subscribed to OCLC’s WorldCat Collection Analysis (WCA) tool.
WCA will allow us to compare our holdings at McMaster to other libraries. This could be a one to one comparison, putting our engineering holdings against those at the University of Waterloo, for example, or seeing how we stack up against an academic library that is slightly larger than we are. The more common use, though, is against a group of libraries. We might look at our collection against the other OCUL members, or against a group of ARL or CARL libraries. The goal is to help us identify areas where our collection is strong and where it needs further development.
WCA is a fairly flexible tool, allowing us to do analyses at a broad level over a range of LC class numbers or drill down to individual titles in a given subject area. This title-level data may prove useful in purchasing books for subjects our liaison librarians identify as needing growth. Many WCA libraries are also using this title-level analysis to target digitization and preservation projects. WCA can help us pick out unique holdings that we need to preserve, perhaps by shifting them from stacks to Research Collections as some other libraries are doing, and to identify titles in the public-domain that could be digitized for greater access.
The full benefits of WCA really depend on having all of the library’s holdings in OCLC. Since we get a free batchload to start the process off, we’ve begun with that. Karen has started extracting files of MARC records from Horizon representing all of UL’s print and purchased e-resource holdings. These files are sent to OCLC for matching against WorldCat. If a matching record is found, our holdings are updated; new records are added to OCLC for our original cataloguing; and holdings deleted from OCLC for titles we have withdrawn.
We only get one freebie, so going forward it’s important for us to make sure we’re maintaining our holdings. This would include adding our holdings for titles that we purchase or receive as donations, adding holdings to existing records for items in Research Collections, and using our “so” status code for any new records we create. We also have to delete our OCLC holdings if we withdraw the last copy of a title. If we don’t keep the holdings up to date, our analyses won’t be accurate.
We’ll be sharing more information about this once our analysis gets underway!
McMaster Thesis Cataloguing July 17, 2007
Posted by bibservatmac in call numbers, cataloguing, electronic, theses.1 comment so far
In order to keep up with the volume of McMaster theses arriving on the floor for cataloguing, we’ve made some significant changes here as well.
For Masters theses, we will now be creating enhanced brief records, including basic information like:
- author
- title
- department
- degree and date of convocation
- pagination
- supervisor
- subject keywords
We are including in the 050 a broad LC classification based on the granting department (usually the “General Works” class for that subject) in order to make these discoverable through the Endeca subject browse. The item record will have a call number consisting of that departmental classification, the year of convocation, and a sequential number to be used as a shelving location. For example, the first Psychology thesis catalogued in the 2007 convocation would be: THESIS BF 07 001. These theses will be shelved together as a collection, starting immediately.
For Doctoral theses, we will no longer be retaining a print copy for circulation. The School of Graduate Studies sends PhD theses to ProQuest for digitization. We are currently inputting very brief bibliographic records for new Doctoral theses, containing the author, title, and year. This allows users to request the print copy until the thesis is digitized (it takes several months). Once that is complete, McMaster users will have access to the full text of these dissertations through our DigitalCommons site. A microfiche copy of each thesis is available for interlibrary loan, and a paper copy will continue to be housed in closed storage for preservation purposes.
MARC records for each thesis are supplied by ProQuest. The cataloguers will enrich these records, adding information on the supervisor, granting department, and subject headings, among others. In light of the change in access from print to digital, we have also decided to cease cataloguing Doctoral theses as print materials. Instead, we will treat them as electronic resources. Margaret is preparing a draft of the new procedures and will circulate it for comment when completed.
Pre-Processed Books July 17, 2007
Posted by bibservatmac in Monographs, collection codes, physical processing, vendors.add a comment
So, where to begin?
After working with our vendors over the course of several months, our first shipment of pre-processed books should arrive in the next week or so. We’ve established profiles with our two major vendors to apply barcodes, spine labels, property labels, and tattle-tape to the books we order from them. We’re all waiting to see how they stack up to the ones we’ve been doing in-house and what the hit rate will be.
The process took longer than expected when we hit a snag with the profiling. Originally, we based this on our acquisitions fund codes, using them to ensure the right spine label prefix was applied. Unfortunately, none of us realized at the time that Horizon doesn’t include the fund code when it sends our orders electronically to the vendors. So, back to the drawing board we went. The spine labels are now based on collection code, which does actually make it through the EDI process. This may in the end prove to be more accurate, since some topics split between libraries (psychology, for example). We can generally make such divisions by LC class, but this is a very neat and tidy way to send the books to the right library at the point of order.
A Long Absence July 17, 2007
Posted by bibservatmac in cataloguing, transformation.add a comment
It’s been a few months since we posted anything new.
In part, it’s just because we’ve been so busy. We’ve all moved into new quarters on the opposite side of our tech services floor and the cataloguers have begun their half-time reference duties. Add to that vacations and conferences, and we’ve been spread pretty thin.
In part, it’s also been that not a lot has happened in terms of cataloguing in the last few months. (We’ve been busy enough with other developments…) But now it all seems to be happening at once, so I’ll see if I can get a few updates posted.
On another note, I expect we’ll be moving to a new URL in the near future. With the Library’s transformation underway, Bibliographic Services has been phased out and the cataloguing function merged with acquisitions. I’ve hesitated to set up another blog until we finalize our new department’s name, but once that’s done look for the Bib Services blog content to migrate to a new home of its own.
