OCLC Batchloads July 17, 2007
Posted by bibservatmac in OCLC, collection analysis, holdings.add a comment
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updated; new records are added to OCLC for our original cataloguing; and holdings deleted from OCLC for titles we have withdrawn.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!
OCLC Update January 3, 2007
Posted by bibservatmac in OCLC, original cataloguing.add a comment
Back in October, we started getting caught up on adding our original cataloguing to OCLC.
With the help of our student workers (who flipped the record status codes) and the original cataloguers (who fixed the problems we found along the way) we are up to date in our reporting. In total, 2,355 new records for our unique holdings were sent to OCLC in the last three months of 2006!
Thanks to all for helping us reach this point. Now that our batch processes are in place, it will be easier for us to stay current in our reporting.
Coming to an OCLC Record Near You! November 24, 2006
Posted by bibservatmac in OCLC, isbn.3 comments
As of November 12, OCLC has fully implemented the ISBN-13 standard.
The interim step of putting 13-digit ISBNs into field 024 has been discontinued, and OCLC will be converting all those currently stored there to an 020. You may see some 024’s containing a Bookland EAN (a number associated with the publisher’s barcode), but there will probably be fewer of them coming over in our cataloguing. OCLC’s Technical Bulletin includes a nifty graphic on the different numbers. OCLC expects to run their conversion program in “late 2006.” Once this is done, we can stop flipping the 024s back to 020s!
OCLC has also modified the processing done to new records when they are loaded. The system will now automatically calculate the alternate version of the ISBN. So, if a record contains only a 10-digit ISBN, OCLC will calculate the 13-digit version and add it to the record. The reverse is also true–a record with only a 13-digit number will have the 10-digit version inserted.
What this means for us is that we may find OCLC records containing both ISBNs even if only one appears on the book. We will leave both ISBNs in the record so that users can search our catalogue with either version.
Original Cataloguing & OCLC October 13, 2006
Posted by bibservatmac in OCLC, original cataloguing.add a comment
After a long delay, we’re getting caught up on our OCLC reporting. Using the batch processes that we’ve established, more than 900 original cataloguing records have been sent to OCLC in the last three weeks!
Thanks to Karen for creating our new item status code and extracting records from MORRIS and to the original cataloguers for taking on the corrections we’ve needed to make along the way.
No More Printing! September 8, 2006
Posted by bibservatmac in OCLC, original cataloguing.add a comment
Thanks to Karen for setting us up with a new item status code for original cataloguing! The new code, “so”, identifies records that need to be sent to OCLC. They will be extracted from MORRIS and loaded to OCLC as a batch process. This change will save us the time we used to spend in printing, filing, and re-searching the records before they were sent to OCLC.
