A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — J u l y 2 0 0 0

CORC Pathfinders: A Tool for Reference Librarians

By Ann Morrow Schwab

OCLC's new CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Catalog) service, set to debut July 1, is a Web-based, cooperative effort to create a high-quality database of electronic resource descriptions. While CORC provides users with flexible, easy-to-use tools for record creation, CORC isn't just for catalogers. Reference librarians will want to take advantage of CORC's innovative Pathfinder feature.

A CORC Pathfinder is a Web-based bibliography of electronic resources. Pathfinders save library users' time by offering quick access to a selected set of high-quality electronic resources.

You can search the CORC Pathfinder database by title, description, record number and/or OCLC symbol. The CORC Pathfinder search supports Boolean operators (and, or, not), truncation and character masking.

CORC Pathfinders are created and maintained by all types of member libraries and users. This cooperative model helps libraries reduce duplication of effort, as well as maintenance overhead. You can create new Pathfinders by:

Harvesting information from a Web site.
Entering content and links in a blank Pathfinder template.
Cloning a model Pathfinder and modifying the content to meet your library's local needs.

Once a Pathfinder is created in CORC, you can export the Pathfinder and make it available on your library's Web site. You can either export the entire HTML file or just export the link that points to the Pathfinder stored in the CORC Pathfinder database.

OCLC plans eventually to add a URL-maintenance function to CORC Pathfinders. This feature would update redirected links in your Pathfinder and notify you when links no longer work. Check future Action for Libraries for updates and details on this feature.

For more information about the OCLC CORC service, contact Regan Harper (rharper@bcr.org) or Rosario Garza (rgarza@bcr.org) at the BCR Aurora office or Mike Wright (mwright@bcr.org) at the BCR Eastern Service office.

BCR Publications | Table of Contents