A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 1

OCLC Update

By Rosario Garza

Searching WorldCat Reference Card Revised
OCLC has revised the Searching WorldCat Reference Card, incorporating information from Searching for Bibliographic Records Quick Reference (REF2078), which is now obsolete and no longer available. One copy of the revised Reference Card was sent to users in late July. If you want additional copies, please contact Cheryl Burkert (cburkert@bcr.org) at BCR. The revised card is also available online at www.oclc.org/oclc/man/10082ints/10085src.htm. A PDF version is available at this same URL. The PDF is best viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5.

Local Data Record Updating Service Available
OCLC now has a service that allows users to update their serials holdings local data records (LDRs) through a batchload. To use this service, you must respond "yes" to these two questions:

Is your online serials module compliant with the MARC 21 Format for Holdings Data (MFHD)?
Can your system output data that is MFHD-compliant?

If the answer is no to either question, you will not be able to use the LDR Updating Service. If the answer is yes, and if you are interested in using this service, your next step is to check out the service specifications at www.oclc.org/oclc/specs/ldrus.htm.

Users of this service need to understand that:

OCLC will not "parse" the data (i.e., if the data is not strictly compliant with the MARC 21 MFHD, it cannot be loaded).

You must agree that data in the 866 free-text field will go in subfield n.

An OCLC record number must be included in the data sent to OCLC. Therefore, you must either have LDRs already created that need updating or you must have your holdings set to the serials record you want to use for the LDR updating service.

There will be no charge for the LDR Updating Service during FY 2001-2002. Nor will any credits be issued for LDRs updated using this service.

If you have questions about this service, contact Ann Schwab (aschwab@bcr.org) or Rosario Garza (rgarza@bcr.org).

CORC vs. WorldCat Database
BCR staff have received questions about using CORC to catalog all users' materials. Here is information you may find useful.

CORC is optimized for the description of electronic resources, such as Web sites, Web- accessible documents, digitized material; in fact, for any browser-accessible item. It can also be used by members for whom a traditional MARC record is not appropriate and a Dublin Core record is. OCLC and BCR recommend that users continue to catalog traditional materials using the existing full-format interfaces, i.e., the Cataloging Micro Enhancer, CatExpress, Passport software, CJK and Ara- bic software until the new Cataloging and Metadata Services interface is available in July 2002.

If you have questions, please call any of BCR's Bibliographic Systems & Services librarians.

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