A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 3

OCLC Update

By Regan W. Harper

New Edition of Participating Institutions Available
On February 12, the latest issue of OCLC Participating Institutions Arranged by OCLC Symbol becomes available from OCLC. Libraries that received this publication last February will not automatically receive this new issue. OCLC reduced the distribution list in May 2002 and asked libraries to let OCLC know if they wanted to continue receiving it.

If you would like additional copies of the paper publication, please go to www2.oclc.org/documentation/ to place an order. The first copy of Participating Institutions is free to OCLC participating libraries. Additional copies cost $10 per copy. The free online version of Participating Institutions is available on the Web at www.oclc.org/contacts/libraries/.

If you do not want to receive the paper copy and did not cancel last May, send an e-mail message to orders@oclc.org. In your e-mail, please provide complete address information for your institution, the number of copies you'd like to cancel and your OCLC symbol.

For more information about this or other documentation, contact BCR's Cheryl Burkert (cburkert@bcr.org).

OCLC Ends Support for Passport for Cataloging
OCLC ended support for Passport for cataloging December 31, 2002. This means enhancements or patches will no longer be developed by OCLC for Passport for cataloging purposes. If you have questions specifically related to Passport for cataloging, OCLC User & Network Support staff may ask you to consider migrating to the new OCLC Connexion or OCLC Cataloging Micro Enhancer.

However, this does not mean Passport will cease to work. Passport will continue to operate with the OCLC Cataloging service until December 31, 2003. OCLC will continue to support and answer questions about cataloging functionality (searching, editing, etc.) with Passport until the end of 2003.

Important: This does not affect Passport users of Interlibrary Loan, Union List and the Name-Address Directory services. These services will continue to operate with Passport for the foreseeable future.

The OCLC Connexion service is the new OCLC cataloging platform. OCLC has introduced many enhancements to this new service, and more are on the way. In mid- 2003, the Windows client to OCLC Connexion will be introduced. Visit www.oclc.org/connexion/ to see all of the benefits and enhancements Connexion has to offer.

For more information about migrating your library to one of OCLC's other cataloging options, contact Regan Harper (rharper@bcr.org) at BCR.

Windows 98 and NT Support to End
OCLC will discontinue support for Windows 98 and NT 4.0 on June 30, at the time that Microsoft discontinues support. OCLC expects that Windows 98 and NT 4.0-based applications will continue to work; however, OCLC will not test or support Windows 98 and NT 4.0 applications after this date. The OCLC Access Suite Applications System Requirements document on the OCLC Web site at www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/suite/systemrequirements.htm has been updated to reflect this change.

For more information, contact BCR's Regan Harper (rharper@bcr.org).

January Connexion Upgrade
The OCLC Connexion January monthly maintenance installation took place on Sunday, January 19. The following changes were made:

A pathfinders constant data fix was added. Previously, when creating a constant data record from a pathfinder, no confirmation message was generated. You will now get a confirmation message.
OCLC also ended Connexion support for Netscape 4.x and 6.01. Connexion users, including CatExpress and WebDewey users, can no longer log on using Netscape 4.x or 6.01.

If you are accessing Connexion via one of these older browsers, please upgrade to a higher version as soon as possible. For maximum functionality within OCLC Connexion, upgrade to Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6.0. Connexion will continue to support Internet Explorer 5.0 and above, as well as Netscape 6.1 and above.

Please see the OCLC System Requirements link
(connexion.oclc.org/html/corc/help/en/gs_login_sysreq_hardware_software.html) on the Connexion logon page for additional information about browser support.

For more information, contact Regan Harper (rharper@bcr.org) at BCR.

Next Article | Previous Article | Table of Contents | BCR Publications