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 3

OCLC Update

By Regan W. Harper

OCLC Changes Documentation Policy
OCLC's Documentation Department in recent years has made changes to its printed documentation policies, including providing reference cards for all of OCLC's major products and services and offering user manuals and reference cards electronically via the Web. The main advantage for OCLC and its member libraries is that electronic documents can be updated in real time, making it possible to deliver the most accurate and up-to-date information and training materials. OCLC has also modified the format and presentation of its documentation for better electronic viewing and quick printing.

Recently OCLC initiated further changes in its delivery of documentation to members. Effective August 1, all OCLC user guides will be delivered electronically via the OCLC Web site. Print copies of most user guides have been eliminated, with the following exceptions:

Bibliographic Formats and Standards
Authorities User Guide
Searching WorldCat User Guide

These three user guides remain available in print for a small charge. Pricing information is at www.oclc.org/news/products/.

OCLC's current inventory of print copies of certain user guides and booklets (e.g., Cataloging, ILL, First- Search) are available to members at no charge until the items are obsolete or the current inventory is depleted. They will not be reprinted. See www.oclc.org/news/products/ for a list of titles.

Reference cards for certain OCLC services will continue to be provided at no charge. A list of available reference cards is at www.oclc.org/news/products/. BCR also has reference cards in stock and would be happy to send these to members. Please direct your requests to Cheryl Burkert at BCR, (303) 751-6277, (800) 397-1552 or cburkert@bcr.org.

OCLC Selected Titles for University and Research Libraries will continue in print for the current subscription price ($300 per year). OCLC Participating Institutions will no longer be available in print. The electronic Participating Institutions list, which is updated weekly, is available at www.oclc.org/ill/. Information about accessing the OCLC ILL Policies Directory online is at www.oclc.org/ill/.

Ordering printed copies of documentation from OCLC is easy. To check the status of a title and request a printed copy, please go to www.oclc.org/support/documentation/. If the "Order hard copy" link associated with a title is active, you can select the link and follow the instructions to order one or more copies. You may also order print copies of available documentation by sending an e-mail to orders@oclc.org. Remember to include the following information:

Your institution name and contact person.
Billing information (if the item is billable).
Your mailing address.
The title of the documentation item(s) and associated product code(s) (e.g., MAN 8079, REF2083).
Number of copies requested.

Please direct any questions or problems concerning OCLC documentation orders to BCR's Cheryl Burkert.

OCLC Support No Longer Available Saturdays
OCLC's User & Network Support section (formerly referred to as UNS, and now referred to as Customer Support Department or CSD), has stopped providing Saturday technical support. The change does not affect the support provided weekdays; support staff is available Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Eastern Time.

Demand for weekend support has steadily declined with Customer Support receiving an average of just under one call each Saturday. Based on this low need, coupled with a desire to keep costs down, OCLC determined that staffing the support desk Saturdays was no longer a significant benefit.

Callers on Saturdays, Sundays and after OCLC's business hours are invited to leave a message for callback on the next business day. Callers may also select option 1 if they are unable to connect to OCLC's services (e.g., FirstSearch, Connexion, ILL), transferring the call to OCLC's telephone operator. The operator is able to contact OCLC computer operations and support staff, who may then address OCLC system problems.

OCLC will continue to monitor the number of calls received by the Customer Support telephone system on Saturdays, to ensure that staff keeps aware of the situation. BCR's technical support staff are also available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mountain Time.

Connexion Browser July Upgrade
OCLC has completed regular maintenance and enhancement installs for OCLC Connexion, including minor enhancements and some problem fixes. The July maintenance installation included changes to:

Pica GGC database searching: Two new indexes were added, along with the ability to limit searches by date(s).
WebDewey/Abridged WebDewey: Improved search results and expanded searching capabilities were installed.

For more details see the Cataloging and Technical Services section of BCR's Web site (www.bcr.org/cataloging/). For questions or more information about changes to the Connexion service, contact Regan Harper (rharper@bcr.org) at BCR.

OCLC Connexion Help Improved
Updated help information was included in the release of OCLC Connexion installed in July. Click Help on the header bar of any Connexion screen to view context-specific information and instructions. To find other Help topics, use:

Links to Related Topics (listed at the end of each Help topic).
Search Help function (above the title of each Help topic).
Contents tab (top of each Help window).

Connexion's online system guides have been updated to reflect system changes, clarify information and correct errors.

On the Connexion documentation page, updated titles have July 2003 in the Date Revised column.
To view the guide in HTML format, click on the title.
To view and/or print the guide in PDF format, click on the link labeled: (PDF).
The Revision History (on page 2 of the PDF document) in each updated guide summarizes changes for that document.

All Connexion system guides (HTML and PDF) are available on the Connexion documentation page at www.oclc.org/support/documentation/connexion/browser/.

For Optimal Connexion Browser Performance
OCLC staff have reviewed the recommended browser cache settings for the Connexion browser and have provided new guidelines. Please review/change your current settings to ensure optimal Connexion performance.

The cache settings determine how your browser redisplays Web pages you previously viewed. The browser may display the page as it exists in temporary storage (the browser's cache) or download the latest version of the page from the server. Using the recommended settings can improve your browser's performance.

Note: Your browser may already be configured to the recommended settings. Many of these settings are default settings in the supported versions of Microsoft and Netscape browsers. Recommended settings are:

Set your browser to refresh Web pages automatically when necessary. Do not specify that the browser refresh a page each time you view it.
Allocate adequate disk space for the browser cache: 100 MB is recommended. Do not specify zero space for the cache, and avoid allowing it to be larger than 100 MB.
Do not clear the cache each time you exit the browser.
Retain the browser's history (log of recently visited sites) four days.

OCLC's recommended settings may not work with certain network security configurations or with some Web-based applications. Before changing your cache/ history settings, write down the current settings so you can restore them if the new settings cause problems.

Detailed instructions for reviewing and changing your cache settings can be accessed from the System Requirements link found in the black bar at the top of the Connexion browser login screen (connexion.oclc.org/) or from the Connexion booklet titled "Requirements, Access, and Interface Roadmap" at www.oclc.org/support/documentation/connexion/browser/

For more information, contact Regan Harper at BCR.

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