A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 4

OCLC Update

By Regan W. Harper
New OCLC Report Available
OCLC has announced the release of its latest report, "2004 Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers." The 20-page report, written by OCLC marketing staff, is available free and can be downloaded at www.oclc.org/info/2004trends/em/default.htm.

This newest report picks up where the "2003 Five-Year Information Format Trends" report left off. That report, also available at the OCLC site above, provided a snapshot of how information trends and format innovations in recent years required librarians to manage a much more complex universe of resources. The 2004 report examines the changes of the past 18 months, most significantly the unbundling of content from traditional containers and distribution methods.

Quality Books Partners with OCLC
Quality Books, Inc., has become a new contributor to OCLC WorldCat, a CIP Upgrade partner and an OCLC PromptCat vendor. For 40 years Quality Books has specialized in providing small press books, special interest videos (videocassettes and DVDs), audiotapes and CDs, to all types of libraries, including public, school, academic, corporate and special libraries. To learn more about Quality Books, Inc., and what it offers libraries, see its Web site at www.quality-books.com/.

Through the Vendor Record Contribution Program, Quality Books is contributing original cataloging to WorldCat. Quality Books' records include LC and Dewey classification, LCSH and Sears subject headings. Look for OCLC symbol QBX to identify Quality Books' contributions in WorldCat. In addition to full level records, Quality Books provides CIP to small press publishers. This QBX PCIP (Publishers CIP) cataloging has been loaded at Encoding Level M, allowing libraries that receive the titles to upgrade them in WorldCat upon receipt. As a CIP upgrade partner, Quality Books also contributes CIP upgrades for Library of Congress CIP (encoding level 8) records.

Quality Books also has become a PromptCat vendor
New PromptCat libraries may now sign up with Quality Books as their material vendor. Current PromptCat libraries may wish to add Quality Books as an additional vendor. To learn more about PromptCat, see www.oclc.org/promptcat/default.htm. To see a complete list of all current PromptCat vendors, go to www.oclc.org/promptcat/about/vendors/.

WebDewey Tutorial Updated
An updated WebDewey tutorial is now available at www.oclc.org/support/training/dewey/default.htm. For the first time, this version of the interactive, 57-page tutorial includes information about Abridged WebDewey (i.e., school libraries can learn about new 18th edition Sears Subject Headings mapped to Abridged 14). The revised tutorial also contains more detail on user notes. Finally, the updated tutorial includes information about enhancements made over the last year to Dewey services, including:

August 2004 enhancements: Improved display of DDC hierarchies.
April 2004 enhancements: Improved Browse functionality.
February 2004 enhancements: User Notes keystroke shortcuts.
December 2003 enhancements: Abridged 14 introduced in Abridged WebDewey. Easy access to Tables, Relocations & Discontinuations.
October and November 2003: Work Area and Search History.
August 2003: Retain Search.

For further details about Dewey enhancements, see www.oclc.org/dewey/updates/enhancements/default.htm.

ISBN-13 OCLC Interim Support Update
In May of this year, OCLC provided information about its interim support for ISBN-13. This updates that information.

The modification routine to convert or move 13-digit ISBNs (see below) has been installed into Batchload global preprocessing and will take effect immediately. OCLC received two such numbers from the Library of Congress (LC), one legitimate and one erroneous. Both appeared in 020 subfield $z. OCLC will run a scan in the near future to locate and convert 13-digit numbers in field 020 in records already in the database.

As you encounter ISBN-13s printed in materials you are cataloging, please follow the online input and searching instructions provided below.

Records loaded into WorldCat from the LC and other OCLC trading partners:

OCLC will convert a 13-digit number appearing in field 020 subfield $a to an EAN (field 024, first indicator 3).
If the record contains a 13-digit ISBN without a corresponding 10-digit ISBN, OCLC will convert a 13-digit ISBN beginning with 978 to a 10-digit ISBN, modifying the check digit along the way, as well as convert to an EAN as indicated above.

Online input:

For original records, OCLC libraries should input ISBN-13 numbers into an EAN field (024, first indicator 3) rather than into the ISBN field (020).
For copy cataloging that contains an ISBN-13 on the piece but not on the record being edited, users with full-level or higher authorization may add the ISBN-13 numbers into an EAN field (024, first indicator 3) as a database enrichment using system lock and replace capabilities. Users who do not have full-level authorization may report these to OCLC Quality Control Section using one of the many error reporting options: online system, e-mail, fax or mail.
OCLC libraries should not input ISBN-13 numbers in an 020 field. If libraries do enter the 13-digit ISBN in an 020 field, validation will move the number to $z indicating that it is an invalid ISBN. Such numbers will not be indexed and retrieved as the user might expect. (See Searching below).

Searching:

No indexing/searching changes will be implemented at this time. Libraries can search for ISBN- 13 numbers using the "Standard Number" index, which covers both the 020 $z and the 024 fields.
ISBN-13 numbers will not be retrievable using the ISBN index during this interim period.

After OCLC completes the implementation of the new system/database platform, staff will add support for the ISBN-13 numbers in the 020 field for Batchload, online input and searching.

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