News from OCLC
Compiled by Jay Weitz, OCLC
OCLC Documentation List Available
A complete listing of OCLC documentation is available on the OCLC Website at <http://www2.oclc.org/documentation/>. The new list is aimed at making it easier to find and print electronic copies (HTML or PDF) or order documentation available in hard copy. The new Web page includes links to a list of recent updates (revised or issued in the last three months) and other lists of documentation by specific type and language.
Windows Client Interface to OCLC Connexion Update
OCLC has added additional information to the Connexion Website about the upcoming Windows client interface to OCLC Connexion. You can view the data online or you can print the PDF version for easier viewing. We will continue to add information to the Website in the coming months. Here is a summary of the first three releases of the client:
- Release 1 of the client, 2nd quarter 2003 (April–June), will include interactive, online functionality along with macros and labels.
- Release 2, 3rd quarter 2003 (July–September), will add functionality for cataloging electronic resources and performing NACO activities for authority records.
- Release 3, 4th quarter 2003 (October–December), will add additional offline and batch functionality, including offline local files and other "CatME-like" functionality.
OCLC CatME Versions 1.20, 1.21, 2.00 End of Support
OCLC ended support for CatME for all versions of CatME except versions 2.10 (English) and 2.11 (Spanish) on October 31, 2002. If you are still using an older version of CatME, please upgrade to CatME version 2.10 or 2.11 as soon as possible. CatME software is available for download from the OCLC Web site, and it is included on the OCLC Access Suite compact disc. Consult the CatME home page for more information on downloading the software or ordering the OCLC Access Suite CD. CatME versions 2.10 and 2.11 are the final releases of CatME software. OCLC is focusing on developing the new Windows client for OCLC Connexion. The first phase of the client is scheduled for release in 2nd quarter 2003. For more information, please visit the Connexion home page. Eventually, Connexion will replace all currently existing cataloging interfaces including CatME. OCLC has not yet established a timeframe for the end of support for CatME 2.10 and 2.11. It will be sometime after 2004, when all CatME functionality has been added to Connexion, and when CatME users have had time to migrate to the new interface. OCLC will notify users at least one year in advance of discontinuing CatME support.
Theodore Front Musical Literature Now Part of OCLC PromptCat Service
Theodore Front Musical Literature is now participating in the OCLC PromptCat service. OCLC PromptCat helps libraries increase productivity and save time by delivering OCLC-MARC records to libraries at the same time library materials arrive from vendors, and setting the libraries' holding symbols in WorldCat. Established in 1961, Theodore Front Musical Literature, Inc. makes available a wide selection of custom-designed approval plans for books, sheet music, CDs and DVDs, as well as monographic order fulfillment, standing order and subscription services and OP searches. Theodore Front Musical Literature joins a prestigious, growing list of book vendors who have teamed up with OCLC to provide the OCLC PromptCat service to libraries. For more information on the OCLC PromptCat service and a complete list of PromptCat vendors, visit the PromptCat web site <http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/prompt.htm>.
National Library of the Netherlands and OCLC Establish Digital Preservation Center
The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (the National Library of the Netherlands), OCLC, and OCLC PICA are working together to provide preservation, digitization and retrospective conversion services that will increase access to valuable European library materials. OCLC and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek will operate Strata Preservation N.V., a center to digitize and preserve the rich history recorded in centuries-old European collections. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek, which already operates a microfilming service in The Hague, will work with OCLC Digital & Preservation Resources to digitize, microfilm and preserve library materials in Europe. OCLC Digital & Preservation Resources operates digital and preservation service centers in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Lacey, Washington, in the United States. Strata Preservation focuses primarily on microfilming and digitizing the vulnerable and unique collections of European cultural heritage institutions-such as libraries, archives and museums-that need to be preserved and become more accessible to the public. In a separate agreement, OCLC and OCLC PICA will work with the Koninklijke Bibliotheek to convert 400,000 of its records to machine-readable form in a three-year project beginning in September 2002, making the records available online and the materials they represent more accessible to library users worldwide. OCLC staff will use the OCLC PICA GGC (in Dutch: Gemeenschappelijk Geautomatiseerd Catalogiseersysteem) database, PICA's Shared Cataloguing System, and WorldCat to convert the records. The work will be converted to the GGC database offered through OCLC PICA.
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Last updated: January 14, 2003
http://www.olacinc.org/newsletters/dec02/oclc.html
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