OCLC MEMBERS COUNCIL REPORT
Kevin A. Furniss
Greetings from OCLC Members Council. The October 2004 meeting was called "Pattern Recognition: Moving Libraries Beyond Their Comfort Zones". The following report includes topics discussed at the various meetings that should be of interest to OLAC members.
Connexion. Jim Simms provided a brief summary of the latest Connexion update. A performance problem was identified and fixed in August, which resulted in average system response time being cut in half. End of life dates were announced in late August, and migration is proceeding as expected. Significant browser searching enhancements will be added in November. Client 1.20, providing local files, batch processing, and NACO, is in field test, with a planned November release. Client 1.30, planned for March 2005, will add searching enhancements and CJK. Client 1.40, 2nd quarter 2005, will add support for Arabic and some additional functionality.
OCLC's Role in E-Content. Committee members provided brief summaries of their libraries’ use of e-content, including: Netlibrary e-books; e-journals, either from aggregators or through direct contracts with publishers, and often through consortia or statewide deals (some mentioned switching many journals to electronic only); original content, such as maps, dissertations, graphic images and digitized art slides, streamed video collections, federal documents, oral history collections, and learning objects. Many add cataloging to OCLC for these either at the item or collection level. Discussion centered around the question of the relationship of collection level and item level records for digital collections. Should WorldCat become the "container" for all of it? Or should item level metadata reside in separate catalogs? The advantage of being in WorldCat is that all the various metadata types would be brought together for "one stop shopping". Standards will be crucial to dealing with this issue. It was agreed that this topic needs further discussion in future meetings.
Batchloading Update. Glenn Patton gave an overview of a document provided in advance of the meeting. FY2003/2004 was a record-breaking batchload year, with over 38 million bibliographic records processed. Processing for group catalogs contributed to this increase, as well as a renewed focus to add original records. Related to batchloading for digital collections, OCLC continues to add records harvested from CONTENTdm sites, but mapping is a laborious and time-consuming process. OCLC is working with DiMeMa to harvest qualified Dublin Core rather than simplified DC. OCLC also continues to improve communications about projects, including expanding delivery of reports via e-mail. Batchload redesign is scheduled for installation on October 31. This will not be a "hot cutover"; instead, it will be a gradual move of projects, in order to verify set-ups. OCLC is very pleased with the new matching algorithm, which provides improvements for scores, sound recordings, AV, and serials, and will also handle computer files and archival materials, which were not previously supported. Regarding local data records, Glenn indicated that OCLC continues to have a backlog, as these projects require a great deal of individual effort. However, this situation should improve when OCLC moves to MARC Format for Holdings Data (MFHD) as part of the Union List re-implementation. A committee member asked if converting DC to MARC would be required in the long-term. Glenn responded that Charly Bauer, new to OCLC, is working on being able to handle various non-MARC content records in WorldCat. Another inquired if CONTENTdm records are at the object or collection level. Glenn said these are at the object level, but that sometimes libraries create collection level records. Finally, another asked if OCLC is soliciting collections outside of CONTENTdm. Glenn’s response was that this was not yet happening, but that this issue also falls within Charly's new responsibilities.
Potential Impact of FRBR on Cataloging. Diane Vizine-Goetz shared a set of observations made while building FictionFinder. The OCLC Office of Research used OCLC FRBR Work-Set Algorithm to create groupings mainly at the work level using author/title keys. This resulted in a 2.6 million bibliographic record subset of WorldCat which brought together expressions and manifestations for works of fiction. Some of the observations concerning cataloging are:
- Variations in title information and cataloging practice can lead to incomplete groupings.
- Using the authority record to collect title variations elicited these observations or questions:
- Not all title variations are included in the authority record, which results in omissions
- Are the titles variations in the authority record really the same work?
- Concurrent works not always brought together in the authority record.
- Lack of authority control on an author's name can lead to records not being appropriately grouped.
- Some of this could be cleaned up algorithmically or with computer support.
- Does authority work need to change to accommodate these types of things?
Recommended Agenda Items for Next Meeting:
- Integration of digital content in WorldCat.
- Possible Machine Services Opportunities with Cataloging.
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Last updated: December 27, 2004
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