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NEWS FROM OCLC
Compiled by Jay Weitz
For ALA Midwinter, San Diego, California
January 2004


Connexion Client for Power Cataloging
For those who prefer the familiarity and power of a desktop application over Web-based tools, a Windows-based interface is now available as a free download at <http://www.oclc.org/download/>. The Connexion client, released in October 2003, provides much of the same cataloging functionality as exists in the browser interface, while adding productivity-boosting enhancements including macros, additional keyboard customization-- all navigation and cataloging actions can be performed using assignable key combinations--and integrated label printing. Additional features, such as offline local files and batch processing are planned as enhancements to the client in later releases. Note that certain Connexion functionality, such as express cataloging, pathfinders, and Dewey and Digital Archive services, is available only in the Web-based Connexion browser. A detailed comparison chart is available <http://www.oclc.org/connexion/interface/chart/> to help compare existing and planned functionality in the Connexion client and Connexion browser, point-by-point. Among recent enhancements to the Connexion client are these authority file searching improvements:
Information about the next set of enhancements to the Connexion client, scheduled for March/April 2004, can be found at:
<http://www.oclc.org/connexion/interface/client/enhancements/future.htm>.

Passport End-of-Life for Cataloging
OCLC continues to add functionality to Connexion, which will eventually replace all current cataloging interfaces. Initially, OCLC is focusing on adding Passport functionality to Connexion, since Passport for cataloging will be discontinued in the future. Previously, the end-of-life for Passport for cataloging was announced as December 31, 2003. This has now been extended, and OCLC will provide six months advance notice of the new date.

Parallel Records: Technical Bulletin 250
Effective immediately, OCLC policy has changed to allow for parallel records within WorldCat by language of cataloging. This policy applies only to online cataloging and not to records contributed via batchload. OCLC will address batchload in the future with the Oracle implementation. As part of OCLC becoming the leading global library cooperative, it has long been envisioned that WorldCat would need a parallel record structure to display records by language of cataloging. This change in policy allowing parallel records anticipates the implementation of the relational database capabilities that will be possible once Oracle has been fully implemented. That implementation, however, is still a few years away. Therefore, the policy change announced in Technical Bulletin 250 <http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/tb/250/> is being introduced as an interim policy. OCLC Members Council’s Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group approved this interim policy at their May 2003 meeting. Previously, separate records for the same title cataloged in different languages--such as English, Spanish, and French--were considered duplicate records. OCLC will no longer consider these records duplicates, but will consider them parallel records. Only one record per language of descriptive cataloging will be allowed for each title.

OCLC Releases Algorithm To Convert Bibliographic Databases To FRBR Model
OCLC is making an algorithm available free of charge to organizations interested in converting their bibliographic databases to the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model. The FRBR model was created to help information providers deliver the most appropriate records for people seeking specific items of interest. The algorithm was developed by the OCLC Office of Research following a 1998 recommendation by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to restructure catalog databases based on particular works rather than on the various forms in which these works are expressed. The FRBR algorithm will make it possible for users to write computer programs to generate sets of records that can be grouped for display as single works, making it easier for information seekers to find what they are looking for. The algorithm is available from the OCLC Research site <http://www.oclc.org/research/software/frbr/>. OCLC’s FRBR algorithm describes an automated process that extracts information from MARC21 records, compares it with a standard name authority file, and then brings the records together, based primarily on their author and title. For example, in OCLC’s WorldCat database there are records for more than 400 different forms of Arthur Conan Doyle’s "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Using the FRBR algorithm, those records can be brought together as a single work. This makes it easier for librarians and other information seekers to identify the most appropriate items to meet their specific needs. The algorithm is efficient enough to be run on large databases, such as WorldCat, the OCLC database that contains more than 52 million records. It is also meant to be understandable, so that a librarian creating a record will be able to predict what other records it will be associated with, and understandable for patrons so they are not surprised by the groupings. In large databases, such as WorldCat, bringing versions of works together is helpful for successful discovery and navigation. OCLC plans to use the FRBR model as it implements WorldCat’s new database technology to enhance the user’s experience. The FRBR model specifies that intellectual or artistic products include the following types of entities:
A work is realized through one or more expressions, each of which is embodied in one or more manifestations, each of which is exemplified by one or more items. In traditional cataloging, bibliographic units are described out of context. With the FRBR model, each item must be described in context and related to the other items comprising the work. Having resources brought together under "works" will help users sift through the myriad information resources available electronically.

Die Deutsche Bibliothek, LC, OCLC to Develop Virtual International Authority File
OCLC, Die Deutsche Bibliothek (the German national library), and the Library of Congress signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), an effort to include authoritative names from national libraries into one common global service. The agreement was signed on August 6, 2003 in Berlin, Germany during the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) annual conference. The goal of the VIAF project, initially launched in 1998 by Die Deutsche Bibliothek and the Library of Congress, was to reduce cataloging costs by providing access to authority records worldwide. The new VIAF proof of concept project will virtually combine the personal name authority files of the Library of Congress and Die Deutsche Bibliothek into a single name authority service, making them available though an Open Archive Initiative (OAI) server. For example, German users will be able to view names displayed in the form established by Die Deutsche Bibliothek (German), while U.S. users will be able to view names displayed in the form established by the Library of Congress (English). OCLC will provide software to match personal name authority records between the two authority files, which will produce initial linking for the service. The long-term goal of the VIAF project is to include the authoritative names from many national libraries into a common global service that should be freely available to users worldwide via the Web. Such a service would be an integral part of future Web infrastructures, enabling displays of controlled names in the language and script the user needs. The first stage of the current VIAF project, which involves matching the retrospective files, will take about one year to complete.

Dublin Core Metadata Element Set Recognized by ISO
The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES) has been approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as an international metadata standard. DCMES, also known as "Dublin Core", was developed for use on the Web and in other information networks across a wide variety of subject areas, languages and economic sectors. Dublin Core has been adopted by seven national governments and translated into 30 languages. OCLC serves as the primary sponsor for the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI), and manages its Website. DCMI is the maintenance agency for the Dublin Core standard and is responsible for its development, standardization and promotion.

OCLC Cataloging Partners Program
A new program offered by OCLC and participating library materials providers saves libraries time and money by offering custom OCLC cataloging and physical processing to libraries during the acquisition process. The OCLC Cataloging Partners Program lowers the cost of cataloging for libraries, enriches WorldCat with records and holdings information for resource sharing, and makes it possible for all libraries that get materials from participating cataloging partners to become part of the OCLC cooperative. The Cataloging Partners Program is OCLC’s newest collaborative effort to reduce the cost of high-quality cataloging for libraries. Participating materials vendors, who are designated as OCLC Cataloging Partners, collaborate with OCLC to provide high-quality cataloging records as part of the acquisition process rather than the more labor-intensive, post-delivery cataloging process used by libraries for published materials. The OCLC Cataloging Partners Program improves library productivity by automatically delivering cataloging records and shelf-ready materials so libraries can put materials into circulation faster and improve the level of service they provide to their users. The Cataloging Partners Program is part of OCLC’s ongoing effort to build relationships with distributors, importers, booksellers and publishers to get bibliographic information sooner and provide full MARC cataloging and shelf-ready materials at an overall lower cost to libraries, especially for non-English and non-book materials. Through the OCLC Cataloging Partners Program, libraries place an order with a participating vendor to receive full MARC records from OCLC. OCLC works with partners to ensure that 100 percent of the titles ordered from those partners have high-quality cataloging records in WorldCat that can be supplied along with the materials at the time they are ordered. The program guarantees that all titles on a vendor’s active list are in WorldCat; OCLC Custom Services staff does any original cataloging that might be needed. For more information about the OCLC Cataloging Partners Program, visit <http://www.oclc.org/catalogingpartners/>.

OCLC Authority Control Processing Offers Getty’s AAT
Authority control processing within OCLC Custom Cataloging services has been enhanced to include the option of automated authority control using Getty’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT). Using OCLC and AAT, libraries, museums, and archives can leverage the investment they have made in their existing collections by providing better access to materials and increasing circulation. The Getty AAT is a structured vocabulary containing approximately 125,000 terms and concepts used to improve access to information about art, architecture, material culture, and archival material. Primary users of the Getty Vocabularies include museums, art libraries, archives, researchers, students, and the general public. The terms and concepts covered by the AAT range from Antiquity to the present; the scope is global.

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Last updated: March 8, 2004
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