NEWS FROM OCLC
Submitted to OLAC for ALA Annual, June 2003
By Jay Weitz
OCLC Connexion
Maintenance and Enhancements. OCLC continues monthly maintenance and quarterly enhancement installs to OCLC Connexion. A summary of the changes since the last update follows. Details may be found in the monthly install messages, Connexion News, the OCLC Connexion Enhancements page at
<http://www.oclc.org/connexion/enhancements/>.
January 2003: Ended support for Netscape 4.x and 6.01.
February 2003: Record Display changes and options, including new Record ID area and option to display fixed fields and status areas at either top or bottom of record; diacritics entry and display changes, with diacritics entered after characters; Constant Data (CD) enhancements, including changing "current" constant data to "default" CD and addition of "My Status" for CD; authority controlling improvements, with more automated matching of headings, especially when an exact match is not found; preferences terminology updates and enhancements.
March 2003: WebDewey/Abridged WebDewey Quarterly Update; News database moved to Oracle.
April 2003: Digital Archive and CatExpress Export databases moved to Oracle.
May 2003: Searching enhancements, including retaining previous searches, adding an Internet Qualifier option in Keyword searching, and allowing command line searching for the Authority database; changing the way Save file slot numbers are assigned in order to eliminate problems with database contention; in addition, the Save file assigns slot numbers 1-9999 and does not assign slot number 0.
June 2003: Some problem fixes; OCLC PICA Dutch Catalogue GGC becomes the first database to be linked remotely through Connexion, providing Search and Derive; WebDewey/Abridged WebDewey Quarterly Update, with WebDewey now based on Edition 22.
Client Interface and Passport End of Life. The Windows-based Connexion client interface is currently in field test, and OCLC has discovered some performance issues related to response time that do not meet the criteria that OCLC cataloging members have come to expect. Improving the response time for both the client and browser interfaces is a top priority for OCLC staff. Because OCLC wants its clients to have a positive experience when migrating to the client, OCLC has decided to delay the release of the client interface. At this time, it is expected that the first release of the client (online cataloging functionality without NACO) to be in the September/October 2003 timeframe. Since OCLC''s top priority with both the Connexion client and browser is providing adequate performance levels, OCLC will not be able to move all Passport functionality to Connexion in the schedule previously outlined. As a result, OCLC will extend the life of Passport for cataloging past the previously announced end of life date of December 31, 2003. The new end of life date for Passport for cataloging will depend on the release dates for the first and second phases of the client. OCLC will provide at least a six-month notice of the new end of life date. At this time, OCLC is focusing on Passport functionality, and has not finalized the plans for migrating CatME functionality. No end of life date has been set for CatME. The third phase of the client will include offline local files, batch functionality, and other CatME-like features. More information about phase 3 and the end of life for CatME will be announced at a later time.
OCLC PICA Dutch Catalogue GGC. The OCLC PICA Dutch Catalogue GGC is being made available to Connexion users. The PICAGGC database resides in Leiden, the Netherlands, and is made up of over 18 million authority and bibliographic records for materials in all formats. Used primarily by Dutch libraries for their daily cataloging, it is a rich source of bibliographic information for European publications. It is the first database to be linked remotely through Connexion. Users may access this database through the Connexion browser (it will not be available in the Connexion client). By opening the Cataloging Search option, choose "PICA GGC". Searching in PICA GGC will mirror search applications in the Resource Catalog, but may retrieve both bibliographic and authority records. The resulting records are in MARC format. The only functionality associated with the PICA GGC records will be printing, and deriving (bibliographic records only). In deriving the bibliographic record, all Connexion functionality is present. A new Source status has been defined for the saved records. Users may limit by, or search by Status: PICA GGC. Once a record has been added to WorldCat, there will be no indication of the original source. When deriving records from PICA GGC, users are reminded to search WorldCat first to determine that the record does not already exist in WorldCat. The language of the cataloging should be in the language of the deriving library. For instance, notes may need to be converted from Dutch to English. While the Dutch subject headings may be retained, users are urged to add subject headings appropriate to their audience.
MARC Update
Changes to OCLC's implementation of the MARC21 formats were implemented on May 18, 2003. Besides several miscellaneous changes, the major changes improve the compatibility between UKMARC and MARC21, add subfield $u for URLs to several specific notes fields, revise coding practices in field 655 (Genre/Form Headings), and implement several new MARC21 Language Codes. Specific details are outlined in Technical Bulletin 249, "OCLC-MARC Format Update 2003". (For an HTML version of Technical Bulletin 249, see <http://www.oclc.org/technicalbulletins/249/>; for a PDF version, see <http://www.oclc.org/technicalbulletins/249/249.pdf>.)
OCLC Access Suite: Windows 98 and NT Support to End June 30
OCLC will discontinue support for Windows 98 and NT 4.0 on June 30, 2003, at the time that Microsoft discontinues support. OCLC expects that applications will continue to work; however, not testing will be completed and no support will be offered for Windows 98 and NT 4.0 after this date. The OCLC Access Suite Applications System Requirements document on the OCLC Website <http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/suite/systemrequirements.htm> has been updated to reflect this change.
(See more information on OCLC services in the News and Announcements column--Ed.)
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Last updated: September 3, 2003
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