CalCat Newsletter October 2006

Articles

 

State Librarian Announces First Search Subscription for 2006-07

Susan Hildreth, the California State Librarian, announces the continuation of FirstSearch subscriptions to WorldCat and its sub-set, the California Libraries Catalog for all the public libraries in the State for a second fiscal year, 2006-07. These subscriptions will allow library users access to holdings of all libraries throughout California and the world who participate in OCLC’s shared bibliographic files.

Susan Hildreth’s vision is that these subscriptions will allow the California’s public library’s holdings to be visible on the Internet in addition to an individual library's catalog.

California’s public libraries are encouraged to take advantage of these subscriptions and the free update of their bibliographic records in the OCLC/WorldCat database. For more information about this year’s grant, contact: Rush Brandis at the California State Library: rbrandis@library.ca.gov 916.653.5471.

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CLA Program: CalCat 2006 Update

Early risers will be excited to know about the opportunity to attend the Sunrise Seminar sponsored by Califa, OCLC and the California State Library on Sunday, November 12 from 7:30-8:45 a.m. in the Sheraton Hotel's Bondi Room. Presenters from librarians will demonstrate how they are using their State-provided subscription to WorldCat and Calcat to improve their library services. Presenters include: Miguel Acosta (County of Los Angeles PL) will show how Santa Monica Public Library links its holdings to nearby libraries; Henry Bankhead of Santa Clara County PL will show how they use the patron-placed email ILL feature of Worldcat; Rebeca Bergeon of Calif. State Univ.-Monterey Bay will explain how the Monterey Bay Area Consortium (MOBAC) uses CalCat as their union list and ILL system; Anthony Costa of Califa will demonstrate the Califa-sponsored EZ Proxy remote authentication module, and Heather Buettner will preview the Teen Marketing materials being developed by Califa.

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Teen Marketing Campaign Seeks Advisory Committee Volunteers

Librarians are invited to join a CALCAT Teen Task Force to help us design materials and a marketing campaign to reach middle and high school students and to promote the use of WorldCat and Calcat through California’s public libraries, schools and school libraries.

The group will only need to meet a few times over the next couple of months to review drafts of materials that will also be presented at the November California Library Association conference in Sacramento (November 11-13) and distributed this winter. If you’re interested in participating in this committee that will meet via conference calls and web-based teleconferences, please contact: hbuettner@califa.org.

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Calcat Accessibility Audit


The Center for Accessible Technology located in Berkeley, California has been hired to perform an accessibility audit of the California Libraries Catalog website (www.calcat.org) in order that the site be more fully accessible by users who have visual or other physical challenges. The report will prioritize problem areas and make recommendations on how to make the site more usable by disabled library staff and library users.

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A Guide to WorldCat, Open Worldcat and Worldcat.org

With OCLC’s announcement of its launch of its own search tool: Worldcat.org to access the records of Open WorldCat, California libraries have asked us what is the difference between this new service and the other versions of WorldCat and the California Libraries Catalog (CalCat). The following is an attempt to define the differences among the various collections of OCLC bibliographic records and the variation in accessing these records. A summary table follows this narrative comparison:

BACKGROUND:
For many years, libraries throughout the world have been cataloging their books, pictures, audio and video materials and sharing their cataloging records through a central database known as WorldCat, organized by OCLC, a non-profit organization located in Ohio. Once an important resource primarily for catalogers, the WorldCat holdings of almost 70 million bibliographic/catalog records (representing more than a billion copies of items) from more than 55,000 libraries worldwide has developed into the most comprehensive listing of materials in the world’s libraries. This is now a valuable tool for researchers, students, bibliophiles, and anyone interested in locating library materials. Now libraries use WorldCat for not only for cataloging, but many libraries also pay annual subscriptions for access to all the records of WorldCat through the FirstSearch interface, a searching system that allows users to look at WorldCat and other databases for reference, interlibrary-loan, and information. Subscribing libraries also automatically have their records and holdings shown in the publicly-viewable versions of the WorldCat database: Open WorldCat and WorldCat.org

OPEN WORLDCAT:
Open WorldCat is a subset of OCLC’s master WorldCat file. Since only libraries that pay for an annual subscription to WorldCat are listed in the Open WorldCat, only approximately 80% of library holdings are listed in Open WorldCat. Since every California public library has a First Search subscription through a California State Library grant, most of their holdings should be included in Open WorldCat.

Uses of Open WorldCat:
OCLC is partnering with vendors to show selected records of Open WorldCat to the vendors’ clients. Vendors chooses how many records to make available, how they are used, and how they are searched.).

  • Google & Yahoo: These search engines search the most popular items in the Open WorldCat file (approximately 4 million records). Web users can use the terms “Find in a Library” to obtain information about the library locations of various books, documents and other materials. With the use of a zip code, users can also locate nearby libraries that own specific titles.
  • Other vendors that access the Open WorldCat file include:

WORLDCAT.ORG
WorldCat.org is OCLC’s new initiative to make all Open WorldCat information available to the general public. Unlike vendors who use Open WorldCat, WorldCat.org allows anyone to search and display all of the records and holdings of libraries that subscribe to WorldCat through FirstSearch.

Uses of WorldCat.org

  • The new WorldCat.org site features many user-friendly features, including simple choice of search terms, languages, and material format. A zip code field also helps users find nearby libraries.

FIRST SEARCH SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Many libraries subscribe to databases through OCLC’s FirstSearch system. The core database is OCLC’s own WorldCat, the full listing of every item cataloged by participating libraries around the world. Libraries can also separately subscribe to sub-grouping of the WorldCat database, the most relevant being the group of holdings from all California’s libraries, known as the California Libraries Catalog or CalCat.org.

WORLDCAT: In California, the California State Library has provided FirstSearch subscriptions to WorldCat for every public library in the State. This means that every public library has its own authorization to access all WorldCat holdings.

CALCAT (California Libraries Catalog): As a result of the State Library’s initiative to offer public library subscriptions to WorldCat, the State Library also specified a subdivision of the California holdings into California regions, library systems, and by type-of-libraries. These sub-groupings are known as the California Libraries Catalog and the holding of every library who contributes catalog records to OCLC is listed in this subgroup. A more limited version of California Libraries Catalog is available at www.Calcat.org (see below)

Unique Value of FirstSearch Subscriptions to WorldCat/CalCat:

  • Robust Search strategies: FirstSearch allows for sophisticated search strategies. The searching on Open WorldCat through Google and Yahoo and other search engines is far more limited.
  • Remote Authentication: Use of the library's account number and password allows patron authentication via library card to the full OCLC WorldCat database.
  • Customization: Each FirstSearch subscription comes with an administrative password that allows an individual library to customize the FirstSearch interface to use the library’s logo, color scheme and other attributes to emulate the “branding” of the library’s subscription.
  • Statistics: The administrative password allows viewing of user statistics.
  • Links to ILL: An email ILL notification system is part of the FirstSearch subscription and can be used by a subscribing library. Libraries can also use OCLC’s other ILL modules to automate ILL, rank and search by systems and local area libraries, and automate the patron notification process.
  • Other links: Libraries with FirstSearch subscriptions can also add links to other resources such as ABEbooks, Amazon.com, etc. They can also link to Z39.50 resources and resources using open URLs.


CALCAT.ORG
Similar to WorldCat.org; www.Calcat.org provides a more limited public view of the California Libraries Catalog than available through a library’s FirstSearch subscription or WorldCat.org. Calcat.org lists only the holdings of the California Public Libraries, or with verification of a California residential address, the holdings of all libraries in California that catalog their materials on OCLC.

Calcat.org uses the same Firstsearch interface, allowing sophisticated searching.

Uses of Calcat.org

  • For libraries that do not have remote patron authentication
  • For people that only wish to search libraries in California
  • For people that want to see California library by type (eg. Law Libraries) or by library system or region.


For questions about any of these databases and search strategies, contact:
1: WorldCat; OpenWorldCat; WorldCat.org: OCLC Western: 800-854-5753
2: California Libraries Catalog, Calcat.org: California State Library: Rush Brandis or
Califa Library Group: Roberto Esteves
3: If you have questions or comments, please use the following form.

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Summary Guide

Data Base WorldCat Open World Cat WorldCat.org
WorldCat via Calcat.org portal

Calcat.org (California Libraries Catalog
Geographic
Coverage		 Worldwide Worldwide Worldwide California California
Scope of Libraries Included All world-wide libraries that catalog or share holding approximately: 55,000 libraries Only those libraries that subscribed to WorldCat thru FirstSearch
Approx: 5,700 libs
 Only those
libraries that have First Search)
 California libraries with holdings in WorldCat
 California
Public libraries only (all have grant-funded First Search subscription)
Scope of Materials Searched Includes all bibliographic records and holdings of all libraries: approx 70 million records; 1 billion holdings Vendors select specific scope of materials to be searched All records searched, but holdings restricted to holding of those libraries that subscribe to First Search
(All 70 million records, but only 80% of WorldCat holdings: approx.830 million holdings)		 Includes records and all holdings reported by California libraries (many being in process of being added) All records and all holdings reported by California Public Libraries.
Scope of Display Displays all records & specific holdings of all libraries Items are selected & displayed according to specific vendor specs: e.g. Google, Alibris, BookPage

Displays only holdings of libraries that subscribe to FirstSearch WorldCat

 Displays only holdings of libraries that subscribe to FirstSearch WorldCat Displays all records and holdings Full FirstSearch search strategies
Access to Materials Restricted to subscribing (FirstSearch) libraries and their users using library card or Remote Patron Authentication [RPA] Open to general public through vendor portals Open to general public without restriction Restricted to residents of California who enter a valid address on the site Open to general public
Search Strategy First Search: Detailed fields and sophisticated search strategies Depends upon vendors’ front-end search mechanism Single search box using keywords Full FirstSearch search strategies Full FirstSearch search strategies

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Batch Loading

With the increasing public access to library holdings through Open Worldcat, Worldcat.org, and Catcat.org, the importance of having your library’s records in OCLC is even greater than before. An important part of the California State Library’s agreement with OCLC to provide WorldCat subscriptions to the public libraries of California is the provision to update each library’s or group of libraries’ holdings in OCLC at no charge to the individual libraries. This update may be either a retrospective load of library records or a “reclamation” that matches a library’s catalog holdings with the library’s holdings already in WorldCat. Libraries will be expected to maintain their records after the batchload. OCLC will help libraries plan their batchload and provide a timetable to batch-load and upload records for your library. For more background information or how to prepare your library’s bibliographic data files, go to the Batchload information on the “For Librarians” page on the Calcat.org site. You can also discuss your specific library’s issues with Margi Mann at OCLC Western. She can be reached at 800-854-5753 or (360) 923-4033 or at mannm@oclc.org.

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Comment Form

There’s been a new addition to the Calcat.org site: a form for librarians and the general public to ask questions or make comments about WorldCat or the California Libraries Catalog. The form is listed under “For More Information” (upper right of the calcat.org site and under “For Librarians” tab (last entry) on the lower right side of the calcat.org homepage. Answers and significant comments will be compiled and either posted to the Calcat.org site or summarized in the next newsletter.

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