Quoting Kyle Banerjee <banerjek_at_UOREGON.EDU>:
>
> Everyone makes a big deal about the bib records, but that's the least
> interesting part of the system.
>
> Without a continuously updated holdings database, the bib info loses a huge
> amount of its value.
I agree with this: that the real value is in the holdings (both
physical and electronic). Having bib records without any way to get to
the item isn't very useful. I can't remember the number of holdings
that OCLC cites, but clearly it is the holdings information that sends
people to WorldCat. And, of course, the essence of ILL services is
knowing what libraries have an item. This is one of the key issues in
the lawsuit since 1) III has quite a market in its ILL services and 2)
the MSU record uploading problem was really about getting their
holdings into OCLC for the purposes of ILL. I don't recall anything in
the complaint (lawsuit) that spoke about bibliographic records per se.
This, of course, makes the record use policy all that more ... I'm
groping for a word here, something like "puzzling" but with more
pizazz. In the policy, OCLC appears to be protecting the bibliographic
records, and doesn't speak to holdings-related issues like call
numbers, library locations, etc. This always... uh, puzzled me. (So I
guess that's why I find it puzzling.) I could surmise that there is
something devious going on, but I can't imagine what it would be.
Could OCLC have missed this key point? I think not. Perhaps they just
assumed that "WorldCat" records meant bib and holdings? In any case,
their definition of WorldCat Data is that it is "metadata for an
information object" which to me doesn't necessarily include holdings
in my mind, but maybe it does in theirs.
Full definition:
"WorldCat Data. For purposes of this policy, WorldCat data is metadata
for an information object, generally in the form of a record or
records encoded in MARC format, whose source is or at one point in
time was the WorldCat bibliographic database."
kc
--
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
Received on Fri Aug 06 2010 - 20:04:20 EDT