OCLC-Millennium synchronization

Author: smoody
Posted in: Cataloging & Metadata Council

Background

Library Systems Office and OCLC automated processing will work to set and remove holdings correctly in most cases. However, there are several situations where catalogers will need to do some manual OCLC holdings maintenance in order to ensure that our Millennium and OCLC holdings stay in sync.

OCLC holdings processing is very complex, and can be affected by a long list of record “qualifiers or match points”, for example, title and publication date. In other words, the presence of a matching OCLC number in OCLC and Millennium is only one of many elements that OCLC uses to determine matching and processing of our records.

All bibliographic fields except for 5XX, 6XX, 856, and 9XX are part of the OCLC matching algorithm, either as a primary matching level qualifier, or as part of an enhanced, complex, full matching routine. Any edits to primary match qualifiers in Millennium, without the corresponding edits to the OCLC Master Record, can have an effect on automated matching in OCLC, and may cause the record to match on some other OCLC record, create a new record in OCLC, or be rejected. This is why it is extremely important to do ALL bibliographic edits (except local field edits: XX9, X9X, 9XX, 5XX, 6XX, 856, or 9XX) in OCLC, replace the Master Record, and then export the edited record to Millennium. If an edit is not appropriate as part of the universal description of the resource in the OCLC Master Record, then the data should be recorded in fields designated for copy-specific information.

It is recognized that there are some OCLC bibliographic records that have been “authenticated” by a national cataloging agency (see MARC field 042). In these cases, depending upon a cataloger’s training and program authorization (e.g. BIBCO, CONSER, NACO) it may not be possible to replace the OCLC Master Record with relevant universal description data. Changes made to the OCLC record in such a case will not be preserved in the Master Record. Also, note that we cannot control what others do to OCLC Master Records after the “snapshot” copy has been exported to Millennium. What others do may affect how our record is processed by OCLC, causing it to match on some other OCLC record. For these cases, LSO is working on automation to report them to the Catalog Department for follow-up.

Where holdings symbols are referred to, in this document below, it is understood that they are: CUY, CBG, LLB, ZAP, and ZAPSP. It is important that catalogers remember to look for all 5 holdings symbols, where applicable.

Synchronization Scenarios

Note: In every case below, the record to be overlaid is a cataloged record (i.e. it has a CatDate), not an uncataloged acquisition record (no CatDate).

Insufficient or low-level OCLC catalog record in Millennium, to be overlaid by same OCLC record:

Search Millennium by title for the record.

Search in OCLC by OCLC number
Make any needed edits to OCLC record. Replace the Master Record if any universal description edits are made. Add any local or copy-specific information after replacing the Master Record.
If CUY/CBG/LLB/ZAP/ZAPSP holdings are not already set, set appropriate holdings in OCLC.
Export OCLC record to Millennium; the new version of the record will overlay the existing Millennium record based on the matching OCLC numbers.
OCLC will perform a full match process on the record when it is next sent back to OCLC for holdings processing. OCLC will set holdings, if needed. The correct OCLC number will be loaded back to Millennium with the following week’s cross reference report, which confirms successful processing. For serials, a Local Holdings Record will be recreated with the subsequent Local Holdings Record upload from Millennium to OCLC.

Incorrect or undesired OCLC record in Millennium, to be overlaid by different OCLC record # (Millennium record does not accurately describe piece in hand):

Search Millennium by title for the record.

See details on avoiding OCLC number duplicates. It is important to search Millennium first, because there may already be a record in the catalog, for example, when more than one acceptable master record exists in OCLC, or when a Millennium bib has had all held copies withdrawn and holdings have been canceled in OCLC. In both cases it may not be obvious that we already have a record in Millennium unless Millennium is searched first by title.

Verify that no other Millennium bib record exists for the piece in hand.
If holdings exist for other OskiCat locations, consult with those shelving locations to determine whether or not all copies are the same bibliographic entity. **MECHANISM NEEDED FOR THIS! **
If all copies are the same bibliographic entity, then proceed with overlay as below.
If some copies are correctly described by the Millennium bib record, but others aren’t (e.g. different editions) leave the Millennium bib as is and export a different OCLC record to Millennium for each distinct bibliographic entity that has no bib record in Millennium. Coordinate with other cataloging unit(s) as appropriate to move/update their items or OCLC holdings for their OCLC symbol.
If no copies are correctly described by the Millennium bib record and are manifestations of more than one bibliographic entity, overlay the Millennium bib record for one of the bibliographic entities, as described below, and export a different OCLC record to Millennium for each additional bibliographic entity that has no bib record in Millennium. Coordinate with other cataloging unit(s) as appropriate to move/update their items or OCLC holdings for their OCLC symbol.
Search in OCLC by OCLC number (e.g., copy and paste the number from Millennium bibliographic MARC tag 001 into “Search WorldCat”)
Delete any of the Berkeley holdings symbols (CUY, CBG, LLB, ZAP, ZAPSP)/Local Holdings Record (if present) from the incorrect or undesired OCLC record. **MECHANISM NEEDED FOR THIS! Someone at BadCat with authorizations for all?**
CUY cataloging units delete holdings for CUY
CBG deletes holdings for CBG
Catalog Dept. deletes holdings for LLB
NRLF deletes holdings for ZAP and ZAPSP
After finding the new, desired OCLC record, make any needed edits to the record. Replace the Master Record if any universal description edits are made. Add any local or copy-specific information [10] after replacing the Master Record.
If CUY/CBG/LLB/ZAP/ZAPSP holdings are not already set, set holdings as appropriate in OCLC.
Export the new OCLC record to Millennium, using the 907 field to manually overlay the existing Millennium record using the Millennium bib number (.b number).
OCLC will perform a full match process on the record when it is next sent back to OCLC for holdings processing. OCLC will set holdings, if needed. The correct OCLC number will be loaded back to Millennium with the following week’s cross reference report, which confirms successful processing. For serials, a Local Holdings Record will be recreated with the subsequent Local Holdings Record upload from Millennium to OCLC.

Two or more records for the same resource with different OCLC numbers in Millennium:

Search Millennium by title for the records.
If the Millennium bib records are equivalent, assume that the copies on the different bibs are the same resource.
Determine which Millennium bib record is better. The better record is the “winning” record.
When one Millennium bib emerges as the “winning” record, transfer all attached order, holdings, and item records from the “losing” record to the “winning” record. Mark the “losing” record for deletion. If any of the attached records needing to be transferred fall under the purview of another cataloging unit, coordinate transferring the attached records with that cataloging unit.
If edits to the “winning” Millennium bib are necessary, proceed to the section above “Insufficient or low-level OCLC catalog record in Millennium, to be overlaid by same OCLC record” above.

OCLC-Millennium synchronization

Insufficient or low-level OCLC catalog record in Millennium, to be overlaid by same OCLC record:

Incorrect or undesired OCLC record in Millennium, to be overlaid by different OCLC record # (Millennium record does not accurately describe piece in hand):

Two or more records for the same resource with different OCLC numbers in Millennium:

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