I am pleased to announce OCLC has successfully completed the SERHOLD to
OCLC
Batch Update pilot project which tested the exporting of serial
holdings
data from the National Library of Medicine's DOCLINE and into the OCLC
Union
List system.  The pilot project was conducted from November 2001 to
April
2003 with 8 libraries who participate in both DOCLINE and OCLC.   The
first
production data export will be performed over the July 4th weekend,
but
libraries are being encouraged to authorize their participation as soon
as
possible.

NLM also made this announcement to their users via the DOCLINE-L list
on
Thursday afternoon; OCLC is posting this announcement and FAQs (below)
today
on ILL-L and UL-L.  Apologies for cross-postings.

Questions should be referred to regional SERHOLD coordinators or Deena
Acton
at the National Library of Medicine via email <[log in to unmask]>,
or to
an OCLC regional service provider
http://www.oclc.org/contacts/regional/.


FAQs: SERHOLD-to-OCLC Batch Update

What is SERHOLD to OCLC Batch Update?  It is several programs that
were
written by both NLM and OCLC to take holdings from SERHOLD and load
them
into OCLC.  It enables libraries to enter holdings into SERHOLD and not
have
to rekey the same information into OCLC.  The holdings of all libraries
that
indicate via the DOCUSER Codes screen, Batch Update Authorization field
that
""NLM is authorized to send a copy of my library's holdings to OCLC",
will
be batched in a file and sent to OCLC once per quarter at the same time
that
the Library Group Union List products are generated, generally the
first
weekend of the month in January, April, July, and October.  All
holdings are
extracted for the first update.  If a library does not change their
authorization, only changed holdings and deleted holdings are extracted
the
second time; holdings that have not been changed or deleted will not
be
provided to OCLC a second time.

If my library participates in both OCLC and SERHOLD, how can I ensure
that
my holdings will be extracted and given to OCLC?  Within DOCUSER, click
on
the Codes Tab.  If there is no value in the OCLC Symbol 1 field, input
your
OCLC Symbol.  If you have values in OCLC Symbol 2 and/or OCLC Symbol
3,
remove them.  Holdings will only map to one OCLC Symbol.  The Batch
Update
Authorization field has a drop down list of 4 values.  The default is
"No
Authorization Given".  Change field to equal "NLM is authorized to send
a
copy of my library's holdings to OCLC".

What does the SERHOLD to OCLC batch update cost?  If your library is an
OCLC
participant, there is no charge.  If your library does not yet have an
OCLC
symbol, your library will have to be "profiled" by your OCLC regional
service provider (RSP).  OCLC does not charge profiling fees; however,
the
RSP can charge a profiling fee and may also charge a membership fee.
Please
see http://www.oclc.org/contacts/regional/ for more information about
RSPs.

When will this function be released to the libraries?  NLM plans to
extract
the first holdings data for libraries (who authorize NLM to do so) on
the
July 4 weekend.  OCLC plans to load the holdings into their system
within
one month of receipt.  NLM will continue to extract holdings data at
the
beginning of each quarter when they normally produce the Library Group
Union
List products.

I participate in both DOCLINE and OCLC, but I don't want my holdings to
go
from SERHOLD to OCLC.  What do I have to do to prevent this?  Nothing.
The
default value for Batch Update Authorization is "No authorization
given."
You only have to make a change if you want us to send your library's
holdings to OCLC.

My library is part of a larger institution that uses one OCLC code (ex.
MWF)
with multiple holding library codes for each "branch" (ex. MWFA and
MWFB).
Can I still participate in SERHOLD to OCLC Batch Update?
Unfortunately, no.
OCLC replaces the pre-existing set of local data records (LDRs)
attached to
a specific bibliographic record with the holdings records sent for
batch
updating.  If your medical library, the science library, and the main
library all had holdings on the same title, the holdings for your
library
would be updated and the holdings for the other two libraries would be
removed.  In your library's case, it would be better to update in both
systems or to wait for the OCLC to SERHOLD batch update program which
is
being tested with pilot libraries and will be available in a future
DOCLINE
release.  In this way, all holdings for your library (MWFA) will be
sent
from OCLC to SERHOLD and we will update SERHOLD with this information.
Any
titles that are not in LOCATORplus will be rejected.

How can I report that my holdings were attached to the wrong record in
OCLC?
NLM and OCLC have worked for many months in order to get the correct
OCLC
number in NLM's catalog, LOCATORplus, and also the NLM Unique ID into
the
corresponding OCLC record.  Despite all of our work, there are bound to
be a
few mismatches or discrepancies where OCLC and NLM's cataloging
practices
disagree.  NLM is working on procedures for identifying records where
cataloging practices disagree and reporting incorrect matches, and will
send
further instructions concerning this within the next couple of months.

When will OCLC to SERHOLD Batch Update be available?  We currently have
3
pilot libraries.  OCLC has provided NLM with data for these pilot
libraries
that are being reviewing in a test environment.  For 2 of the pilot
libraries, NLM will load data into production later this year.  After
a
successful pilot library load, NLM will release this program to other
libraries.  NLM will notify users via DOCLINE-L prior to the release.