Kate, everyone,
I can weigh in here and say that MARC Records from WorldCat that look to
be archival (that is, there is a certain set of fields and indicator
content that we are filtering for) are loaded into ArchiveGrid on a
regular basis (I think it's quarterly -- we're just about to update the
index with a fresh batch of MARC records). This accounts for more than
90% of what is in ArchiveGrid; the remainder is EAD, HTML along with a
small bit of PDF and Word files. So saying that MARC is an important
part of the description/discovery universe is putting it mildly.
I can say anecdotally that many institutions did not load their unique
content into WorldCat because one of the factors that motivated
institutions to contribute was resource sharing -- since special
collections materials are not (typically) loaned via ILL, it didn't make
sense to include them in WorldCat. Now that WorldCat has become more of
a general discovery tool on the open web, and with more institutions
moving to WorldCat Local, that has changed and we see more institutions
contributing these records to WorldCat.
OCLC Research makes ArchiveGrid available *for free* at
beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid. I'm happy to answer more questions about
the service. OCLC Research staff will also be showing it off at RBMS and
SAA this year.
Best,
Merrilee
Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer
OCLC Research
-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Bowers, Kate A.
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 1:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Archival records in WorldCat?
Q: "I'm wondering how many institutions ... contribut[e] records for
their manuscript collections to WorldCat."
A: We create MARC records in the local ILS and the records are sent to
OCLC/WorldCat with other MARC records from our institution.
Q: "... take the extra step of..."
A: Our staff do not work directly in OCLC, so contributions to WorldCat
are not an "extra step" for us, although this may entail some extra
steps for the systems office. However, I think this also means we do
not get OCLC cataloging credit for those records.
Q: "If you do or do not, could you tell me why or why not?"
A: One reason is that it provides extra access without requiring an
extra step. Another is ArchiveGrid. No doubt someone from
OCLC/WorldCat/ArchiveGrid could weigh in on how the data in ArchiveGrid
populated and any connection with WorldCat.
Q: "Has it always been that way or has it changed?"
A: We've been sharing our MARC records for a long time.
Q:"If you do, who is responsible for that step (you, cataloging dept,
etc.) and how do you ensure that WorldCat records remain up to date?"
A: The updates made in the ILS are sent to OCLC. There is no extra
step.
Kate
---------------
Kate Bowers
Collections Services Archivist
Harvard University Archives
Cambridge, MA 02138
[log in to unmask]
voice: (617) 384-7787
fax: (617) 495-8011
web: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:archives
-----Original Message-----
From: Michele R Combs [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 3:33 PM
To: Archives & Archivists (A&A) List
Cc: Encoded Archival Description List ([log in to unmask])
Subject: [archives] Archival records in WorldCat?
Hello collective wisdom --
I'm wondering how many institutions take the extra step of contributing
records for their manuscript collections to WorldCat. If you do or do
not, could you tell me why or why not? Has it always been that way or
has it changed? If you do, who is responsible for that step (you,
cataloging dept, etc.) and how do you ensure that WorldCat records
remain up to date?
Thanks
Michele
+++++++++++++++
Michele Combs
Lead Archivist
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University
315-443-2081
[log in to unmask]
scrc.syr.edu
library-blog.syr.edu/scrc
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