ITEM RELEASE DATE

from Chris Moede


Vendors like to get materials to us as soon as they are able. Often this means we receive an item before it is officially released. Because we share a catalog with 6 libraries, we all need to be aware of these release dates.

Please check all items for release dates before cataloguing! Baker & Taylor and other vendors issue a packing sheet identifying items with street sensitive dates. These dates need to be followed by everyone in the LARS system. Under no circumstances should an item be catalogued and processed before this street date.

Many years ago, after problems with libraries releasing the Harry Potter book early, many vendors made libraries sign a release form that they would not release the book before the publication release date under penalty of law. The forms we had to sign were cumbersome and full of legalese. If you didn’t sign a release for an item, then the item wasn’t shipped to the library until well after the release date, which penalized us for not signing a form. We don’t want to go back to those days, so let’s be more vigilant on noticing and obeying item release dates.

Scheduled Downtime for Some OCLC Services

from an email I received today:

On Sunday, February 27 there will be a scheduled service downtime for a number of OCLC services from 1:00 am until at least 6:00 am and, at most, 11:00 am (U.S. Eastern Time). We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. We need to take the following services off-line in order to upgrade the storage systems and capacity for all OCLC services. During this time, the following services will be unavailable:



• ArchiveGrid

• Connexion

• Cover art display in WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local

• Digital Archive

• FirstSearch

• FTP services

• OCLC Usage Statistics

• WebDewey

• WorldCat Collection Analysis

• WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway

• WorldCat Identities

• WorldCat Resource Sharing

• WorldCat Selection

• xISSN and xISBN



In addition, on Sunday February 20 from 2:00 am until 4:00 am (U.S. Eastern Time), systems and storage testing will be run on WorldCat Local, WorldCat Navigator Group Catalog, OCLC Web-scale Management Services, WorldCat.org, WorldCat knowledge base and CONTENTdm. There is a slight chance that these services will be unavailable during some or all of this testing period. The test is being run in order to make sure that these user-facing services will not be affected by the downtime on February 27.



Both of these events are part of ongoing upgrades that OCLC undertakes in order to improve services for all member libraries. Again, we apologize for the disruption. We are working to minimize outages in the future, and upgrades such as this will help us provide better, more robust service going forward.



If you have any questions about these events, please don’t hesitate to contact Customer Service at 1-800-848-5800 (toll-free, U.S.) or +1-614-793-8682, or send an e-mail to operators@oclc.org.

LARS Cataloging Process & Procedure Committee

Minutes from January 20th, 2011 Meeting at Lester Public Library

Attendees: Chris Moede, Chris Hamburg, Kathy Tolksdorf, Steve Thiry & Cheryl Nessman.

1. Chris Moede welcomed the group.

2. Cheryl Nessman offered to take notes.

3. Cataloging procedures

  a. We still do not have a final date indicating when majority of System Libraries will no longer have unlimited access to OCLC records. We tried to call System Director who was unable to attend meeting and left voice mail message.

  b. It was decided that we would go ahead with LARS Cataloguing Policy as if unlimited access to OCLC records was gone. Policy will be modeled after LPL’s current policy with additions made as needed:

    i. Cheryl is to create a template for Fast Adds.

    ii. On Order records (Steve looking at possibility of using Ingram records)

    iii. Deletion of records—set to Discard

    iv. Magazine records (we all like the new look in OPAC since last change was made)

    v. Serial Records – majority of attendees agree that new record should be used for updated serials instead of adding to existing serial record because of how records currently display in OPAC (records appear on OPAC list in order of last time they were added to cat. so a record for 2010 Fodor’s might not show up on list until very bottom because we are attaching it to a serial record that has been in system for many years)

    vi. Record removal – when to do it (ILL records should be deleted when returned so circ. STATS are not counted twice)

    vii. Originally cataloging – guidelines as to when original cataloging is needed (will item be in collection long?)

4. EBook records – we looked at the dummy record Manitowoc created and discussed current circ. parameters. It was decided that further discussion should occur at next LARS Part. Meeting.

5. Training standards – Individual libraries will be responsible for training their own employees using LARS Cat. Procedures as guideline. LARS Cat. Committee will be responsible for some sort of required annual training that will be decided on after Procedures have been finalized.

6. Other items:

  a. We discussed looking into some sort of API programming which would combine records of same title, but of differing formats into one record in OPAC.

  b. We also discussed Centralized cataloging again, and Cheryl mentioned that there might be an informative session about this at the next WAPL meeting in Madison, and that each of the Libraries should try to send a representative to this session to ask questions and hear first hand what’s good and what’s bad about it.

  c. Chris mentioned the need to change item type of NetLibrary items from e-book to something more informative (since these items are not accessible in the same way Overdrive materials are—they must be read on a computer).

  d. Cheryl was asked again to send out format guidelines for On Order records (DVD, CD, Large Print)

7. Next meeting: March 24th, 9am in MPL Board Room.

8. Meeting adjourned.