OBS OCLC COMMITTEE Susan Chinoransky George Washington University Law Library schinoransky@burns.nlc.gwu.edu

I first became acquainted with OCLC in October of 1991 (not such a long time ago), when Passport was new, and OCLC wasn’t much more than a bibliographic utility. The OCLC of today is much more diversified, dealing with reference services, contract cataloging, software innovations, as well as providers of bibliographic records to a global community. In many ways, OCLC has helped to shape the way our technical services departments function. As I prepared for the daunting task of composing a column for this issue of TSLL, it soon became apparent that I was in over my head. The more I learned about OCLC, the less I knew! Please bear with me as I valiantly attempt to fill the shoes of past chair George Prager, whose OCLC column was always full of useful information.

New Publication: History of OCLC

I eagerly await the publication of the history of OCLC. OCLC 1967-1997: Thirty Years of Furthering Access to the World’s Information is edited by former OCLC President and CEO K. Wayne Smith, and due out in the third quarter of 1998. According to the blurb by George Promenschenkel in the May/ June 1998 issue of OCLC Newsletter, "the book provides a look back across 30 years of continuous technological change as OCLC grew from an Ohio network of 54 academic libraries to a global network of more than 27,000 libraries in 64 countries and territories, and also looks ahead to the future of OCLC and libraries."

Flat Fee Internet Pricing

As of July 1, 1998, libraries have an alternative to the traditional Internet connect time charge. With the advent of flat fee Internet pricing, libraries can choose to pay a flat, monthly connect charge for each simultaneous user. The services supported by the new pricing option include: OCLC Cataloging, OCLC Selection, OCLC Interlibrary Loan, and OCLC Union List. Other pricing options available at this time include: Internet Connect-Hour access, dedicated TCP/IP access, and dial TCP/ IP access. With the decommissioning of the OCLC Multidrop Network by the beginning of the year 2001, flat fee pricing becomes a much-needed alternative option to the more traditional pricing structures. Information on OCLC pricing can be found on the OCLC website at: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/com.htm.

OCLC PromptCat Service

The OCLC PromptCat Service was briefly discussed during this year’s OBS-SIS Roundtable discussion. For those unfamiliar with the service, PromptCat automatically provides copy cataloging for monographic library materials as libraries receive them from participating vendors. Currently, the list of vendors includes: Academic Book Center, Ambassador Book Service, Baker & Taylor, Inc., Blackwell’s Book Services, Book Clearing House, the Book House, Inc., Casalini Libri, DA Information Services, Pty. Ltd., Majors Scientific Books, Inc., Rittenhouse Book Distributors, Inc., and Yankee Book Peddler. Vendors who plan to participate in the future include: Brodart Company, Coutts Library Services, Inc., Eastern Book Company, Franklin Book Co., Inc., Iberbook International, S.L., Puvill Libros, S.A., and Jean Touzot Libraire Editeur. As you can discern from this list, law library vendors participating in this service are practically nonexistent. Until such time as major legal vendors such as West, Lexis, and BNA join the list, this service seems of limited use to law libraries. Perhaps we on the library side should contact our vendors to assure them that this service is indeed worth consideration. PromptCat has the potential to be a truly cost-effective feature to technical services departments.

CatME Enhancements

For those of you who use CatME, Version 1.10 should be available in early 1999. Some of the enhancements include the ability to:

» Specify which column and row to begin printing labels for laser printer stock.

» Define a font size for printing labels and define a font size for printing records and lists different from the font size for display.

» Specify blank lines in automatic stamps to separate the automatic stamp from the call number on labels.

» Specify having batch reports printed automatically after batch processing completes.

» Specify downloading up to 100 matches for batch searching; currently this is limited to 10 matches.

» Launch your default Web browser and define a default URL within the CatME software.

» Import original records created in your local system from a USMARC file into a workform in CatME for processing to WorldCat.

» Turn off delete confirmations when deleting records from the local file or deleting the entire local file.

» Define a keystroke to apply a string of characters that are used frequently ("simplified constant data").

» Specify to receive a warning when taking final actions (update, produce, etc.) while logged on interactively.

» Copy text from the displayed batch reports from the View menu to paste into other Windows applications.

» Display records with URLs where the URL will be a hotlink to the Web address.

OCLC has made available an automatic notification service whereby catalogers can receive an email message when Version 1.10 is made available. To access this service, go to the URL-Minder Registration Form on the OCLC Access Suite download site at http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/suite/index.htm and select Download Software.

Type Code Editing

Catalogers can now change the "Type of Record" code (USMARC Leader/06) to correct format inaccuracies in records created before the recent USMARC policy change, which now emphasizes record content rather than physical carrier (for instance, a CD-ROM issued serially is now coded as a serial rather than a computer file). Changes can be made on all unlocked or locally edited bibliographic records; the modification will not affect the master record (unless the user is authorized to do so). In order to change a Type Code:

1. Overtype the incorrect Type Code with the correct one.

2. Press F11. The record redisplays with the fixed-field mnemonics of the new Type of Record. Further editing of the redisplayed fixed field (and possibly other elements in the record) is necessary before the record will pass validation.

Bits and Pieces