Frequently asked questions

eSerials Holdings frequently asked questions

General questions

• How does the eSerials Holdings service work?
  

  For your library’s electronic serials that have ISSNs, the eSerials Holdings service automates the maintenance of title-level holdings in WorldCat. It does this at no charge if your library is an OCLC member.

  Here’s how it works.

  First, you order the service via the OCLC Online Service Center. When you order, you indicate how OCLC will receive a monthly list of the titles and ISSNs of your library’s electronic serials. If your serials management service is one of OCLC’s partners in the eSerials Holdings service, you could specify that OCLC should acquire the list from the partner. Otherwise, you could indicate that your library will provide the list through the OCLC Electronic Data Exchange (EDX) service or that OCLC should harvest (retrieve) the list from your library’s server. For more information about these options, see the Ordering Guide.

  When OCLC processes your first list, it adds your library’s OCLC symbol to each WorldCat electronic-serial record that matches the title and ISSN of a serial in your list. Then it prepares a report that contains a list of each serial for which it added your symbol. The report also contains a list of the serials for which it did not add your symbol because it did not find a matching WorldCat electronic-serial record. It does not find a matching record if it cannot choose the best of multiple matches, if the serial has no ISSN, or if WorldCat does not contain a record for the electronic version of the serial. (WorldCat contains more than 27,000 records for the electronic versions of serials. OCLC does not add your symbol to a record for the print version of a serial.)

  Each succeeding month OCLC receives and processes an updated list of your library’s electronic serials. For any serial that was added to your list, OCLC adds your symbol if it can find a matching WorldCat record. For any serial that was removed from your list, OCLC removes your symbol from the matching record. Then it prepares a report that contains a list of the serials for which it added your symbol, a list of the serials for which it removed your symbol, and list of all the serials for which it did not find a matching record.

• My serials management service is not an OCLC partner. What should I do?
  

  If your serials management service is not one of OCLC’s partners in the eSerials Holdings service, you can ask them to participate and refer them to the information for prospective eSerials partners. Also, you can order the service without their participation if your library can provide a monthly list of the titles and ISSNs of its electronic serials or if OCLC can harvest (retrieve) the list from your library’s server. For more information about these options, see the Ordering Guide.

• I changed my serials management service. How do I change it for eSerials Holdings?
  

  If you change your serials management service after you order eSerials Holdings, you can change it for eSerials Holdings using the OCLC Online Service Center, or you can send a message to support@oclc.org. For information about using the Online Service Center, see the Ordering Guide.

• Does the service provide MARC bibliographic records for my electronic serials?
  
  Presently the eSerials Holdings service does not offer MARC bibliographic records.
• Does the service add my library's detailed serials holdings in Local Holdings records?
  

  Presently the eSerials Holdings service adds only title-level serials holdings. It does this by adding your library’s OCLC symbol to WorldCat electronic-serial records. It does not add detailed holdings in Local Holdings records.

• Can my library prevent ILL requests for electronic serials?
  

  WorldCat Resource Sharing can automatically deflect some or all ILL requests for your electronic serials to the next library in the lender string. You can set your deflection preferences in the OCLC Policies Directory.

  For deflection, an electronic serial is defined by elements in the WorldCat MARC bibliographic record:

  • Type of Record (Type, Leader/06) is a or t and
  • Bibliographic Level (BLvl, Leader/07) is s or b and
  • Material Type (mt:) is url

  The eSerials Holdings service adds holdings to records which meet this definition of an electronic serial.

  For more information about deflection, see the “WorldCat Resource Sharing options for eSerials” section of the Ordering Guide.

• Does the service set holdings for my entire electronic serials collection?
  

  The eSerials Holdings service adds your library’s OCLC symbol to each WorldCat electronic-serial record that matches the title and ISSN of a serial in the list of your library’s electronic serials. It does not add your symbol if the serial has no ISSN or if WorldCat does not contain a record for the electronic version of the serial. Every month OCLC adds new titles to its matching algorithms so match rates will improve over time. For more information, see How does the eSerials Holdings service work?

Reports

• Why would I view eSerials Holdings reports? Do they duplicate my serials management service's reports?
  

  You can view the reports to see the results when the eSerials Holdings service processes a list of your library’s electronic serials. The reports indicate which of your electronic serials now have a record in WorldCat with your holdings symbol attached and which do not.

  The reports are provided for your information. No action is required.

  However, if your library is a CONSER library, the reports may help you identify titles that need further cataloging work.

• When are new eSerials Holdings reports available?
  

  The service posts the report and sends an e-mail notice to your library’s contact for eSerials Holdings each time it processes a list of your library’s electronic serials.

  The service usually processes your list on or close to the same day each month. For example, if it processed your first list on the 11th day of the month, it would process the list for each subsequent month on or close to the 11th day of the month.

• How long are my eSerials Holdings reports available?
  
  Each report is available for 90 days after it is posted.
• How do I view my eSerials Holdings reports?
  

  To view the reports:

  1. Go to the OCLC Product Services Web site at http://psw.oclc.org/ (This link opens in a new window.)
  2. Click Records and reports on the left side of the page.
  3. Under Records and their Associated Reports, click OCLC eSerials Holdings service records and reports.
  4. Log on using your OCLC authorization and password.
  • A list of your eSerials Holdings service reports for the last 90 days appears below your OCLC symbol.
  • Each report is identified by a report date in yymmdd format (D) and a report number (R).
  • For example, D070610.R176279 identifies a report that was posted on June 10, 2007, with the report number, 176279.
  5. Click Download to save the report to your computer as a text file.
     Or, click View to view the report online in your Web browser.
  6. Click Log Out on the left side of the page when you finish viewing reports.
• What information does an eSerials Holdings report contain?
  

  Each eSerials Holdings report contains the following information about the processing of a list of your library’s electronic serials:

  Report title, showing your OCLC symbol

  Month and year of the report

  New eSerials Holding: A list of the titles in your eSerials subscription for which holdings were first set by the eSerials Holdings service this month. This alphabetical list of titles contains ISSNs, titles, and OCLC record numbers.

  Cancelled Holding: A list of the titles for which holdings were deleted by the service this month because the titles were removed from your eSerials subscription. This alphabetical list of titles contains titles and OCLC record numbers.
  Note: The service deletes holdings only for titles for which it previously set the holdings. The service does not delete the holdings for a removed title for which your library manually set the holdings.

  Merged Holding: A list of additional titles in your eSerials subscription for which holdings were first set by the eSerials Holdings service this month. For these titles, the service set the holdings on a different record than indicated by the service’s internal database because a cross reference in WorldCat redirected the holdings from an obsolete record to an active record. This alphabetical list of titles contains ISSNs, titles, OCLC record numbers of records on which holdings were set, and XREF OCLC Record numbers of obsolete records on which holdings were not set.
  Note: This list informs you that holdings were set and alerts service staff to adjust the service’s internal database. No action is required by you.

  Unresolved: A list of the titles in your eSerials subscription for which the eSerials Holdings service could not set holdings. This alphabetical list of titles contains ISSNs (if available) and titles.

  Statistics, located at the bottom of the report:

  • New eSerials Holdings: The number of titles in the New eSerials Holding list
  • Duplicate Records Dropped: The number of entries in the list of your library's electronic serials that were not processed because they were duplicates of other entries in the list
  • Cancelled Holdings: The number of titles in the Cancelled Holding list
  • Merged Holdings: The number of titles in the Merged Holding list
  • Unresolved Records: The number of titles in the Unresolved list
  • Previously Set by eSerials: The number of titles in your eSerials subscription for which holdings were already set by the service before this month
  • Total Processed: The sum of the other numbers
• Tell me more about the Unresolved list. Why were holdings not set for some of the titles?
  

  The eSerials Holdings service does not set the holdings for a title unless it makes a reliable match with a WorldCat record. For example, it cannot make a reliable match if the title has no ISSN or there is no matching WorldCat record.

  OCLC staff work to increase the number of matches and reduce the number of unresolved titles. Staff might add records to WorldCat, merge duplicate records, or make other service changes.

  There is nothing that you need to do to reduce the number of unresolved titles.

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