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WorldCat Collection Analysis frequently asked questions
Getting started
Analyzing your collection
Comparing collections
Interpreting your results
- Why don't I see all of my collection in WorldCat Collection Analysis?
The data in WorldCat Collection Analysis comes from your institution's holdings in WorldCat. Institutions that do not add all their holdings into WorldCat or that do not keep their holdings in WorldCat up-to-date will see a discrepancy when comparing their local catalog holdings to their WorldCat holdings.
- I keep my WorldCat holdings up-to-date, but I still see a discrepancy in the number of holdings in my local catalog and the number of holdings in Collection Analysis.
This could be the result of several things. Some functions within WCA use FRBR-like applications, meaning that bibliographic information for different editions or formats of a given title are grouped into a multi-version record. WCA data is title-level data, meaning that multi-volume sets like encyclopedias may be collapsed into one WorldCat record, but have been catalogued as individual items in your local catalog.
- Why isn't my data up-to-date at all times?
To deliver analyses results quickly, and because of the enormous quantity of data involved, we take a snapshot portrait of all the holdings in WorldCat every three months. This is the data you search when you use WorldCat Collection Analysis not live WorldCat data. Again, if you compare your search results in Collection Analysis with a live WorldCat search, you most likely will see a discrepancy in the totals. However, based on these quarterly snapshots, we’ve determined that, typically, a library’s collection changes an average of 2% per quarter.
- Why do I see "No Title Available" records in my search results?
"No Title Available" likely indicates that you have withdrawn an item from your collection since the last quarterly update. When WCA searches WorldCat for this record, your symbol is no longer attached, producing the "No Title Available" records.
- If many holdings in my local catalog aren’t in WorldCat, how can I get my holdings up-to-date?
When analyzing your own collection using WorldCat Collection Analysis, it is imperative to have up-to-date WorldCat holdings to retrieve accurate and comprehensive results. This is why OCLC offers a complimentary batchload to new WorldCat Collection Analysis subscribers. Find out more.
- How can I analyze my eSerials holdings in WorldCat Collection Analysis?
- Why do I have to ask for a library's permission before conducting a one-to-one peer-comparison?
As a membership-organization, OCLC strives to protect the privacy of our members' information and we believe that access to the detailed, formatted collection information WCA’s peer-comparison function provides should be granted by our member libraries on a case-by-case basis. We have streamlined the process by creating a Permissions Template. Additionally, we maintain a list of libraries that have given permission to all libraries to use their collections for comparisons.
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