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OCLC Support

Vendor Record Contribution Program (VRCP)

Discover data sync collection guidelines for vendors submitting records to OCLC.

Requirements for records

OCLC database specialists thoroughly evaluate records submitted by vendors. OCLC loads vendor records into WorldCat via offline data sync process if the following conditions are met:

  • The records do not match existing records.
  • Fewer than 2% of the records contain machine-detectable errors in MARC coding.
  • The records adhere to U.S. standards for cataloging, including both descriptive cataloging and forms of headings.
  • The records meet OCLC minimum (K-level) standards for completeness.
  • The records are in MARC 21 format.  For bibliographic and delete WorldCat holdings collections, you can submit MARC, MARCXML, and ONIX 3.0 or above files for data sync processing.

About WorldCat record matching

Record type Matches a WorldCat record? What happens
Publisher or material vendor Yes OCLC adds a vendor-specific 938 field to the WorldCat record; the vendor's OCLC symbol is set
Publisher or material vendor No New WorldCat record is created with a 938 field; the vendor's OCLC symbol is set

About the 938 field

The 938 field in MARC records contains vendor-specific ordering data, defined as follows:

Code Definition
Subfield codes Both indicators are blank
$a Full name of vendor Supplied by OCLC
$b OCLC-defined identifier for vendor Supplied by OCLC. These identifiers are used for indexing purposes and should not be confused with OCLC institution symbols. (See current identifiers below.)
$c Terms of availability Purchase price
$n Vendor control number A unique number assigned by the vendor to identify the item for offline ordering
$s Vendor status Indicates if the item is backordered, out-of-print, not yet published, etc.
$z Note General notes field in which a vendor can include order information specific to the item

To facilitate searching for vendor records in WorldCat, OCLC indexes field 938 subfields $a and $b.

Vendor identifiers currently defined for 938 $b field

 

Vendor Vendor identifier Status OCLC symbol
123Library 123L Inactive UKDOC
ABC-Clio eBooks ABCC Active AX@
Access Educational Media ACEM Inactive ACCEM
Accessible Archives ACCA Active ACCAR
ACLS Humanities E-Book ACLS Active ACLSE
Actrace ACTR Active ACTRA
Adam Matthew Digital ADAM Active UKAMD
African Book Collective AFBC Active AFBKC
A.I. Weinberg WEIN Active WEINB
Alexander Street ALSP Active ALSTP
AMALIVRE AUXA, TOUZ Active AUXAM, TZT
Ambrose Digital AMBV Active AMBVI
American Archive of Public Broadcasting AAPB Active AAOPB
American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE Active VASCE
American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME Active ASMEG
Amherst College Press AMCP Active ACPRS
Amsterdam University Press AUPA Active NLAUP
A-R Editions ARED Active AREDI
Askews and Holts Library Services ASKH Active UKAHL
ASM International ASMI Inactive ASMIN
ASM Press ASMP Inactive ASMPP
ASTM International ASTM Active ASTMI
AudioGO (Blackstone Audio) BBCA Inactive BBCAA
Baker & Taylor BKTY Inactive BAKER
Baker and Taylor BTCP Inactive BTCTA
BAR Publishing BAPB Active UKBRP
BCS Learning & Development Limited BCSL Active BCSLD
Beamafilm BEAM Active BEAMA
Beijing Zhenben Technology Co. Ltd. BCBT Active BCBTC
Bentham Science BENT Inactive BENTH
Berrett-Koehler Publishers BKPB Inactive BKPUB
Bibliolabs (Biblioboard) BIBD Active BIBBD
Big Ten Academic Alliance BTAA Active YNT
Biodiversity Heritage Library-Smithsonian BHL1 Active BHLMR
Blackstone Audio BLCK Active BLACP
Bloomsbury Publishing BLOO  Active BLOOM
Bolinda BOLI Inactive BOLIN
Booklinx BLNX Inactive BLICP
Books 24 x 7 (Skillsoft Online Books) B247 Active B24X7
Books on Demand, GmbH BOOK Active BOOKD
Bridwell Press BRDW Active BRDWL
Brodart BROD Active BDX
Business Expert Press BEPR Active NYBEP
Canadian Electronic Library CELB Active CELBN
Canadiana CNDN Inactive CNDNA
Casalini Libri CASA Active C3L
Cassidy Cataloguing CASS Active CASSC
Center Point Large Print CPLP Active CPLPT
Children's Plus CHIL Active CHILD
China International Book Trading Corporation CIBT Inactive CIBTC
China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation CNPI Active CNPIT
ciando GmbH CIAN Inactive DECND
Cinco Books CINC Inactive CINCO
Classiques Garnier CGNR Active FRGNR
Coutts Information Services (ProQuest) COUT Inactive CDX
Credo Reference CRED Active CREDO
Curio CURI Active CASRC
D.K. Agencies DKAP Active DKAGE
Dawson Books DAWN Inactive UKDBK
De Gruyter DEGR Active DEGRU
Digital Content (eBooks 7/24) DGCT Active DIGCT
Digitalia, Inc. DGIT Active DGITA
DIS Magazine, LLC DISA Active NYDIS
Donohue Group DONE Active DON
Duke University Press DUKE Active NCDUP
Duncker & Humblot DUND Active DUNDH
East View Information Services EAST Active EVIEW
ebrary (ProQuest) EBRY Inactive E7B
Edward Elgar Publishing ELGA Active ELGAR
e-Libro ELBO Active ELBRO
Emerald Publishing Group EMGP Active EMGRP
Erasmus Boekhandel ERAA Active ERASA
Exact Editions EXAC Active UKEXT
Film Platform FILM Active FILMP
Findaway PLAY Active PLAYA
Five Rainbows Cataloging Services SLMT Active SMPUB
Gale, a Cengage company GVRL Active GGVRL
GeoScienceWorld GEOS Active GOSCI
Geological Society of London UKGS Active UKGSL
GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO YANK Active YDX, YDXCP, YDXIT
Grasshopper Film GRHP Active GRASS
Harvard University Press (Loeb Classical Library) HUPR Active HUPRS
Henry Stewart Talks HSTA Active UKHST
Howard Karno Books KARN Active H7K
Iberbook-Sánchez Cuesta IBER Active I5B
Iberoamericana Editorial Vervuert IBEA Active IBEAM
IGI Global IGIG Active IGIGL
Infobase INFO Active NYINF
Ingram Library Services INGR Inactive IG#
Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineering IEEE Active IEEEE
Internet Archive INAR Active INARC
IOP Publishing IOPE Active UKPUB
JP Medical Ltd. JPME Active JPMED
Kanopy KNOP Active KNOPY
Karger Publishers (S. Karger AG) UKSK Active UKSKG
Knowledge Unlatched KNOW Active UKKNU
Kogan Page KOGN Active KOGAN
Kortext KTXT Active UKKRT
Leila Books LEIL Active LEILA
Lever Press LVRP Active LEVER
Librairie Erasmus ERAP Active ERASP
Libreria già Nardecchia srl NARD Active NARDE
Liverpool University Press LUPS Active UKLUP
MIPPI International MIPP Active MIPPI
Mackin Book Company MACK Active MACKN
Makina Editorial MAKE Active COMKN
Mango Languages MANG Inactive MANGO
Mason Crest / An Imprint of National Highlights NHMC Inactive NHMCR
McGraw-Hill Education MGRW Active NYGHE
Mohr Siebeck MOHR Active DEMOS
Momentum Press NYMP Active NYMPP
Morgan & Claypool Publishers MGCL Active MGCLP
MyiLibrary (ProQuest) IDEB Inactive IDEBK
MyJove Corporation JOVE Active MAJOV
National Academy of Sciences NASC Active NASCI
National Bureau of Economic Research NBER Active NBERS
National Film Board of Canada NFBC Active NFBCA
Nomos eLibrary NOMO Inactive NOMOS
Now Publishers NOWP Active NOWPB
OAPEN Foundation OPEN Active OAPEN
Office national du film du Canada NFBC Active NFBCA
Open Textbook Network OTNX Active OPENT
Otto Harrassowitz HARR Active OHX
Oxford University Press USA OUPR Active UKOUP
Peter Lang LANG Active PLANG
Plantino Educa PLED Active PLEDU
Practising Law Institute PLAW Active PLAWI
Project MUSE MUSE Active P@U
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global PQDT Active PQDTG
ProQuest Ebook Central EBLB Active EBLCP
Psychotherapy.net PSYC Active PSYCH
Publishers Row PUBR Inactive PUBRW
Puvill Libros PUVL Active PL#
Quality Books QUAL Inactive QBX
Recorded Books (Audio) RECB, RECC Active RECBX, RECBC
Recorded Books eBooks RECE, RECZ Active RECBK
Rittenhouse R2 Digital Library RITT Inactive RTH
Rowman and Littlefield RWLT Active RWNLT
SAE International PASA Active PASAE
Sage Publications SAGE Active SGPBL
San Min Book Co. SANM Active SANMI
Small Press Distribution SPDS Active SPDST
Society of Exploration Geophysicists SEGB Active SEGPB
Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) SPIE Active SPIES
Susan Bach Books BACH Active SBACH
Tantor Media TANT Inactive TANCP
Taylor and Francis TAFR Active TYFRS
Taylor and Francis formerly Greenleaf Publishing UKGR Active UKGRL
Teton Data Systems (STAT!Ref) STAT Inactive TETON
Theodore Front Musical Literature TFRT Active TDF
Thieme THIE Inactive THIEM
Trans Tech Publications, Ltd TRAN Active TTECH
TRC Library Services TRCL Active TRCLS
Ulverscroft ULVR Active ULVER
UNEBOOK | PRODIKO UNBK Active UNEBO
University of Michigan Press UOMP Active UNOMP
utb GmbH UTBG Active DEUTG
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht VAND Active DEVRP
Ventara-Libreria Garcia Cambeiro VENT Active ARFGC
Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH VBBG Active DEBUD
Verso Books VRSO Active VERSO
vLex Networks VLEX Active VLEXN
Wiley Digital Archives WILE Active DG1
WIPO (World International Property Organization) WIPO Active WIPOS
Wolters Kluwer Health WKHE Inactive PAWKH
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory WKLR Active WKLRS
Worldwide Books WWBK Inactive NYWWB