OCLC WorldShare™ Metadata
Collection management for electronic resources
WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager automatically delivers WorldCat MARC records for all of your electronic materials. The service ensures that the metadata and access URLs for these collections are continually updated. Your users get better access, your staff gains time for other priorities, and you see improved return on the investments you have made in your collections. WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager is the ideal solution for streamlining workflows while managing increased user demand for e-content.
As your collections of electronic and licensed materials grow, your staff face a number of challenges in managing metadata for content that is purchased in collections. They often have to support multiple workflows, manually tracking when data of varying frequencies and quality is available from different sources. Missing updated metadata can result in a user clicking a link, discovering that an item isn't available, becoming discouraged and then disengaging from your library entirely.
WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager allows you to define and configure your e-book and other electronic collections in one place, and automatically receive initial and updated customized WorldCat MARC records for all e-titles from one source, providing your users access to the titles and content from within the local library catalog or other discovery interface. This improves user satisfaction and ensures that users are less likely to bypass your library's services. Collections can be selected from the global WorldCat knowledge base or
you can create new standard collections defined title by title or new
query-based collections based on existing WorldCat indexes.
The WorldCat knowledge base and WorldCat underpin many OCLC services, including WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager. The knowledge base combines data about e-resource ownership and linking information for access to content. It includes library-, publisher- and OCLC-contributed content from around the world, including e-books, e-journals and open access content. It also brings more timely and accurate access to content from WorldCat Local search results and higher fulfillment rates for libraries that share articles and e-books through WorldCat Resource Sharing and ILLiad. Download the list of content included in the WorldCat knowledge base.
“Using the [WorldCat] knowledge base and this new MARC record delivery service for some e-book collections is really a more efficient workflow overall. It provides more thorough and accurate access to e-books in our catalog and discovery tools.”
Holly Tomren, Head, Metadata Services
Drexel University Libraries
QUALITY—ensure timely and accurate access to all electronic materials in your collection
Libraries that use WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager receive WorldCat MARC records for holdings in the WorldCat knowledge base with ongoing daily updates. New in February 2013, you can optionally interleave your Local Holdings Records with your WorldCat MARC records. This provides your users with seamless access to e-books and other electronic and digitized materials via your catalog and other discovery tools.
- Users have enhanced access to electronic collections and public domain titles from mass digitization projects in your library's discovery interface. Searchers see one record with multiple URLs for each item in your e-collections, making it a simple click to successfully access the item.
- The value of your collections increases as users find newer types of content at your library and collection usage rises.WorldCat.org (a Web portal to the WorldCat global catalog) and its data syndication program make your library's collection discoverable from virtually anywhere on the Web, including Google, Yahoo!, mobile and social apps, APIs and widgets. With holdings maintained in WorldCat, your collections are available online, where people typically start their searches.
Managing Metadata for the Orbis Cascade Alliance Demand-Driven Acquisitions Project
20 minutes
Tom Larsen, Head of Monographic Cataloging for Portland State University Library
WORKFLOW—streamline metadata management for e-resources
WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager reduces staff time spent on managing library holdings in WorldCat and retrieving, loading, deduping and updating MARC records in the library's discovery interface.
- Staff profile your collections in the WorldCat knowledge base once, and then WorldCat holdings maintenance and MARC record output become automatic daily as collections change.
- Your library receives WorldCat MARC records and optional Local Holdings Records customized to meet local practices with library-specific URLs included, saving staff the trouble of additional editing or merging records from multiple sources.
- Your library receives updated and deleted WorldCat MARC records when access to titles change in your WorldCat knowledge base collection, or when URLs, proxy server information or knowledge base notes are modified. New in February 2013, optionally, you can profile to receive updated records as changes are made to the WorldCat master record based on any change to the master record, changes to specific encoding levels, or changes to specific MARC tags. This improves access and ensures that users don't encounter broken links when searching.
- Staff access daily reports detailing provider, collection and title data for each provided MARC record, and review monthly reports to see statistics of records provided per provider and collection.
COMMUNITY—create new collections and share collections created by others
WorldShare Collection Manager allows you to create your own collections and share them with other institutions, and access collections created by others. Everyone can create and share—and everyone benefits from the contributions of others.
- If your consortium shares access to a collection, one member can manage the collection and all consortium libraries can benefit from automatically managing their holdings in WorldCat and receiving customized WorldCat MARC records as the collection is changed.
- If your library has titles available from both the consortial source and other sources, the single WorldCat record will include data from all providers in one record.
Planned enhancements to make something good even better
WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager makes your collections easier to access and manage, increasing the return on your investment in those materials. New and expanded functionality is coming soon.
- Additional profile options for delivering updated records: In addition to specifying encoding level and MARC tags to determine what changes to the WorldCat master record should trigger an update record, you will be able to profile new options based on changes to the Date/Publication Status and if the record is upgraded to RDA cataloging rules. You will be able to exclude titles based on format and publication year, and you will be able to determine the reason for the updated record in both the report and within the MARC record.
- More collections: The number of collections available in WorldCat knowledge base will continue to grow through OCLC's partnerships with publishers, vendors and other content providers. This means less manual record creation for your staff.
Thank you to our beta test libraries
A group of North American libraries worked with OCLC to beta test WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager. Participating libraries included:
- Drexel University
- Henry Ford Hospital
- McGill University
- Ohio State University
- Southern Methodist University
Additional beta testing will be scheduled with libraries outside of North America in the future.
WorldShare Metadata Collection Manager is just the start
WorldShare Metadata is a core part of OCLC's strategy to provide integrated Webscale solutions to support the complete library management workflow, including selection, acquisition, metadata, license management, discovery, resource sharing and analytics. As with all Webscale solutions, OCLC will continue to add new capabilities and services over time. In the coming months, OCLC will begin to provide:
- New approaches to record management
- Web services available through the OCLC WorldShare Platform.
New approaches to record management
To complement the Collection Manager functions used to manage metadata for collections, OCLC is developing new record management capabilities. New Record Manager functions will provide your catalogers with tools to more efficiently describe one-of-a-kind items your library holds, including electronic, digital and physical materials. Record Manager will be used to create new WorldCat records and enrich existing records.
Your catalogers will benefit from use and reuse of linked data, constant data, terminologies and authority records, which will speed record creation, improve record quality and enhance user discoverability.
Record Manager pilot now underway
In early 2013, OCLC began working with a group of libraries to beta test new WorldShare Metadata Record Manager functionality. Catalogers in the group are using Record Manager functionality to create new WorldCat records, enrich existing records, maintain WorldCat holdings data, and customize local bibliographic data and local holdings records.
Web services available through the OCLC WorldShare Platform
OCLC is committed to the continued enhancement and growth of shared library metadata represented through WorldCat and the WorldCat knowledge base. We are actively engaged with the community and the OCLC Developer Network to design and implement approaches to make WorldCat data available to you and your partners as Web services accessible through theOCLC WorldShare Platform. See the full list of available Web Services.
OCLC will release new Web services of interest to developers in the cataloging community that will provide support for adding new WorldCat master records and enriching those that already exist, WorldCat holdings maintenance, and customized local bibliographic data and local holdings records.
Initial releases of Record Manager and the Web services are planned for 2013.
“Access to electronic resources for libraries has exploded over the last ten years. Maintaining accurate access information has become more problematic, especially for e-books. Having the opportunity to work with OCLC to create a process for better workflow has been invaluable. I look forward to implementing this new process to provide accurate, current information for our patrons.”
Audrey Bondar, Librarian
Henry Ford Hospital, Sladen Library