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WorldCat Collection Analysis Quick Reference

Accessing Collection Analysis

Access to the WorldCat Collection Analysis service is via the OCLC FirstSearch service.

  Action
1

Display the OCLC FirstSearch logon screen at:
< http:\\www.firstsearch.oclc.org >.

2 Enter the Authorization and Password associated with WorldCat Collection Analysis and select Start.
3 When the FirstSearch screen appears, select the Collection Analysis tab.

Subscription Type

A library subscribes to the WorldCat Collection Analysis service as either an individual institution or as a member of a group.

Individual Institution.  At logon, if the first entry under Basic Analyses shows My Library, your library has subscribed as an individual institution.

Subscription Group.  If the first entry under Basic Analyses shows a group name, your library has subscribed as part of a group.

Analysis Dimensions

OCLC Conspectus

The OCLC® Conspectus is a subject hierarchy consisting of divisions, categories, and subject descriptors. The Conspectus can be used with Dewey® Decimal, Library of Congress and National Library of Medicine classifications. The three levels of the OCLC Conspectus, broadest to most specific, are:

  • Division
  • Category
  • Subject

Publication Date

Dates are grouped into these ranges:

Pre-1500 1900-1924 1990-1994 2004
1500-1599 1925-1949 1995-1999 2005
1600-1699 1950-1959 2000 2006
1700-1799 1960-1969 2001 2007
1800-1850 1970-1979 2002 2008
1850-1899 1980-1989 2003 Other

Language

Fifty-four languages from the MARC Code List for Languages appear as analysis results. The remaining languages are grouped under Other.

Afrikaans Danish Indonesian Polish Tamil
Albanian Dutch Italian Portuguese Telugu
Arabic English Japanese Romanian Thai
Armenian Finnish Korean Russian Tibetan
Bengali French Latin Sanskrit Turkish
Bosnian German Macedonian Serbian Ukrainian
Bulgarian Greek, Modern
(1453- )		 Malay Slovak Urdu
Catalan Gujarati Marathi Slovenian Vietnamese
Chinese Hebrew Norwegian Spanish Yiddish
Croatian Hindi Panjabi Swedish Other
Czech Hungarian Persian Tagalog  

Format

The WorldCat Collection Analysis service uses these material types:

Archival Materials Continually Updated Resources, Electronic Serial Publications, Electronic
Archival Materials, Electronic Continually Updated Resources, Microform Serial Publications, Microform
Archival Materials, Microform Maps Sound Recordings
Articles Maps, Electronic Sound Recordings, Electronic
Articles, Electronic Maps, Microform Sound Recordings, Microform
Articles, Microform Musical Scores Texts, Electronic
Books Musical Scores, Electronic Visual Materials
Books, Microform Musical Scores, Microform Visual Materials, Electronic
Computer Files Serial Publications Visual Materials, Microform
Continually Updated Resources    

Audience

The WorldCat Collection Analysis service uses the same levels and the same mapping criteria as the OCLC FirstSearch service: Adult and Juvenile.

Library

When an analysis includes institutions in addition to your library, results may be displayed by individual library name.

Borrower/Lender

For ILL Analyses a library is identified as either the Borrower or the Lender

Holding Status

For ILL Analyses, this dimension shows how many borrowing requests were submitted for items not owned by your library.

Holding Count

For selected analyses, results may be displayed according to the number of libraries that hold a given title.

Shared By

For WorldCat Comparisons, this dimension shows how widely your library's or Subscription Group's items are held within WorldCat, that is, whether an item is held uniquely by your library/group or held by you and one, two, three (and so on) other libraries/groups.

Request Date

For ILL Analyses, this dimension shows the total number of items requested (Borrower) or shipped (Lender). You can view data by annual or quarterly totals.

Request Frequency

For ILL Analyses, this dimension shows how often a request was submitted (Borrower) or shipped (Lender). You can view aggregate or annual totals.

Request Cost

For ILL Analyses, this dimension shows how much your library paid (in ranges of U.S. dollars) for items you borrowed.

Copy vs Loan

For ILL Analyses, this dimension shows how many borrowing requests were submitted for items that the library expects back (such as books or videos) versus items that it does not expect to be returned (such as photocopies).

Types of Analyses

The WorldCat Collection Analysis service provides five types of collection analysis.

For Individual Institutions

Individual Library Analysis.  This analysis presents your library's holdings according to the selected analysis dimensions.

Individual Library Comparison.  This analysis presents your library's holdings compared to the combined titles (duplicates removed) of a Peer Comparison (a group of from one to five libraries that you have selected).

ILL Analyses.  This analysis presents your library's borrowing and lending activity within WorldCat Resource Sharing.

For Subscription Groups

Group Analysis. This analysis presents the titles for each library in the Subscription Group according to the selected analysis dimensions.

Aggregated Group Analysis. This analysis presents the combined titles of all group members, with duplicates removed, as though it were a single institution. An Aggregated Group Analysis is used to compare your group to:

  • WorldCat
  • Subsets of your own group
  • An authoritative collection development list
  • OCLC-defined groups including OCLC NetLibrary and Ebooks databases

Overlap

The Overlap view of an analysis shows the number of titles a library holds in common with other libraries/institutions. The Overlap view is available for Individual Library Comparisons and for Group Analyses.

For an Individual Library Comparison, overlap shows the number of titles that the subscribing library owns jointly with the collective titles (duplicates removed) of a Peer Comparison.

For a Group Analysis, overlap is the number of titles each library owns jointly with another library in the group.

Uniqueness

The Uniqueness view of an analysis shows how broadly a given title is shared among the members of a group, that is, how many of a library's titles are:

  • held by it alone
  • held by one other member (Shared by 2)
  • held by two other members (Shared by 3)

and so on.

The Uniqueness view is available for Individual Library Comparisons and for Group Analyses.

For an Individual Library Comparison, uniqueness shows how many of a library's titles are shared with a Peer Comparison.

For a Group Analysis, uniqueness shows how many of a library's titles are shared with one group member, two group members, three group members, and so on.

Collection Analysis Screens

Data to Analyze

The Data to Analyze screen lists all of the analyses available to your library or Subscription Group.

Analysis Results

The Analysis Results screen presents the results of an analysis in a spreadsheet-style table.

Graph Display

The Graph View presents the data from a single row as a graph. The default display shows:

  • The Analysis Results column headings as the x-axis
  • The number of titles or holdings as the y-axis
  • The name of the row you selected as the graph title

You can view a graph by selecting the Display Graph Graph icon icon.

Change Analysis

The Change Analysis screen allows you to change the order in which analysis dimensions are applied to an existing analysis. You can:

  • Change the column value
  • Change the order in which analysis dimensions are applied as rows:

Limit Analysis

The Limit Analysis screen allows you to reduce the breadth of an analysis by specifying subsets of one or more analysis dimensions. This enables you to reduce the number of records retrieved and focus information for specific purposes.

You can select subsets of all dimensions. For the OCLC Conspectus, you can select Divisions only; you cannot select down to the level of Category or Subject.

Changing an Analysis

To change column value or row order:

  Action
1

On the Change Analysis screen, open the Data to Analyze field and select the analysis you want to change.

Note: If your library subscribes to WorldCat Collection Analysis as an individual institution, your current comparisons are listed under Authoritative Lists, Per Comparisons, and Predefined Groups. If your library has subscribed as part of a group, Group and Aggregate Group [identified by (Aggregate) following their name] analyses are listed first. Additional Aggregate Group analyses are listed under Authoritative Lists and Predefined Groups.
2

Select the radio button for the dimension you want to use as the column value.
3 Using the Level lists, select the order in which you want the analysis dimensions to be applied.
4

Select the Run Analysis button.

Result: The analysis is run with the new values and an updated Analysis Results screen is displayed.

Limiting an Analysis

To use a subset of an analysis dimension:

  Action
1

On the Limit Analysis screen, for each dimension check the limit(s) that you want to include in the analysis.

NOTE: The Build Text Index screen appears.

  • To include all limits for a given dimension, select Check All.
  • To clear all limits for a given dimension, select Clear All.
2 Select the Run Analysis button.

Access Collection Analysis Administration

Access to the WorldCat Collection Analysis administrative functions is via the FirstSearch Administrative Module.

  Action
1

Display the OCLC FirstSearch Administrative Module logon screen at:http:\\www.firstsearch.oclc.org/admin.
2 Enter the Authorization and Password associated with WorldCat Collection Analysis and select Start.
3

When the FirstSearch screen appears, select the Collection Analysis tab.

  • If your library subscribes as an individual institution, you will see the Collection Analysis > Comparison screen.
  • If your library subscribes as part of a group, you will see the Collection Analysis > Groups screen.

Creating a Peer Comparison (Administrative Module)

Libraries subscribing as individual institutions can create Peer Comparisons with from one to ten libraries. These libraries must have holdings in WorldCat.

There is no limit to the number of Peer Comparisons that a single authorization can create; however because groups require a significant amount of storage space, any Peer Comparison that is not viewed on the Analysis Results screen for a period of 120 calendar days is automatically deleted.

Before you begin. You can locate institution symbols at Find an OCLC Library. Keep in mind that a listing in Find an OCLC Library does not guarantee that a library has holdings in WorldCat.

  Action
1

Enter a name in the Enter Group Name: field.
2

Enter an institution symbol (upper or lower case) in the Add Symbols: field, then select the Add Add button button.

Result: The institution name appears in the Libraries in Comparison Group field.

Warning: If you enter a symbol for a library that has no holdings in WorldCat, an error message displays.
3

Repeat Step 2 until your group contains at least two but no more than ten libraries.

Note: If you have accidentally entered the wrong institution symbol and added the wrong library, select the incorrect symbol in the Libraries in Comparison Group field and then select the Delete Delete button button.
4

Select Save Changes.

Result: The group is created and the message: Library Comparison Groups screen changes saved appears at the top of the screen.

Warning1: If you have entered a symbol for a library that has no holdings in WorldCat, an error message displays.

Warning2: If you leave the screen before you select Save Changes your new group is lost.

Creating a Secondary Group (Administrative Module)

Libraries subscribing as part of a Subscription Group can create a subset of the members of the group. For each Secondary Group created, WorldCat Collection Analysis automatically generates both a Group Analysis and an Aggregated Group Analysis.

There is no limit to the number of Secondary Groups that a single authorization can create; however because groups require a significant amount of storage space, any Secondary Group that is not viewed on the Analysis Results screen for a period of 120 calendar days is automatically deleted.

  Action
1

Enter a name for the group in the Enter Group Analysis Name: field.

2

Select an institution or an existing Secondary Group name in the All Libraries/Groups field, then select the Add Add button button.

Result: The institution name appears in the Groups Included field.
3

Repeat Step 2 at least once or until you have selected all libraries/Secondary Groups that you want to include in the new Secondary Group.

Note: If you have accidentally added the wrong library or Secondary Group, select the incorrect name in the Libraries/Groups Included field and then select the Remove Remove button button.
4

Select Save Changes.

Result: The Secondary Group is created and the message: Groups screen changes saved: Group Analysis added appears at the top of the screen.

Warning: If you leave the screen before you select Save Changes your new Secondary Group is lost.

Creating a Predefined Group Comparison (Administrative Module)

All subscribing libraries can crate a comparison between their holdings and an OCLC-defined group.

  • Libraries subscribing as individual institutions create a comparison between their holdings and an OCLC-defined group.
  • Libraries subscribing as part of a group create a comparison between their Aggregated Group Analysis (combined titles of all group members, with duplicates removed) and an OCLC-defined Group.

An OCLC-defined group is a set of libraries that have been selected for the significance and/or specialization of their collections. This type of comparison is called a Predefined Group Comparison.

The current list of Predefined Groups is available at: < http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/collectionanalysis/predefinedgroups.html.

  Action
1

Select a category from the Select a Category: list.
2

Select a subcategory from the Select a Subcategory: list.
3

In the Select a Predefined Group field, select the group with which you want to compare your library's holdings.
4

Select the Add Add button button.

Result: A confirmation window appears.
5

In the confirmation window, select OK.

Result: The confirmation window closes.
6

Select Save Changes.

Result: A confirmation message appears at the top of the screen and the group you selected appears in the Choose a Predefined Group Comparison to delete field.

Warning: If you leave the screen before you select Save Changes the comparison will not be created.


Creating an Authoritative List Comparison (Administrative Module)

All subscribing libraries can create a comparison between their holdings and selected authoritative collection development lists such as Booklist, Books for College Libraries and Outstanding Academic Titles. This type of comparison is called an Authoritative List comparison.

  • Libraries subscribing as individual institutions create a comparison between their holdings and the selected collection development list.
  • Libraries subscribing as part of a group create a comparison between their Aggregated Group Analysis (combined titles of all group members, with duplicates removed) and the selected collection development list.

The current list of Predefined Groups is available at: < http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/collectionanalysis/authlists.html.

  Action
1

Select a list from the Select an Authoritative List box.
2

Select the Add Add button button.

Result: A confirmation window appears.
3

In the confirmation window, select OK.

Result: The confirmation window closes.
4

Select Save Changes.

Result: A confirmation message appears at the top of the screen and the group you selected appears in the Choose an Authoritative List Comparison to delete field.

Warning: If you leave the screen before you select Save Changes the comparison will not be created.

Support

OCLC Support staff:
E-mail: support@oclc.org
Telephone: 1-800-848-5800 (USA) or +1-614-793-8682
(7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern time, Monday-Friday)

Help

Online Screen Help

Screen-specific help is available from all WorldCat Collection Analysis screens. To access this help, select

the HelpHelp button icon. A separate window opens displaying a menu of Help topics.

Documentation

User Guide

The WorldCat Collection Analysis User Guide is available as an HTML document on the OCLC Web site at:
< http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/collectionanalysis/using/default.htm >. The navigation area (left column) of this page contains a link to a .pdf version of the document.

Ordering printed copies of this document

To order printed copies of this publication at no charge, send an e-mail request to orders@oclc.org. Include the product code REF1103.

You may also use the OCLC Index of Documentation at https://www3.oclc.org/documentation/. If the Order hard copy link is active, you may use it to request printed copies.