[DCRM-L] Clarification re: indexing of institution records in OCLC

[Margaret F Nichols]

Hello, everyone-

At the Tech Services Discussion Group at ALA Midwinter, the question of whether institution records are indexed in OCLC or not came up briefly. I got curious about it and looked up the documentation (http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/connexion/client/cataloging/IRrecords/ ). Here is what it says about the indexing of IRs in OCLC Connexion:

Notes on finding institution records

 *   Set an option to include institution record indexes in WorldCat searches.

Set an option in Search > WorldCat (click Settings) to facilitate retrieving master records based on unique data in attached institution records for WorldCat searches. If selected, the option applies indexing you specify in a search to both master records and attached institution records (IRs).
    *   If the option is set, the system matches your search against data in master records and also against unique data in attached IRs.
    *   If the option is cleared (default), the system matches against data in master records only.
    *   Whether or not you set the option to include IR indexes, any IRs attached to master records are always accessible from the master records. See previous section of this guide for more about what you can or cannot do with IRs.

I checked this just now and, sure enough, the individual cataloger can change the settings to include searching IRs. Who knew? (If I'm the only one who didn't, I beg everyone's pardon.) This appears to apply only for catalogers, though; there's no sign of this option in the public databases WorldCat Local or OCLC WorldCat accessed through FirstSearch. So if I do a sample search on Franz Sondheimer, a former owner of some of our rare books, and limit the search to Cornell holdings, I get 138 hits in our local catalog, 23 in WorldCat Local, and 24 in WorldCat via FirstSearch. Humph.

Best,

Margaret

Margaret F. Nichols
Rare Materials Cataloging Coordinator
Cataloging & Metadata Services in RMC
2B Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-5302
Tel. (607) 255-3530 * Fax (607) 255-9524
E-mail mnr1 at cornell.edu

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