[DCRM-L] Message from OCLC regarding Institution Records

[Dooley,Jackie]

I'm sending this on behalf of Sandi Jones, who is managing the IR-to-LBD transition for OCLC.

Best wishes, Jackie

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Jackie Dooley
Program Officer, OCLC Research

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Thank you for your comments and questions about OCLC's approach to Institution Records (IRs). We understand that many of you are concerned about the loss of IRs, and we appreciate your feedback. Libraries that are using IRs were notified by OCLC, but we did not make a more public announcement so I would like to take this opportunity to share some additional information.

Institution Records were implemented in 2007 to support libraries migrating from RLG to OCLC. The purpose of an IR is to store a copy of the bibliographic record along with local data, but IRs don't take advantage of cooperatively-managed master record data or future linked data initiatives. The alternative to IRs is Local Bibliographic Data<http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/support/documentation/cataloging/Working_with_LBDs.pdf> (LBD), which enables master record data to be cooperatively managed by thousands of experts and OCLC staff while providing library-specific information for discovery applications. Also, LBDs support future linked data initiatives and entities-based cataloging workflows.

The ability to create IRs via batchload will conclude in December 2015. Connexion will support creation of IRs until June 2016 when support for IRs will end. OCLC is offering these options to help libraries transition information in IRs to LBDs:

1.     Delete existing IRs

2.     Create LBDs from existing IRs or from local system records

For more information, please see the FAQ<http://www.oclc.org/connexion/resources.en.html> or send a message to IRInfo at oclc.org<mailto:IRInfo at oclc.org>. In the coming days, we will do our best to address all of the comments and questions you've shared and we will update the FAQ with some additional information.

Sincerely,
Sandi

Sandi Jones
Product Manager, OCLC
Voice: 614.764.6082
E-mail: joness at oclc.org<mailto:joness at oclc.org>


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