[DCRM-L] OCLC cataloging subscription

Fri Feb 16 14:28:07 MST 2024

Thanks to everyone who responded, it is much appreciated! I will take this information back to our discussions.

Have a warm and safe weekend, everyone!

Jennifer
________________________________
From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on behalf of Mascaro, Michelle via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2024 11:01 AM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Mascaro, Michelle <mmascaro at ucsd.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] OCLC cataloging subscription

I agree with everything that has been said in this thread and truly cannot imagine doing Special Collections cataloging at scale without an OCLC subscription.

We are also an Alma library, and I wanted to add that post migration we have found ourselves relying even more heavily on our OCLC subscription for daily MARC updates to keep subject headings and authorized name headings up to date in our bibs.  The UCs (University of California) share a Alma network zone (NZ) and as a safety measure batch editing of cataloging data at that level is restricted to a limited number of people.  While not perfect, we have found that using OCLC daily updates for this functionality is far more reliable than the built in authority update functionality in Alma.

Best,

Michelle Mascaro

Head, Special Collections Metadata

University of California, San Diego

858-534-6759

mmascaro at ucsd.edu<mailto:mmascaro at ucsd.edu>

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> On Behalf Of Ruth Ellen St. Onge via DCRM-L
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2024 8:05 AM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Ruth Ellen St. Onge <ruthellen.stonge at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] OCLC cataloging subscription

Hello everyone,

Jennifer, I am very sorry to hear that your administration is thinking of cutting the library's OCLC subscription and that you now find yourself in the position of having to justify continuing to use a resource that is fundamental to your work. My jaw dropped when I first read your email!

It is hard to imagine how things would function without it, considering the size of your library and the significance of your special collections holdings. I work at an institution that underwent drastic cuts to technical services under a previous administration and we are still recovering. As drastic as those cuts were, there was never a question of dropping our OCLC subscription.

I agree with everyone else on the list who has pointed out that cutting OCLC would lead to financial and workflow inefficiencies and increased workloads and stress for staff members. I have been trying to find an equivalent situation to express how ill-advised decision this would be. It seems comparable to asking the university's finance department to operate without any accounting software subscriptions, or asking the university's fundraising team to drop their software subscriptions and to create their own makeshift methods of tracking donor giving, or telling the communications department that they can't use Adobe Creative Suite any more -- from here on out they have to use MS Paint to create their graphics.

Finally, it is important to note that although OCLC is not perfect, by using it catalogers are making their institution's holdings much more discoverable; by creating original records for unique or variant special collections items in OCLC, catalogers are constantly enhancing a resource that is used across the globe, in a collaborative way that is just not comparable to subscriptions to other resources (e.g. accounting software).

Those are my two cents! Good luck, and please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.

Ruth-Ellen

Ruth-Ellen St. Onge, MISt, PhD
(She/Her/They)

Distinctive Collections Cataloguing Librarian

Archives and Research Collections
McMaster University Library

[Map icon] location: Mills Library Lower Level<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.mcmaster.ca/welcome/campusmap.cfm__;!!Mih3wA!A2h65zJoreNtiDkPLr_QTm4jsVkrG-yTZfJCf5RFPHSfn6lUpCjFMBhn91NUaVB3T6p1nRfXgUXHt3SyHNk$>
[Phone icon] phone: 905-525-9140 x ext. 22789<tel:+19055259140pext.%2022789>
[Envelope icon] email: stongr2 at mcmaster.ca<mailto:stongr2 at mcmaster.ca>

[McMaster University Brighter World logo]

McMaster University recognizes and acknowledges that it is located on the traditional territories of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations, and within the lands protected by the Dish With One Spoon wampum agreement.

On Wed, 14 Feb 2024 at 17:16, Karen Attar via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>> wrote:

Going off on a bit of a tangent, as this is about Alma and not the OCLC subscription: can anybody persuade Alma to include a keyboard with diacritics and amend other deficiencies? If large American libraries can’t sway a large LMS provider, nobody can … you are the hope of the world!

Karen

[State Library of NSW]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.sl.nsw.gov.au/__;!!Mih3wA!A2h65zJoreNtiDkPLr_QTm4jsVkrG-yTZfJCf5RFPHSfn6lUpCjFMBhn91NUaVB3T6p1nRfXgUXHoFgWO6k$>

Dr Karen Attar (she/her)

Senior Librarian, Rare Books

karen.attar at sl.nsw.gov.au<mailto:karen.attar at sl.nsw.gov.au>

+61 2 9273 1640

1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

www.sl.nsw.gov.au<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.sl.nsw.gov.au/__;!!Mih3wA!A2h65zJoreNtiDkPLr_QTm4jsVkrG-yTZfJCf5RFPHSfn6lUpCjFMBhn91NUaVB3T6p1nRfXgUXHoFgWO6k$>

We acknowledge the Gadigal people, the First Peoples and custodians of the land on which the Library stands and whose skies and waters surround us. We offer our respects to Elders past and present.

This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of their organisation.

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> On Behalf Of Christine DeZelar-Tiedman via DCRM-L
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2024 11:58 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Cc: Christine DeZelar-Tiedman <dezel002 at umn.edu<mailto:dezel002 at umn.edu>>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] OCLC cataloging subscription

I answered more generally on the Alma list, but in terms of special collections cataloging, I can't imagine trying to do that in Alma. In particular, searching for records with Alma's very limited external search options would be a nightmare. The availability of macros, and the methodology for entering special characters and diacritics, is also much more robust and efficient in OCLC Connexion.

On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 10:07 AM MacDonald, Jennifer via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>> wrote:

Dear colleagues,

Like many institutions, we are going through budget cuts. My administration is considering cancelling our OCLC cataloging subscription. Is anyone at an institution that did this, or contemplated doing it? Was your subscription kept or not, and what was the reasoning behind the decision? What tools or platforms did you use, or consider using, instead of OCLC? Were the needs of special collections cataloging taken into account? If it was cancelled, what kind of fallout did your institution experience? I'm particularly interested in outcomes for special collections cataloging, but general cataloging would help as well.  On- or off-list responses are welcome.

Thanks,

Jennifer

[Image removed by sender. University of Delaware]

Jennifer MacDonald

(She/her)

Librarian and Head, Cataloging and Metadata Department

UD Library, Museums and Press

181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717

University of Delaware

Room 113B  |  302-831-1512

jsmacdon at udel.edu<mailto:jsmacdon at udel.edu>

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--

--

Christine DeZelar-Tiedman

Cataloging Policies and Practices Librarian | Cataloging, Metadata, & Digitization Services | University of Minnesota Libraries
160 Wilson Library | 309 19th Ave. S. | Minneapolis, MN 55455

dezel002 at umn.edu<mailto:dezel002 at umn.edu>

she, her, hers

_

[State Library of NSW]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.sl.nsw.gov.au/__;!!Mih3wA!A2h65zJoreNtiDkPLr_QTm4jsVkrG-yTZfJCf5RFPHSfn6lUpCjFMBhn91NUaVB3T6p1nRfXgUXHoFgWO6k$>

Karen Attar

Senior Librarian, Rare Books

Karen.Attar at sl.nsw.gov.au<mailto:Karen.Attar at sl.nsw.gov.au>

+61 2 9273 1640

1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

www.sl.nsw.gov.au<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.sl.nsw.gov.au/__;!!Mih3wA!A2h65zJoreNtiDkPLr_QTm4jsVkrG-yTZfJCf5RFPHSfn6lUpCjFMBhn91NUaVB3T6p1nRfXgUXHoFgWO6k$>

We acknowledge the Gadigal people, the First Peoples and custodians of the land on which the Library stands and whose skies and waters surround us. We offer our respects to Elders past and present.

This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of their organisation.

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