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OCLC has been a thorn in the side of Libraries for a while now. They are a monopoly. Academic libraries have been up in arms about OCLC’s standpoint on this and other issues for years.
http://beta.nsea-nv.org/assets/img/PubThoughtAndAction/A10Fister1.pdf
Joel Parham | Librarian | Fox Research Library | 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
From: ARLIS/NA List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Phyllis Graham <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Phyllis Graham <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at 12:49 PM
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [ARLIS-L] FW: [ARLIS-L] [ARLIS-L] Feedback on WorldCat Holdings Policy
Catching up after some time away from the List, I am delighted to see this groundswell of opposition to OCLC’s withholding of our holdings!
I have contacted them at various times over the past five years for clarification of the criteria / fee schedules / required interface, etc., always receiving the recommendation to bump up our subscription level. As I had always understood
OCLC to be the epitome of a cooperative enterprise, the price tag of $1,750 we pay annually for Connexion already seemed overly steep, especially considering the value of the data we add to the utility in the form of original records (not unlike the Facebook/Google
free harvest that gets hugely monetized). Hearing what nearby California museum libraries pay for full display, it was clear that my institution would not – indeed, could not -- approve increases on that scale.
Meantime, however, there remain unexplained peculiarities: namely, that while our holdings do not display in the
worldcat.org public interface, searching a title in, for example, SFMOMA’s online catalog, does result in a greyed-out display of the Crocker Art Museum holding – but a display, nevertheless. OCLC was unable to clarify why not elsewhere and everywhere?
– it’s a simple matter of selecting for our institutional symbol – truly, flipping a switch, as Emily at Winterthur mentioned.
It will be a great service to the library and information community, and to researchers affiliated and ‘unaffiliated’ (too many barriers to this group) if ARLIS is able to use its authoritative pressure on OCLC to review and revise their
policies. Warmest thanks to Sam and all contributors for many illuminating remarks.
Phyllis Graham
Librarian
Crocker Art Museum
O: (916) 808-8856
Exhibitions, classes, programs, and more:
crockerart.org
/ @crockerart
From: ARLIS/NA List On Behalf Of Sam Duncan
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2019 7:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] [ARLIS-L] Feedback on WorldCat Holdings Policy
Just driving home the point that under no circumstances should an organization like OCLC, which is in the business of helping libraries connect our collections with users, penalize a library by not showing its holdings in
Worldcat.org. It’s simply antithetical to their mission. This policy is particularly harmful to smaller libraries who may not have the funds to pay for a subscription and, ironically, bring many unique holdings to
Worldcat.org. I believe OCLC needs to figure out a different way to bring in funds.
The overall message I have gotten from two high-ranking OCLC officials is, "too bad" [my quotes].
Sam
Samuel Duncan | Head of the Research Library
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107
[log in to unmask] | 817.989.5042
cartermuseum.org
On Oct 18, 2019, at 8:53 AM, Schwartz, Laura <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Sam and all:
Thanks for sharing your concerns regarding the Worldcat Holdings Policy.
The ARLIS/NA Executive Board is discussing the most effective strategy for approaching OCLC on this issue, working with the relevant groups within the Society.
More soon. –Laura
Laura Schwartz
Arts & Humanities Collection Strategist
Visual Arts Librarian
Subject Librarian for Film Studies
UC San Diego
858-534-1267
President
Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA)
From: ARLIS/NA List <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Sam
Duncan
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Feedback on WorldCat Holdings Policy
Another clarification: this thread is about holdings displaying in the
Worldcat.org
public web interface, not about our ability to add holdings through a cataloging subscription. That we do and have been doing for years.
I think it would be easier to justify the expense if I felt that
Worldcat.org
were being actively developed. As it is, the interface is mostly a mess and has not been significantly updated in a long time. For instance,
Worldcat.org
does not label RDA fields such as 264 for production, distribution, manufacturing/printing info. It just lumps it all into one pile labeled “Publisher.” In the example below, “Our Studio” provided graphic design, ie production, services.
Publisher: Our Studio [Zeeland, Michigan] : [Herman Miller?], [2019]
But what really irks me is the
Worldcat.org
help page:
What am I searching?
WorldCat.org
lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world. Worldcat grows every day thanks to the efforts of librarians and other information professionals.
I suggest a caveat here: *WorldCat contains selective holdings of member libraries.
I suggest OCLC consider a monthly charge based on total number of holdings added to Worldcat. We do a good deal of enriching Worldcat with original cataloging records for the
specialized material that we collect. I believe these contributions should be considered in a more equitable pricing plan.
Thanks for letting me grind my axe here!!
Sam
Samuel Duncan | Head of the Research Library
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107
[log in to unmask] | 817.989.5042
cartermuseum.org
From: Cheryl Miller [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:40 PM
To: Sam Duncan <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: [ARLIS-L] Feedback on WorldCat Holdings Policy
Hi Sam,
We had the same problem – a couple of years ago, we broke down and started paying the fee (this year is higher than $2,500, can’t quite remember how much over.) Every year I verify with OCLC that I must have
this mostly useless subscription in order to get what I want, and every year they say yes.
Before we paid, it appeared that if we created the Master Record, sometimes our holdings would show but without the hyperlink our own catalog. If we simply added our holdings to the record and made some kind
of update to the record, it sometimes showed we had a copy of the item. If we only added our holdings to the record, its seems that those were most likely to not show
up in any fashion. Just a guess.
I wish OCLC would have a way to address this, especially with master records we create. Or, perhaps a targeted fee for just this feature – again, we just don’t use FirstSearch.
Cheryl Miller
Head, Library Metadata and Discovery Services.
Autry Museum of the American West.
From: ARLIS/NA List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Sam Duncan
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2019 11:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Feedback on WorldCat Holdings Policy
I should clarify my earlier posting by saying that if a library does *not* have a subscription, some its holdings show, yet I’m not sure what criteria is used to decide
what appears. Worldcat.org,
in other words, provides *selective* holdings to its users, and I believe that OCLC should make those limitations clear to its users.
Sam
Samuel Duncan | Head of the Research Library
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107
[log in to unmask] | 817.989.5042
cartermuseum.org
On Oct 17, 2019, at 1:24 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
Dear Sam:
This is outrageous and the reply from OCLC is downright rude. This is obviously not the OCLC that most of us contributed to back in the day—when all sizes of libraries were welcomed—and they were more intent on building their database. My former library, the Craft and Folk Art Museum Research Library (given to the L.A. County Museum of Art in 1997), which was much smaller than the Amon Carter Research Library, paid a small annual fee (sorry, I can’t remember now how much it was) that was definitely affordable and I was able to attend many free workshops as well. Has this issue ever been addressed by ARLIS/NA’s Museum Libraries Division?
Best wishes,
Joan M. Benedetti (Ret.)
Former Head, Craft and Folk Art Museum Library
From: ARLIS/NA List <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Sam Duncan
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2019 10:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] Feedback on WorldCat Holdings Policy
Hi all,
Just sharing a concern of mine that goes way back having to do with holdings listed on worlcat.org. Current OCLC policy does not allow a library to have all its holdings listed on worldcat.org unless you are a subscriber to WorldCat Discovery of Firstsearch (I believe that’s right). For small-ish libraries like ours, a subscription is expensive, around $2,500. I believe it’s a great disservice to our patrons and libraries. Many specialized libraries like ours offer many unique holdings, and, ironically, current OCLC policy allows a record to display with no holding libraries listed (see attached screenshot).
One OCLC representative wrote back when I addressed this concern, “I understand you do not agree with the policy, but the Cataloging and FirstSearch subscriptions are how we fund those services (along with WorldCat.org). We try to keep them affordable for the majority, while covering our costs, but it still does not work for everyone.”
Here’s a great example. Keep in mind that if you’re associated with a university library, you’ll probably see holdings. The problem is with cases where a patron is searching at the local Starbucks down the street, for example, or at home.
I totally understand that there is a price tag associated with making worldcat.org available, but it’s an egregious levy for a library to pay to have its holdings masked and totally antithetical to what OCLC is supposed to be doing for libraries (IMHO). When I have suggested a more equitable pricing structure, there has been no interest in investigating it.
Thanks for your feedback. More than anything, I need a reality check from my colleagues.
Sam
<image001.png>
Samuel Duncan | Head of the Research Library
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107
[log in to unmask] | 817.989.5042
cartermuseum.org~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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