Presents a history of MARC records; provides an overview of MARC records structure; discusses format integration; and explains benefits of understanding MARC records to school library media specialists, including assessing the quality of bibliographic records, creating original MARC records, and maintaining online catalogs. (LRW)

Discussion of assigning identifiers to books and bibliographic citations focuses on identifiers in the networked information environment, including URLs (Uniform Resource Locators); URNs (Uniform Resource Names); the OCLC Persistent URL (PURL); the SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier) code; and the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). (LRW)

An investigation of books reviewed (1989-95) in Choice Reviews, the CD-ROM version of Choice, determined all titles mentioned (n44,950) were received or purchased by California State University Dominguez Hills and other academic libraries in the Online Union Catalog (OLUC). Findings were further tested to see how they could be incorporated into an…

This study explored the feasibility of scanning the OCLC Online Union Catalog (OLUC) to create subject heading validation files. Concluded that automatically generated subject heading files were practical and that such files could be used to verify subject heading strings constructed by catalogers, update subject headings in catalog maintenance,…

An analysis of 205 records in the OCLC Online Union Catalog (OLUC) found considerable duplication among subject access points provided by title, subject heading, and classification number fields. On average, only 4.12 unique access points were found per record. The results suggest that online catalogs might outperform card catalogs more in…

Marking the 25th anniversary (August 26, 1996) of WorldCat (the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Online Union Catalog) OCLC and the U.S. regional networks sponsored an essay contest for librarians and library users to write essays describing their impressions of the OCLC Online Union Catalog. Four prize-winning essays from Michigan, Kentucky,…

Reviews costs involved in running libraries that are usually not considered. Topics discussed include building and maintenance costs, including insurance; growth costs, including print and/or electronic materials; physical expansion and staff; electronics; cost recovery, i.e., user fees; cost centers and overhead; user-related costs, including…

Describes ways that the Denver Public Library's interlibrary loan department has adapted electronic-messaging technology to improve interlibrary loan services. Patron-initiated requesting, via e-mail or OCLC's order option, is discussed; the role of the OPAC is explained; and implementation and staff training is described. (LRW)

Presents a general review of features of version 2.1 of Total Library Computerization (TLC) for Windows from On Point, Inc. Includes information about pricing, hardware and operating systems, modules/functions available, user interface, security, on-line catalog functions, circulation, cataloging, and documentation and online help. A table…

This study developed an analytical approach to detecting groups with homogenous usage patterns in a Web-based information system. Principal component analysis was used for data reduction, cluster analysis for categorizing usage into groups. The methodology was demonstrated and tested using two independent samples of user sessions from the…

An analysis of the science and technology collections at Carnegie Public Library of East Liverpool, Ohio was undertaken to obtain more thorough knowledge of these areas of the collection before collection development prioritization was made. The entire shelflist from Dewey classification number 500 through 629 was reviewed using the automated…

This research was conducted in order to examine whether libraries are maintaining consistent and complete subject authority control and creating syndetic reference structure for popular topics. A descriptive study of 15 private liberal arts college libraries was conducted to determine whether the Library of Congress (LC) prescribed "see"…

The University of California Catalog and Periodicals databases each have over 20 separately contributing libraries, and records for the same work can enter the MELVYL system from different campus libraries. MELVYL's goal is to have one union record for each distinct edition of a work. To promote this goal, the University's Division of Library…

This 2-year project at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) was conducted to determine the feasibility of providing online periodical indexing to the journal holdings of the UTA libraries by demonstrating an extended use of the libraries' NOTIS Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) to provide better access to local resources. Three approaches…

The Texas Education Agency sought to create an enhanced electronic communications network (TENET) capable of transmitting information among and between the members of the public education system in Texas. They contracted with the Texas Higher Education Network (THEnet), an existing distributed network which is an NSF (National Science Foundation)…