MNLINK transition to Worldcat Discovery update

Minitex recently hosted three events related to the transition of MNLINK to the WorldCat Discovery interface for end-user requesting. Participants learned about the OCLC Reclamation/Batchloading process, the importance of that process for the system to work properly, as well as the following facts:

• Availability checking and library holdings are located using the OCLC accession number.  
• Libraries that are Batchloading will receive the OCLC number to overlay in their MARC record.
• Libraries that are using Reclamation will be receiving the OCLC number with their records when their complete holdings are updated in OCLC.

A questionnaire was distributed following the sessions. It requested information from each library about their current bibliographic holdings, and also recommended these best practices for handling bibliographic records:

• The MARC OCLC accession number location is:
  • 035 $a for all systems (except Millennium and Sierra.)
  • 001  (for Millennium and Sierra systems.)
• The preference for OCLC accession number formatting is:
  1. No prefix formatting (1234 OCLC number with no prefix)
  2. (OCoLC)1234
  3. Ocn1234
  4. ocm1234
• MARC field for OCLC numbers must be indexed, (preferably use attribute 1211 or 12, but 1007 or 1016 are acceptable.)

Some configuration work will also need to be done for the holdings availability to work properly. Nick Banitt is working to create lists of locations that are currently configured in VDX. Watch for more communication about how to confirm if this information is current and complete for your location.