United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

FAQ
DOCLINE -- SERHOLD to OCLC Batch Update Overview

Question: What is SERHOLD to OCLC Batch Update?
Answer:

The SERHOLD to OCLC Batch Update consists of several programs that were written by both NLM and OCLC to take summary holdings from DOCLINE Serial Holdings and add, update, or delete local data records (LDRs) in OCLC's WorldCat database based upon a match on the OCLC control number recorded in the 035 field of NLM's bibliographic record in the online public access catalog, LocatorPlus. These programs enable libraries to enter summary holdings into DOCLINE Serial Holdings and, in most cases, not have to rekey the same information into OCLC.

The holdings of all libraries that authorize NLM to send Serial Holdings to OCLC by changing their Institution record, Membership page, Serial Holdings section, Batch Update Authorization field to "Send Holdings to OCLC", will be placed into a file and sent to OCLC once per quarter at the same time that the Library Group Union List products are generated the first weekend of the month in January, April, July, and October.

All holdings are extracted for the first update and provided to OCLC. OCLC adds these holdings to their database or updates the holdings in their database. No records that have been deleted from DOCLINE Serial Holdings are provided to OCLC with the first extraction. If a library does not change their authorization, holdings that have been added or modified and holdings that have been deleted are provided to OCLC after the first extraction for that library; holdings that have not been changed or deleted will not be provided to OCLC a second time. There are two exceptions to this rule: (1) when a library has two or more holdings records for the same title and one of them has been changed, then all holdings records for that library for that title will be provided to OCLC; and, (2) when NLM changes an OCLC control number in LocatorPlus, NLM provides to OCLC both add records with the new OCLC control number and delete records with the old OCLC control number for all SERHOLD to OCLC participants that have holdings for that title.

After the holdings that NLM provides to OCLC are extracted, NLM notifies libraries via DOCLINE Serial Holdings Reports of any known errors. It is up to the individual library to add these problem holdings to OCLC, to add a bibliographic record to OCLC when appropriate, and/or to notify NLM of OCLC numbers when the OCLC number is not in the LocatorPlus record. Instructions about each type of problem are located at the beginning of the error reports. Error reports will only be supplied when there are known errors. If OCLC notifies NLM of any problem records after the data are loaded, NLM will notify the appropriate Regional DOCLINE Coordinator who will then contact the individual library.

NLM uses a single record approach to note the existence of all versions of a serial on one bibliographic record, usually the bibliographic record for the print serial. OCLC WorldCat may have separate bibliographic records for each version of the serial. The OCLC control number that is in the 035 field of NLM's LocatorPlus record will be the match point for the record to which OCLC attaches the library's holdings in WorldCat. A library may wish to edit some of their holdings online in the OCLC database if they want the holdings attached to a bibliographic record other than the one that NLM has identified. (For example, if a library prefers to have holdings reported on separate bibliographic records for the print and electronic versions of a serial, the library would have to delete the holdings for the electronic version from the record for the print version. The library could then add or edit online in OCLC the local data record (LDR) linked to the bibliographic record in WorldCat for the electronic version of the serial.)

OCLC uses the following data elements from the DOCLINE database to create OCLC Local Data Records (LDRs) that are added or updated in WorldCat through batch processing. If a field is in OCLC, but is not listed below, it will be null in OCLC after the batch update has occurred.

If your library has not been deleting holdings from OCLC and you would like a listing of all records that have been deleted from DOCLINE Serial Holdings since June 2000, please contact your Regional DOCLINE Coordinator who will work with NLM to provide you with that information.

A listing of Regional DOCLINE Coordinators is located at the bottom of the SERHOLD Fact Sheet (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/serhold.html).

Related Questions:
How are deletes handled with SERHOLD to OCLC batch update?
How can I report that my library's holdings were attached to the wrong bibliographic record in OCLC via the SERHOLD to OCLC batch update program?
What Batch Update capabilities does DOCLINE offer for Serial Holdings?
Why is OCLC to SERHOLD Batch Update no longer offered?

Return to the top | Return to the list of DOCLINE FAQs | Return to the list of NLM FAQs
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/doc_batch_update.html

Last reviewed: 17 September 2008
Last updated: 17 September 2008
First published: 12 June 2003
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed