stevejzoo
Page by Steve Johnson, systems librarian and sometime archivist, including occasional
writings, links to software,
notes about organizations in which I participate, and matter elsewhere classified.
Updated May 11th, 2009.
Open Worldcat and Worldcat on FirstSearch
Open Worldcat exposes the OCLC Worldcat database to
the entire internet. Previously, only subscribers to an OCLC service could
search the Worldcat database. The FirstSearch service provided reference
access to the database; other OCLC interfaces provided searching for
cataloging and interlibrary loan purposes.
Open WorldCat also has a more up to date interface and
features than the FirstSearch interface.
The question may well be asked: Why should a library subscribe
to Worldcat on FirstSearch if Open Worldcat is freely available to
non-subscribers? The answer lies in the benefits that libraries derive
from Worldcat.
Much of the value of the Worldcat database lies in the links
it provides between any item listed in Open Worldcat and the holdings of
individual libraries.
Worldcat via the FirstSearch interface lists all holdings for
every item in the Worldcat database. In contrast, Open Worldcat lists
holdings only for those libraries which have purchased a subscription to
Worldcat via the FirstSearch interface.
In other words, libraries obtain two benefits by
subscribing to FirstSearch. First, the holdings of the library are listed
in Open Worldcat. Second, the subscribin library's users have access to
the holdings of all libraries via the FirstSearch interface.
There is no absolute answer to the question of whether Open
WorldCat is better than Worldcat via the FirstSearch interface. What is
better depends on the criteria one wants to use.
Open Worldcat uses a more modern interface and easier downloads
of individual citations to bibliographic software such as Zotero and
Endnote. For many people, that is reason enough to use Open Worldcat
rather than FirstSearch.
FirstSearch, however, offers more
precise options for searching and permits easier downloading of large
numbers of citations. For example, in FirstSearch one may limit results
to dissertations only. That is not feasible in Open Worldcat.
A further wrinkle to the difference between Open Worldcat lies
in the behavior of Open Worldcat at the IP address of institutions which
subscribe to FirstSearch. These OpenWorldcat searches return all holdings
linked to an item, as in the FirstSearch interface.
Subscriptions to Open Worldcat on FirstSearch are the economic
underpining of Open Worldcat and the only reason why any library holdings
are listed in Open Worldcat. If no libraries subscribed to Firstsearch,
there would be no holdings listed in Open Worldcat.
2008 March
8
BioOne
Quoting the organization's boilerplate language, BioOne is a "unique aggregation of
high impact bioscience research journals." More than eighty ejournals are
distributed through BioOne.One. Earlier this year, BioOne launched a
second collection, which contains forty titles of this writing.
Following the best practices of commercial publishers of scholarly
journals, BioOne makes tables of contents, article abstracts,
searching, and citation downloads for BioOne
journals freely available at www.bioone.org. BioOne subscribers
may brand their accounts so that library users know who is
providing the resource, regardless of how they reach it.
From 2004 through 2007, I served on BioOne's Library Advisory Group. In
practice, this appointment meant that I expressed opinions and suggestions
to BioOne management. In the past, BioOne has implemented user
suggestions such as a "search by institution" field in the advanced search
function, institutional branding, and free access to citation download
functions.
Because of BioOne's demonstrated responsiveness
to
users, I am pleased to participate in the feed back process.
You are welcome to send questions or comments about BioOne to me:
sjohnson at westnet.com.
NYLINK A statewide association
of libraries and related agencies, NYLINK is best known as the New York affiliate of OCLC, the Online
Computer Library Center.
In June 2006, I completed six
year's service on NYLINK Council, where I represented libraries
other than academic, public, school, medical, and business
libraries. This "other" category usually includes museum, zoo, and botanical garden libraries, regional library councils and
Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES agencies).
I know that NYLINK management listens carefully to what
members, and potential members, have to say about the services
and products. I would be happy to pass along any comments
individuals did not care to pass along in person.