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1) In an OCLC context, what is the difference between “holdings” and “local holdings”? 2) List at least 3 reasons why your library should maintain accurate holdings in WorldCat. 3) Why is it important to delete WorldCat holdings for items removed from your collection?

Knowledge Check! Effective and Efficient Holdings Maintenance

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Answers

1) “Holdings” are title-level holdings -- either your library holds (owns) an item, or you don’t. Holdings for items you own or provide access to are “set” on master records by adding your OCLC institution symbol to the record. “Local holdings” refers to LHRs (local holdings records) containing item-specific holdings information, often for serials, but they can also be for other material types. For serials, you can indicate which volumes and dates of the serial you hold. For any material type, you can indicate whether your library will lend or copy the item. 2) Some reasons for to maintain accurate WorldCat holdings are:

• To facilitate public discovery via FirstSearch and WorldCat.org • If your library uses WorldCat Local, accurate holdings are critical • They are important for WorldCat Resource Sharing (interlibrary

loan) • To facilitate WorldCat Collection Analysis

3) Some reasons that it is important to delete WorldCat holdings when items are removed from your collection are:

• So that the time of borrowing library staff and your own library staff will not be wasted with interlibrary loan requests for items you no longer own

• So that users of FirstSearch, WorldCat.org, and WorldCat Local will not be misled into thinking that your library has an item when you do not

• So that WorldCat Collection Analysis can provide accurate reports on your collection