[Milsurplus] Worldcat.org?

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

For  further  OCLC and  MARC reading we recommend....
 
http://www.smecc.org/library_automation_-_history.htm
has a great  group of  history  papers  on  The  MARC PILOT PROJECT!
 
This is  great  history...  and  yea... falls   under the umbrella of  
communications  so      we   archive stuff on it.
 
Ed Sharpe KF7RWW - -archivist  for SMECC  
 
 
In a message dated 3/2/2014 12:15:04 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
jfor at quikus.com writes:

Here is  a response I received, from a recently retired Reference  
Librarian:

"This, WORLDCAT, has been the tool for any librarian since  the mid 1970's.
In the early years library cataloguers were the only people  to view the
MARC record so I had to ask to see the record since I was a  reference
research librarian working with you, the public.  "WorldCat  is the world's
largest network of library content and services. WorldCat  libraries are
dedicated to providing access to their resources on the Web".  Note it is a
network. Libraries contribute their holdings to WORLDCAT via  OCLC in the
old days.  I started my professional career BEFORE  WorldCat in the dark
ages of wood catalogs with drawers and drawers hold  3x5 cards. Yes, we
even filed each card "above the rod" and some someone  would check are
filing. Dropping a drawer of 3x5 cards and releasing the  metal spewing the
cards over the floor was tantamount to dropping your  oblong box of key
punched cards while waiting your turn in the computer  center at midnight
or in the noisy room with fellow key punchers.

At  least we had Pre-Prints, essentially a paper bibliography of  library
holdings, to verify a book or ms and its location.   "Pre-prints" is a set
of large heavy books bound in light green published  by LC, Library of
Congress,  duplicating and displaying 3x5 catalog  entries for a book etc
and  large libraries holding the item. Some  symbols I recall are HU, LC,
YALE, NYPL, BXM (Boston College)  MIT.

Then the info on the 3x5 index card had to be transferred into  computer
readable format! The conversion to the new MARC record took place  in the
late '60's-'70's, one title at a time. We called it the OCLC or  MARC
record, in the early days it would be - No OCLC record then  check
PrePrints. I actually met and heard one of the authors of the  MARC/OCLC
format record speak at ALA.   http://oclc.org/bibformats/en.html. I used to
know most the "fields" and  refer to them by number, like author, subject
etc  .http://oclc.org/bibformats/en/introduction.htm

Of course, paper  bibliographies were our backbone or staple to locate
foreign items in  foreign universities. I used the British Museum Catalog,
the French and  German library catalogs, again all in paper format taking
up shelves and  shelves of space. Think about updating them!

Although I was not born  digital I am one of many librarians who moved from
wood catalog drawers to  WORLDCAT on my computer in a matter of a few
years. Just before I retired  in 2010, I was reading my email with
reference questions etc, ordering  foreign books online from Casalini Libri
in Italy or Aux amateurs in Paris  and usually had a least 3-5 screens open
on my monitor at a  time.

OCLC is an American invention!  "

Best,

-John

===============





Hi,

I  just stumbled on Worldcat.org. It's new to me.

It seems to be something  like a meta search engine for libraries
worldwide. I know little more about  it, but it seema  useful.

FWIW,

-John

=================



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