CONSER Publication Pattern Initiative

Task Force to Explore the Use of a Universal Holdings Record

Charge 1b: Key uses by libraries and others in the community - Sharon Wiles- Young, Margi Mann, Diane Hillmann

Serials and Non-serials: Issues

Much of the current discussion of publication patterns and their potential uses revolve around serials control, and indeed the sharing of publication patterns for this purpose has always been something of a "Holy Grail." But even within serial control applications, there are a variety of uses possible for both a full, publication pattern, and for other data elements within the MARC Format for Holdings Data (MFHD). Many of these potential uses extend as well to non-serials. Thus, the emerging, evolving concept of the Universal Holdings Record (UHR) can embrace all bibliographic formats and the majority of holdings data elements.

Within this context, some of the possible uses that could be envisioned with the presence of a "smart application" include:

1. Import and export of "universal" publication patterns and "universal" holdings records to a central repository (OCLC and/or RLIN) to quickly and efficiently create the first, complete holdings record at the local level.
2. Copy of "universal" pattern data to create the second and subsequent holdings records at the local level (another copy or version, digital or microform).
3. Comparison of local holdings with published ("universal") holdings for the purpose of selecting the most complete extant set for a particular use, be it digitization, microfilming, archiving, claiming, or some other purpose.
4. Expansion of a "universal" holdings statement for the purpose of creating item-level records for a title (for inventory, barcode generation, etc.)
5. Compression of statements from various sources (within an institution or consortium) for the purpose of reporting, union listing, sale, etc.

Moving beyond these "classic" uses, similar functions apply to a broad range of publications, whether or not a serials control system is used for their management. Some of the challenges that bedevil libraries with significant holdings that are not classified as serials (law libraries, for example) could be more easily handled with access to a universal holdings record. Sets with replacement volumes, split between current and 'archival' sets, titles with mixed serial and non-serial portions, and those with pocket or mixed media supplementation could all be more easily managed if some notion of what a 'full set' looked like. A smart application with support for complex retention information could improve the management of the item at the local level considerably.

Clearly, other areas within the library community and beyond might find uses for readily available, detailed information about the publication of complex bibliographic items. Some of these might be:

1. Organization of digitized versions within a data repository, for the use of display of various kinds, selection by users, and refreshing.
2. Inventory of physical or digital items.
3. Creation of desiderata lists for missing items, replacement of items, or substitution of an item in one format with another format.
4. Support for reference linking (OpenURL, for instance).
5. Use to build knowledge databases for link resolvers

Collection Development and Reference Uses

Collection Development librarians are transitioning resources to the electronic world while trying to remain fiscally responsible. Universal holding statements would assist librarians in making these decisions by providing coverage and publication history. Librarians responsible for collections make the selection and ordering decisions based on many criteria, one being coverage. Retention decisions are often made based on information on what can be replaced by electronic holdings, or which portions of the print run can be moved to storage. The Universal Holdings Record (UHR) would provide the librarian with thorough information about the publication history of the item, such as length of publication, periods when it was not published, and series numbering anomalies, thus improving the decision-making process.

Moving past the strictly intellectual, human-mediated part of collection development, one could envision applications built upon the knowledge of both the full publication pattern and the array of holdings at the local level. This could provide automated assistance to the collection developer and manager-identifying items in multiple formats, items with significant gaps, or complex holdings within an institution-allowing the assistance of computers to be more fully realized for the effective management of holdings for bibliographic items in all formats.

Reference Librarians report that 40% of reference questions involve serial publications. Universal holdings would present in an easily accessible form the complete publication history of a serial title. This would assist with verification of citations, and allow easy comparison of holdings in other formats (digital, microform, etc.) or in other libraries.

Any application that would benefit from the expression or manipulation of holdings information (for any purpose) should be able to take advantage of a coded "universal" holdings as a point of reference for each title. Even when local holdings are incomplete, knowing what a complete publication run of a title looks like-from how many issues or parts per volume to how they were captioned-would help to reduce the human effort involved in generating other products from the information.