[ILL-L] OCLC SEARCHING

[Megan Bayonet]

Have you ever checked to make sure that the holdings information is attached
to your e-journals?  I know that for almost all of the thousands of
e-journal that we hold and are licensed to fill from, OCLC doesn't have
volume or year information attached to the holdings.  It simply says "VMB
has this journal".  Our cataloger is far too swamped to go and fill it in on
all of these journals and it doesn't come with the record.  I'd say that I
think it isn't sloppy searching leading to these requests as much as it is
incomplete information in OCLC.  When I get a request I can't fill, I just
say No - Volume Not Available and hope that another lender in the string is
able to supply.
 
Megan Bayonet
Interlibrary Loan Coordinator
mbayonet at mbc.edu
540-887-7317
 

  _____  

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of W Stephen Breedlove
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 4:59 PM
To: ill-l at webjunction.org
Subject: [ILL-L] OCLC SEARCHING


List members,
 
For whatever the following is worth:
 
After dealing daily with the issue of faulty OCLC searching about which I
went on at length a couple of weeks or so ago, I made the decision today to
deflect requests received through OCLC for articles from ejournals and to
deflect requests received through OCLC for ebooks.  I assume that sharing a
position on an issue with this list is mostly preaching to the choir and
that the people who should be made aware of an issue or a problem more than
likely do not subscribe to this list.
 
Today, I said NO to ten requests for articles from journals that the
requesting libraries had put on the OCLC records for the ejournal versions
instead of the print versions: we did not have the issues needed in online
format and we did not own the print versions of the journals.  On three of
these requests, we were the first library in the lender string.  On five of
these requests, we were the second library in the lender string.  For one
request, we were the third library in the string.  For one request, we were
the fifth lender in the string!  Frequently, I have said CONDITIONAL to
these kinds of requests and have told the requesting libraries that they
might have better luck requesting on OCLC records for the print versions of
the journals.  I cannot take the time anymore to do this.
 
Today, I also said CONDITIONAL to one request for an ebook, when I am sure
that the requesting library really wanted to borrow the print version, which
we did not own.  On this request, we were the second library in the lender
string.  I told this library that they might have better luck in obtaining
the book by requesting on the OCLC record for the print version.  I have
found myself doing conditionals for requests for ebooks every day and cannot
take the time to do this anymore.
 
These types of requests seem to be a result of sloppy searching in OCLC and
reflect a severe lack of training in searching OCLC efficiently and
effectively.  What kind of service and turnaround, if any, is being provided
by libraries that produce these kinds of requests?  Do they ever obtain an
article or a book?  It's a shame that this kind of interlibrary
loan/document delivery service is being provided these days.
 
I decided to deflect requests such as these because our workload is
increasingly being inflated by these requests to which we would probably say
NO in most cases.  Why deal with them at all?  It's a bottomless pit.
 
W. Stephen Breedlove, MLS, MA
Reference Librarian/Interlibrary Loan Coordinator
Connelly Library, La Salle University
breedlov at lasalle.edu
215-951-1862
 
 
 
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