Seeing NHAIS holdings in WorldCat and more...

The latest from NHAIS Notes... Seeing NHAIS holdings in WorldCat Brief NHU-PAC outage Tue 4/16 10pm 060 - NLM Call Number 055 - Classification Numbers Assigned in Canada IMLS statistics report!

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While WorldCat.org allows you to see materials held by libraries around the world, for many years you couldn't see NHAIS holdings there. Now an extra click will show you if the NHU-PAC (the union catalog in the NHAIS ILL System) has a copy of the OCLC record you're looking at in WorldCat.

WorldCat search results show you a list of "Featured libraries" that hold the material listed. Click on the "All libraries" tab to see more locations, including the NHU-PAC (listed as "NHAIS"):

You may see a few libraries that participate in the NHAIS ILL System, including the State Library, listed separately. That's determined by the kind of account these institutions have with OCLC.

Keep in mind that the presence of a record in the NHU-PAC doesn't guarantee that a library in the state has a holding for that title. You need to use the NHAIS ILL System to see that. Also be aware that there's always a lag, usually a few hours, between when a record is downloaded from WorldCat and when it's uploaded to the NHU-PAC. During that time, WorldCat.org will show that the record is in the NHU-PAC even though it isn't quite there yet.

The NHAIS ILL System will be offline briefly tonight (Tuesday, Apr. 16) to install program updates, starting at 10 o'clock. The updates are for behind-the-scenes functions.

"The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has been a center of information innovation since its founding in 1836. The world’s largest biomedical library, NLM maintains and makes available a vast print collection and produces electronic information resources on a wide range of topics that are searched billions of times each year by millions of people around the globe. It also supports and conducts research, development, and training in biomedical informatics and health information technology."

The NLM Classification, which is a scheme for the shelf arrangement of medical literature in libraries, is maintained and developed by the Cataloging and Metadata Management Section of the NLM. The call numbers assigned using this classification are found in the 060 tag.

The structure of the 060 is very similar to other tags that contain classification numbers:

• subfield a is the full call number (classification + item number)
  
• NLM doesn't use subfield b
• the first indicator tells you if the item is in the NLM collection
• the second indicator tells you if the number was assigned by the NLM or by another agency using their classification system
  

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Library of Congress. They maintain various cataloging resources, including a classification system which uses the LC classification schedules with sections specially developed for Canadian history, literature, and law.  

The call numbers assigned using this classification, whether assigned by the LAC or by libraries who contribute to their catalog are found in the 055 tag.

The structure of this tag parallels that of the 050 tag:

• subfield a is the classification portion of the call number
• subfield b is the item portion of the call number
• the first indicator tells you if the item is in the LAC collection

The second indicator in the 055 tag contains information about the source and completeness of the classification. Because these call numbers can be created by various libraries there are several possible values used. A complete set of valid codes for this indicator is included in BF&S.

This is a friendly reminder that the deadline to submit your library’s statistics for the IMLS Annual Report is Friday, April 12. Please submit your statistics by the deadline. A BIG thank you to the majority of libraries that have already submitted their statistics.

In years past, MaryAnn (and previous NHSL staff) have spent much time and effort tracking down libraries that did not submit statistics on time. I hope we can all agree that this is not a great use of time for anyone!

If you have any questions, we are happy to help you. MaryAnn’s email address is maryann.niles@dncr.nh.gov. All of us here at the State Library thank you for your time and attention to this annual task.

Thank you and TGIF!
Mindy

Mindy Atwood, Assistant State Librarian
New Hampshire State Library