OCLC WWW Cataloging Initiatives

OCLC has pioneered a number of important Internet cataloging iniatives. These include NetFirst (the FirstSearch commercial online search tool), InterCat (the initial research into Web cataloging), Scorpion (automated assignment of Dewey classification) and CORC (cooperative on-line cataloging).

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The OCLC initiatives described below have pioneered WWW cataloging. Understand the role OCLC has played in developing WWW cataloging standards and what those standards are.

How have they drawn upon traditional cataloging methods to meet their goals? How have they applied new techniques and new markup languages to "push the cataloging envelop?"

Which of these initatives have become or are likely to become the standard of practice?

NetFirst

NetFirst is a commerical database. Its services are provided for a fee. It is available without charge to the OU community at http://firstsearch.oclc.org/FSIP . In order to access this database -- as well as many others -- at the University of Oklahoma, the user must use a comupter on the OU server or a proxy server. This is standard practice for fee based search services.

FirstSearch and through it, NetFirst, can be accessed on-line at http://firstsearch.oclc.org/html/fs_pswd.htm. Direct access to FirstSearch services requires, however, password authorization.

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How is NetFirst unique? What attributes does NetFirst have that differentiate it from other on-line search services? From the librarian's perspective, how useful is this service? From the end user's perspective?

As of February 2000, NetFirst has just over 100,000 records. What does a NetFirst record cover? Web sites or Web pages?

Does NetFirst adequately represent the WWW? If it does not, is there any reason why it should?

In your opinion, does it do a better job than its "free" analog !Yahoo. What about the spider-based search engines?

What underlying philosophical differences are there between services like NetFirst and !Yahoo?

Work with NetFirst and other FirstSearch databases. How does the quality of Web resources compare with more traditional ones?

NetFirst is part of OCLC's FirstSearch family of on-line databases. FirstSearch was designed as an end user faciltity rather as an intermediary service like Dialog, Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, or Ovid. Its search language and architecture are therefore somewhat simpler and less "focused" than the "expert" services.

The following is the NetFirst record for "NetFirst" on February 7, 2000:

TITLE:
NetFirst . (Type: World Wide Web Resource )
LINK:
http://www.oclc.org/oclc/netfirst/netfirst.htm
SUMMARY:
Features NetFirst, a database from the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) in Dublin, Ohio. Notes
that NetFirst is an index of Internet resources and is available on the FirstSearch and EPIC services.
Contains sample records and a FAQ section. Offers information on becoming an authorized user and on
collection development policy. Lists OCLC member libraries and links to the OCLC home page.
CONTACT:
netfirst@oclc.org (Feedback)
DEWEY INFO:
Class: 005.74 004.67
Subjects: Computer programming, programs, data. Data processing; Computer science.
LC SUBJECT:
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.. Online databases. Internet (Computer network).
PUBLISHER:
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC)
DB NO.:
147545
DOMAIN:
org Other Organization
GEOG. INFO:
Class: T2-771
Subject: Ohio.

All NetFirst fields are searchable. NetFirst is unlike most other Web catalogs in that it employs Dewey, LC, and geographic classification schemes. Thus its creator, OCLC, has employed sophisticated metadata design in its implementation.

InterCat

NetFirst is the result of early OCLC concern with Web cataloging. InterCat and its successor project, Scorpion, are OCLC programs. InterCat is described at http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/catproj/catcall.htm . A searchable database of the InterCat records is provided at http://orc.rsch.oclc.org:6990/.

OCLC published an online manal for Internet cataloging:

Nancy B. Olson, ed, Cataloging Internet Resources [:] A Manual and Practical Guide, 2 ed. http://www.purl.org/oclc/cataloging-internet

The manual addresses Z39.50 compliant machine readable catalogs and the use of the 856 field.

Scorpion

Scorpion is a second OCLC initiative to catalog the Internet. Scorpion was designed to assign automatic Dewey classification to electronic media. (see http://orc.rsch.oclc.org:6109/ and http://orc.rsch.oclc.org:6109/b-asis.html) Although the project ended in November 1999, it is considered an adjunct to human cataloging and indexing where each can augment the other.

Cooperative Online Resource Catalog (CORC)

CORC (http://www.oclc.org/oclc/corc/) is a cooperative program among librarians to provide WWW cataloging using automated state-of-the-art hardware and software. Modeled after WorldCat, CORC is seen as- in their words - "It’s a cooperative effort to create a high-quality, library-selected database of Web-based electronic resource descriptions." cite

CORC is designed to be developed by cooperating librarians who will provide records to CORC and who will in turn have access to CORC records. These bibliographic records incorporate appropriate standards, including Dublin Core, RDF, and XML.

CORC addresses the transient nature of Web documents and provides URL checking and updating as part of the service. As a consequence CORC produced and supported Web records are screened for currency of existence. For more on this problem in general, see this site's Morbidity and Change page.

For a more extensive description of CORC, please view the attached slides produced by OCLC and used by permission: CORC SLIDE SHOW