Tales from the Pioneers: Switching from OCLC Cataloging Services to SkyRiver This panel discussion will explore the experiences of four MOBIUS libraries who transitioned from OCLC cataloging services to SkyRiver. They will address how SkyRiver differs from OCLC and in what ways it is the same. They will also talk through their workflows with SkyRiver, including how using SkyRiver has impacted interlibrary loan. The discussion will be moderated but will also be open for questions from the audience. Speakers Lora Farrell Moderator Catalog & digital services librarian, Kansas City Art Institute Valerie Darst Panelist Director of Library Services, Moberly Area Community College Denise Pakala Panelist Assoc. Librarian for Technical Services, Covenant Theological Seminary Barbara Wright Panelist Circulation Supervisor, William Jewell College
Tales from the Pioneers: Switching from OCLC Cataloging Services to SkyRiver Valerie Darst Director of Library Services, Moberly Area Community College Lora Farrell Catalog & digital services librarian, Kansas City Art Institute Denise Pakala Assoc. Librarian for Technical Services, Covenant Theological Seminary Barbara Wright Circulation Supervisor, William Jewell College
Notes from Denise Pakala at Covenant Theological Seminary Approximate date your organization went live: May 2001 How large is your collection? 85000 volumes, almost totally books and journals (2000 media titles) Approx. how many new titles (book, DVD, Blu ray, audiobook, et c ) do you acquire and add per year? 1100 1200 new book titles; 55 media titles (CD, DVD) 5 10 kits (we have a small curriculum collection of Sunday School and VBS materials, etc.) Specialized coverage areas and certain types of media what is your school s emphasis and do you have collections of dissertations or microfiche, et c and are you finding them in SkyRiver? Since we are a seminary, our collection is heavily weighted in theology and Biblical studies, with a decent sized collection of Christian counseling to support our counseling program Because we are in a metropolitan area, we are more specialized than we would be if our students couldn't easily travel to nearby schools for other materials For example, we are a denominational seminary of the PCA. Since we are in a cluster with Concordia (Lutheran), Kenrick Glennon (Catholic), Eden Seminary (United Church of Christ), Missouri Baptist University (Baptist) we concentrate on collecting Presbyterian materials more than we would if we were more isolated Cataloging at Covenant What cataloging utility have you used in the past? OCLC Connexion Can you comment on the SkyRiver hit rate vs. Connexion? I am surprised that the hit rate is as high as it is. For the most part, the records I am not finding are for very specialized publishers, such as Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing. The same handful of cataloguers end up cataloguing P&R's material originally. Sometimes I find a CIP that has already been completed in WorldCat. It is pretty easy to just copy and paste in that instance. MOBIUS records in SkyRiver One of the reasons the hit rate is so high is that SkyRiver has loaded records from some (III) consortia. From Jodi at SkyRiver: The Mobius Inn Reach system catalog has been included in the SkyRiver database since the start of SkyRiver.
Notes from Denise Pakala at Covenant Theological Seminary SkyRiver Implementation Any implementation problems? We had a couple of very minor back and forths with Steve Strohl to get our load profile just right. Steve has been great; very prompt at responding and solved my problems quickly Setting up Wi Fi use at home I use a mobile Wi Fi hotspot at home and it was a little tricky to get it to work for SkyRiver because of non static IP addresses. It is working now, using a range of IP addresses. If we had a VPN, then that would not be an issue, I believe. Your general level of satisfaction with the SkyRiver interface & database: I'm more satisfied than I expected to be. Your level of satisfaction with SkyRiver's tech support The issues that I have had have been pretty minor. Steve Strohl at MCO has been wonderful at answering them. Cataloguing Workflow Post SkyRiver Implementation Cataloguing workflow post SkyRiver is almost the same as before Differences: If our acquisitions assistant has not found a record to attach an order record to, she types a short bib record (with an attached order). In this case, before I search SkyRiver, I double check that an OCLC bib record hasn't been added to Bridges after she created the short bib. I search for the record in SkyRiver. If found, I edit it in SkyRiver (much easier to edit in than in Sierra and a LOT faster) and then export the record, overlaying the short bib. If there is a CIP record, I either just complete it myself, or perhaps, search for it on WorldCat and find a library that may have completed it already. Sometimes, if it is a very esoteric theological subject, I find this useful because there may be added notes I wouldn't have thought to add. Most of the time, I just count the pages, etc. and complete the SkyRiver record. If there is no record at all in SkyRiver, I often search WorldCat, find a seminary library, whose cataloguing I particularly like, that has catalogued the work and copy and paste from their record. This saves me typing time. Or, I just catalogue it originally. I never use a blank work form. I find a similar record, same author, maybe same publisher, etc. and then use the 'derive' function. The fixed fields (except date) are usually already correct and it faster than a blank work form. Have you used the Report Unavailable record function in SkyRiver, and has that provided you with results? Only a couple of times. It worked ok, but the kind of titles that I usually need that I can't find a record for are extremely specialized and only a few libraries (at best) will ever hold them. for thesis cataloguing.
Notes from Denise Pakala at Covenant Theological Seminary Editing records in SkyRiver I like the editing capabilities in SkyRiver. I like the various menu choices, like for adding or editing 007 s, 3XX s, etc. It integrates nicely with the RDA toolkit and LC s MARC lookup. The only thing is miss is that I had dozens of macros which I used in OCLC. You can create macros in SkyRiver using regular expressions, but I'm not adept at this. You can also use text strings and shortcut keys and I have set up a bunch of those What about record loads from vendors, such as EBSCO e books? We still use OCLC Product Services Web because EBSCO has a contract with them to download the MARC records. I download to my computer, then I upload them to SkyRiver, edit them and export to Sierra. I do this rather than load them directly into Sierra because of SkyRiver's superior record editing and its much, much better response time. Sierra is really, really slow and annoying to edit records in. Also, I do all my cataloguing in small batches and it is easy to upload my file of EBSCO records into SkyRiver, then when I have edited them all, I export them at once. I'm still not that used to editing e book records. If I do them all in a batch like that, I can make sure I haven't forgotten something while they are still in my SkyRiver local save file. (If I have a large batch of records to load, then I have MCO load them for me, but most of the time, I am cataloguing a dozen or so at a time, so I do them myself). Save files I make lots of different save files for different sorts of materials and this works just like OCLC Connexion. I keep a couple of records in each file as a kind of template, like a couple of thesis records in my thesis file, as a quick check of the fixed fields, etc., I use Authority Work in SkyRiver Authority searching in SkyRiver This is pretty decent, but it is the one area of authority work that I think needs to be beefed up. The complete authority is in SkyRiver, but the searching is skimpy. You can search the Heading and Subdivision records in left anchored searches or you can search by Keyword. Most of the time this is effective, but there needs to be an additional keyword search limited to Name, or to Title or to Subject Heading. Keyword sometimes turns up just too many hits and if I don't know the exact title I am searching for, it can be very frustrating. Verify headings This is very nice in SkyRiver, verifying all the headings in a record at once. It has its quirks, particularly with uniform titles, but mostly it is very useful. It is one reason I edit in SkyRiver first before I export to Sierra. I can verify all the headings at once and look at the authority records (if needed) much more quickly and easily than in Sierra. Do you import Authority records into Sierra from SkyRiver? Sometimes. If there aren't a lot of complex see refs. then I usually let the quarterly authority processing from Backstage bring in the record. If it is really complex, and I want my users to have the see refs sooner than that, then I will export it into Sierra from SkyRiver. This works as well as it did in OCLC Connexion. Unlike bib records which get their own SkyRiver record numbers, the authority records are the same as if they came from OCLC. NACO authorization in SkyRiver SkyRiver is one of only 3 cataloguing utility partner in the NACO program: OCLC, the British Library, and SkyRiver. If you are certified in NACO, you can receive a NACO authorization which allows you to create and submit authority records, exactly as you do in OCLC Connexion.
Notes from Denise Pakala at Covenant Theological Seminary Opinion of SkyRiver Quality of the records (quality is an elusive term) I am very happy with the quality of SkyRiver records. I LOVE not having to sift through all the partial records, minimal records, less than minimal records in OCLC If a library were shopping around, would you recommend SkyRiver to other libraries? I would certainly recommend that they take a look at SkyRiver. In fact, in a couple of weeks I am presenting a paper at the American Theological Library Association's annual conference on our experience moving to SkyRiver. I am presenting it because I think it is a viable option for numbers of seminary libraries. Do you recommend staying with SkyRiver? We renewed for the next year. OCLC Connexion is still a more robust program. But it is pricey. I think as long as SkyRiver remains considerably below the cost of OCLC, we will continue. If it were only 10% or less savings (compared to OCLC), then I would reconsider. At our current 40% savings, it is a no brainer and I would still be satisfied that it was a very good value at a 25% savings. Disadvantages of SkyRiver The loss of ability to add our holdings. At the moment, this is ok, but as years go on this can ultimately hurt the entire interlibrary loan community. In our case, all of our holdings have never been perfectly reported in OCLC, so it has never been a perfect reflection of our collection. Similarly, the loss of my original cataloguing in a world wide database, especially since I catalogue in a pretty specialized area. This bothers me a lot but I don't think OCLC has kept good faith with the cataloging community. It is less and less a member driven organization and more and more a commercial entity. I think it is a good thing for OCLC to have competitors. Loss of the ability to change bibliographic records in OCLC. I edited and replaced many, many records in OCLC as soon as they opened up editing to everybody. Typically I would add notes and subject headings related to my specialty.
Notes from Valerie Darst at Moberly Area Community College Moberly Area Community College Went Live in MOBIUS in late 2000. Collection is about 25,000 physical books; two collections of ebooks; AV materials Add about 750 titles a year physical/ebook format No specialized coverage areas. I do consider that our largest campus is the Online Campus so I purchase a lot of ebooks. Cataloging at MACC Used Cat Express in the past The hit rate on Sky River is equal to the hit rate in CatExpress SkyRiver Implementation There have been no implementation problems at all. Steve Strohl was great to work with. The software is very easy to download with usernames/passwords already assigned. I am very satisfied with SkyRiver. I have not had to use the tech support for Sky River. Cataloging Workflow Post SkyRiver Implementation Cataloging flow is much improved. With CatExpress I had to catalog and then wait for a daily download of records to Sierra, and then go into the catalog and assign call numbers, barcodes, etc. So I was touching the books twice with an additional day between touches for downloads. With SkyRiver the downloading into Sierra is almost instantaneous. Editing is very easy in SkyRiver but I find that I do most of my editing in Sierra, probably just because that is where I am used to doing it. I have not used the Report Unavailable Record in SkyRiver I mainly edit in Sierra I have not loaded ebook collections into SkyRiver I do not use Save files Authority Work I do not do authority work in SkyRiver Opinion on SkyRiver Quality of records is good. Very happy. I would recommend that people looking for a cataloging tool take a look at SkyRiver. It is a viable option for small libraries. We are staying with SkyRiver for the coming year. I am concerned about costs in the future. SkyRiver will have to keep costs down to compete with OCLC. The loss of availability to add our holdings is only a small disadvantage to MACC. We have very, very few unique holdings so I don t think harm is being done to the interlibrary loan community at large.
Notes from other panelists, Lora Farrell at Kansas City Art Institute and Barbara Wright at William Jewell Go live date: KCAI went live with SkyRiver on May 1, 2014. We had some trouble getting it to work, which turned out to be a port problem on our end, so we were unable to use SkyRiver until May 14, 2014. No problems with implementing on the SkyRiver end. On our end, our Campus Tech department had never uninstalled Millennium even after the Sierra upgrade. When they were opening the ports to recognize SkyRiver, they only opened one of the ports. It turned out that they may have only opened the port for Millennium, when really they needed to open it for Sierra to talk to SkyRiver. Usability: Initially, SkyRiver records were exporting without the 001 line (equivalent to the OCLC number). Steve Strohl created a new load profile for us and then I created a Macro in SkyRiver (per S.Strohl s instructions) that I would put into each record immediately before Exporting. I (KCAI) no longer need to use the Macro to put in a line for 001 line SkyRiver number retention. 001 lines are now being retained in the transfer over to Sierra. William Jewell: Staff at William Jewell do very little cataloging approximately 50 books per year. They have found SkyRiver very easy to use and like using it. They have found older records that pre date ISBNs, which is helpful for when they have books that should be in their system but are not. Level of satisfaction: Overall, SkyRiver is great. I do wish there was a manual, or FAQ. As it is, when I have a question, I either email skyexpress@iii.com or I click Report Unavailable Record when I can t find the record that I need. Tech support: I have only had to contact them a few times. They have responded promptly, were responsive and helpful. I am happy with them. SkyRiver vs. Catexpress hit rate: Other than archival materials and related things that would not be in SkyRiver to begin with, I have had to create 36 original records for books and media since we have begun using SkyRiver. Most of those records are in Catexpress, so there are advantages of using Catexpress. I know that they re in Catexpress, because I found them in Worldcat. The main things that I have trouble finding in SkyRiver are Blu ray disks. Do I recommend staying with SkyRiver: I am happy with them and am fine with the hit rate, with the one exception of multimedia. If we continue to get increasing numbers of Blu ray titles, then I hope the holdings in SkyRiver for Blu ray improve. Also, when I click Report unavailable record within SkyRiver for titles that they do not have, I would say they end up finding, or creating a record only about 20% of the time. The rest of the time, I end up creating the original. I would recommend SkyRiver for libraries with smaller collections. I think if you add thousands of titles, or more, a year to your collection that you will be spending too much time creating originals because SkyRiver would simply not have the bib record.
Notes from other panelists, Lora Farrell at Kansas City Art Institute One thing to keep in mind is that if you drop your OCLC subscription, when you weed your collection you will not be able to remove your holdings from OCLC. When an ILL request comes in through Worldshare, your holdings may still be on a title that you weeded. I did contact OCLC once about a title that we get multiple requests for every semester, and they willingly removed our holdings. Favorite Feature: In the MOBIUS/Sierra environment, it s nice to break away from having to request a Catexpress load be done by MOBIUS. With SkyRiver, when I export a record, it is available immediately in Sierra in our local catalog. I love this, and it is very convenient for our users, particularly when afaculty member places a RUSH on a new book. Other Cataloging Utilities used: The Art Institute used Catexpress. As a Cataloger, I have also used OCLC through the z port with Sirsi, and I have also had the OCLC client installed directly on my computer. Comparatively speaking, SkyRiver is very easy to use, the records are of high quality and are immediately available once exported from SkyRiver. However, there are more records in OCLC, so a cataloger will have to create more originals if OCLC is dropped. Additional comments: When exporting a record from SkyRiver to Sierra, items are not automatically created in Sierra. You will need to create a macro in SkyRiver to insert a 949 line, and can then program in the elements (item type, location, barcode) for item creation. This is very easy to do and it s worth it, because it can be time consuming to have to create items yourself once the record is in Sierra. I had to figure out how to do this on my own.
Tales from the Pioneers: Switching from OCLC Cataloging Services to SkyRiver Screenshot of the search screen in SkyRiver
Tales from the Pioneers: Switching from OCLC Cataloging Services to SkyRiver Screenshot of the search results screen in SkyRiver
Tales from the Pioneers: Switching from OCLC Cataloging Services to SkyRiver
Tales from the Pioneers: Switching from OCLC Cataloging Services to SkyRiver Sample 949 line Example of the 949 line ADDED to a SkyRiver bib before export to ensure that an item record would be created in Sierra. $i barcode $l location $t type (monograph, serial) $s status (in process, available) $h agency code (the Agency code for KCAI is 70, so code appears as 0700 which seems to work)