• Reference Services
• July-August 2006
• Issue: 204

FirstSearch Content (Databases and E-Journals)

WorldCat - Changes in MARC Records

OCLC is updating its MARC records in the cataloging end of WorldCat. Some of these changes will start to impact the FirstSearch or WorldCat Resource Sharing view of the WorldCat database. Expect to see more changes when a completely re-indexed WorldCat is installed, currently planned for late summer. These changes include:

• A new document type called "Continually Updated Resources" in FirstSearch and WorldCat Resource Sharing. These resources are expected to change over time, adding and deleting information to keep it up-to-date. They include loose-leaf notebooks, databases, and web sites.
• The indexing of apostrophes will be improved to allow many languages better indexing of terms with articles and apostrophes, such as the French words "l’information" or "l’apprenti." Previously these terms were only indexed as "linformation" and "lapprenti." Now the terms will also be indexed with a space after the apostrophe. This allows the user to find all instances of this search with and without an article.

WorldCat - 68 and 69 Millionth Records Added

Added on May 1 by Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, the 68 millionth record was for a videorecording of the 18th annual meeting of the American Auditory Society. The 69 millionth record was contributed May 19 by Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands for the publication Le loisir, l’homme, l’église (Leisure, Man and the Church - Papers from the 71st National Congress of the Union of Catholic Works of France).

WorldCat - LILACS Records Added

OCLC has completed the first phase of loading records from The Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences Database (LILACS) into WorldCat. The majority of the records are original to WorldCat ( 316,796 original LILAC records were added). Documents in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish are included.

LILACS is a cooperative product of the Latin American and Caribbean Centre on Health Sciences Information, coordinated by BIREME (Biblioteca Regional de Medicina). BIREME is a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Specialized Center established in Brazil since 1967 and works in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Secretary of Health of the State of Sao Paulo and the Federal University of Sao Paulo. BIREME offers a virtual library to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean providing information in Science and Health http://www.bireme.br.

In a broad sense, LILACS covers all Health Sciences addressing human health: Medicine, Public Health, Dentistry, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, Sanitary Engineering, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Biology, Nutrition, Psychology, Ecology and Environment, etc.

The Cooperating Centers of the Latin America and Caribbean countries include: the libraries of the network or national information systems; the Documentation Centers of Pan American Health Organization - PAHO; PAHO Representations in the countries of the Region; PAHO Special Regional Centers; and PAHO Headquarter Library. All of them contribute to the LILACS database. A Coordinating Centre in each country is responsible for the activities of the National Cooperating Centers concerning LILACS database. In Brazil, BIREME is also the LILACS Coordinating Centre at regional and national levels.

OCLC FirstSearch Contact Information

For more information about OCLC's FirstSearch service, please contact Nylink's Joyce Rambo (ramboj@nylink.org) or Donna Dixon (dixond@nylink.org). They are available via email or phone (800-342-3353/518-443-5444).

[OCLC - edited by Joyce Rambo, Reference & Digital Collections Librarian, Nylink]