Ebook MARC Record Project Space

Owned by Virginia Martin
Last updated: Oct 31, 2024 by Abigail Wickes
5 min read

Scope: Workspace for a project to 1) review and update guidelines for use of ebook MARC records and 2) review and update workflows related to ebook MARC records

Contact: Jessica Janecki, Abigail Wickes

Unit: DUL Collections Services

Date created: 2/16/2022

Documented Workflows:

Need to document:

Criteria for acceptable MARC records for locally loading (either provisionally or where 360 MARC will never be an option)

  • acceptability criteria, what is an acceptable level of completeness, what local changes to records are in scope, and circumstances under which DULCS will not load title-level records... Note, this will probably follow many guidelines from: Copy Cataloging (Single Monographs)
  • 915 standardization documentation

Timeline/Policy for:

  • Making eBooks available through local loads, including
    • developing a policy regarding acceptable lag time for availability of 360 MARC records

Other bespoke MARC workflows

  • MARC for Harrassowitz De Gruyter approval plan
  • Other vendor MARC not part of established workflows (some from non-English speaking vendors, Gale records, etc.)
  • Duke UP

Notes from Advisors:

Known issues with ebook MARC records in DUL CS

  • 360 MARC
    • Low quality (brevity) of many 360 MARC records
    • Timeliness of additions of titles to knowledgebase, particularly newly published ebooks not on aggregator platforms
    • Incompleteness of title lists in knowledgebase
    • Slow response time from Ex Libris in responding to requested changes / additions / deletions
    • Unwillingness of some vendors to work with Ex Libris
    • What do we need to do here?
      • Codify policy of acceptability of brief 360 MARC records
      • Develop local procedures and workflows for making ebooks available through local loads in a timely manner, possibly replacing with 360 MARC later
      • Develop policy regarding acceptable lag time for ebook 360 MARC to guide when local workflows need to be put into effect
        • this policy can include provisions for incomplete title lists and acceptable timeline for remedy by vendor / Ex Libris
        • this policy can include provisions for when Ex Libris doesn't respond to requested changes / additions / deletions in a timely manner
        • this policy can also address when vendors are not willing to work with Ex Libris and going back to check whether that changes on a regular basis (biannual? triannual?)
  • GOBI MARC
    • No maintenance of records once loaded - mostly of concern for URL maintenance
    • Paid service that duplicates 360 MARC
    • Due to titles being available in multiple packages, we occasionally have multiple records in Aleph
    • What do we need to do here?
      • Transition to 360 MARC records for discovery for GOBI purchased ebook records going forward
        • Would it be possible to continue using GOBI EOCRs and overlay with 360 MARC later?
      • Also would like to do so retroactively for previous purchases
      • For the discovery issue - we could just suppress the GOBI records from discovery
      • Talk to NCSU, UNC, Chicago about what they do
  • Other established bespoke MARC workflows
    • MARC for Harrassowitz De Gruyter approval plan
      • Complexity of workflow is not be scalable with current resources
    • What do we need to do here?
      • Make sure the workflow is well documented
      • Consider whether this model could work for other vendors/platforms through further automation or adding more staff time (e.g., new MADS associate)
  • Other vendor MARC not part of established workflows (some from non-English speaking vendors, Gale records, etc.)
    • Difficulty with tracking batch loads so that they can be updated / deleted all together
    • Difficulty in retrieving, transforming, updating, deleting these records
      • Particularly with ensuring that URLs are updated when necessary
    • Some old records duplicate what we are now getting through 360 MARC
    • Difficulty assessing whether the records meet criteria for inclusion in the catalog at all (example Adam Matthew records for archival sources)
    • What do we need to do here?
      • Complete thorough documentation of all of the platforms/resources that fall into this category, including maintenance schedule, whether they are updating or static, etc. (likely this would be in a shared spreadsheet)
      • Develop the local policies, procedures, workflows for life cycle of these records (transforming, loading, auditing)
      • Retrospective project - replacing some of these with 360 MARC as available
      • Develop policies / standards for records that should be included (e.g., too specific, too brief)
  • Locally created MARC
    • Titles loaded into the repository - treated like any other truly Duke-owned title (i.e., like print)
    • Duke UP ebooks that we do the original cataloging for
    • What do we need to do here?
      • Document the special / exceptional nature of these titles and associated workflows/procedures


Open Questions

  • 360 MARC
    • What is an acceptable level of completeness of a 360 MARC record?
    • How long are we willing to wait for newly acquired ebooks to be added to the knowledgebase and thus get into the catalog? Does this vary by vendor and/or platform, frontlist/backlist?
    • If only some titles from a given vendor/platform are available in the knowledgebase, how does this affect our decision to use 360 MARC?
    • If a vendor is not willing or is slow to work with Ex Libris, how long do we wait until we look for alternate MARC workflows? Should this prevent us from acquiring books from that provider?
  • GOBI MARC
    • How do we identify GOBI MARC records that need updates? Just "fix on failure" or is there a proactive way to do this?
    • Should we continue to try to transition from use of GOBI MARC to 360 MARC?
  • Other established bespoke MARC workflows
    • MARC for Harrassowitz De Gruyter approval plan
      • Is this workflow extensible to other platforms/providers? – Not really, due to the manual nature of moving order data, this is not scalable.
  • Other vendor MARC not part of established workflows (some from non-English speaking vendors, Gale records, etc.)
    • Do we need a try to identify and document what we have loaded in the past that is not part of any currently established workflow?
    • Do we need to identify potential loads that have not been initiated, but could be loaded or addressed through 360MARC?
    • How do we develop a forward-looking workflow to support these kinds of loads and ongoing management of them going forward?
    • What kind of communication plans / worfklows do we need to have in place between acquisitions, ERM and cataloging staff to ensure that these records are well-managed going forward?
  • Locally created MARC
    • Do we have any ebook MARC records that we created ourselves? Do we need to consider this at all?
  • General
    • Do we need more resources (staff time, staff expertise, services, etc.) in order to improve our handling of ebook MARC?
    • Our vendor brief records do not go out for OCLC holdings setting, how can we bridge this gap?
    • How do we avoid duplication of multiple records for the same manifestation in different collections when we are not using 360 MARC?
    • Is the sharing records through TRLN still a good solution in certain cases?
    • Do the professional school libraries need to be involved in this discussion? Is there anything we can learn from their practices?