The recently issued manual: Introducing OCLC Services (MAN 8087) consolidates basic information essential for using all OCLC services. This information previously appeared in chapter 2 of all the Online systems manuals (Cataloging, ILL, Union List). Its "Documentation index" provides subject access to the 15 most widely used OCLC manuals. Searching WorldCat Reference Card is distributed with the manual. The manual (including the card) may also be accessed at: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/10082ints/about.htm.

COMMUNICATIONS & ACCESS

In late 1997, each OCLC member institution should receive its complementary copy of the OCLC Communications & Access Planning Guide, 1997 edition. The new edition describes all the user interface options, including OCLC TCP/IP dedicated and dial access. It will also be made available on the Web, at: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/6857ca/frames_man.htm for dedicated TCP/IP users: http://www.dedip.oclc.org/oclc/man/6857ca/frames_man.htm.

PRODUCT SERVICES ON THE WEB

OCLC's Product Services Menu (PSM) is now available in a Web version, via any TCP/IP access method. It uses a point and click interface, rather than menu commands. The Web version includes: Records and reports, Macros, Scripts, Questions and Support, Software Updates, and Welcome. "Records and reports" provides access to all the reports available on the MENU, and some reports that are not, such as the OCLC ILL Management Statistics Reports. However, to upload records to OCLC, you must still use the MENU interface, as you can't upload records via the Web. To access "Records and reports," any current OCLC authorization number will work (in nearly all cases). The Web version may be found at: http://psw.oclc.org/psw. More information may be found in Technical Bulletin 225, at: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/tb/tb225/tb225.htm.

The "Macros" section includes information on uploading and downloading macros; A hot-linked list of macros (both OCLC and user-supplied) is offered at: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/passport/download.htm. I can definitely recommend the "authwfm.mbk," a macro which creates a skeletal authority record from headings appearing on bibliographic records. It eliminates much of the routine keying, and even is savvy enough to add some standard cross references, such as an x-ref from the last element of a compound surname. Primarily intended for NACO libraries to assist in the creation of new name and series authority records in the LC/NACO authority file, it can also be used to expedite the creation of local authority records, via cutting and pasting from OCLC into a local catalog. (Although I don't think this will work too well from OCLC into a text-based INNOPAC catalog).

Having trouble with creating macros, or not sure where to begin? Check out the FAQs section of the Product Services Web, under "How do I create and assign a PRISM shortcut (function) key?" (http://www.oclc.org/oclc/passport/faq/faq_fkeys.htm) (last section). The instructions are perhaps a little too abbreviated, but not hard to figure out. I got stuck on doing a few macros containing "xpo" commands. The problem is explained (with a solution!) in the last FAQ of the Exporting section. (Somehow, much to my surprise, I had managed to get the macros to work on my own, but OCLC's solution is a lot easier).

CATALOGING

Core-level records: According to current OCLC guidelines, core-level records can only be created if all headings can be verified in the authority file, regardless of who created the record. The guidelines have recently been revised to state that only records created by Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) BIBCO participants must be so verified. The online version of Bibliographic Formats has been updated to reflect the changes; revision pages will be distributed for the print version of the manual. Non-PCC core-level records can be identified by Encoding Level "K," Source "d," and "core" in field 039. PCC core-level records can be identified by Encoding Level "blank," Source "c," "core" in field 039, and "pcc" in field 042. Frankly, I'm hard put to understand the value of a "Core record," with unverified headings. It might be better than a plain 'ole vanilla "K" level record, but how much? (Maybe they should be renamed "Bore-level records" instead).

Review of the OCLC Cataloging Label Program: I had a chance to check out the Label Program, shortly before submitting this article. As my initial observation I would suggest reading through the fairly intelligible instructions provided at the Web site http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/10174lbl/readme.htm (easy also to access from the OCLC Home page). You can either download the files to four diskettes (hitting "shift click" on 16 file names!), or, more expeditiously, to your hard drive. Then you need to install the files (usually to the Group "OCLC Applications"). The "Tour guide" offers the same information as the Web site. It's "not step-by-step instructions for using the Label Program"; it's "Not a tutorial, but follows the outline of a typical workflow for producing labels using the label program"; its purpose is to "Provide a brief overview of important functions" (Installation instructions). Too bad, a step-by- step guide would be quite helpful for at least one user. However, the Tour guide does give you some basic idea of what's offered in the software program. What isn't explained particularly well is how to import the labels from Passport for Windows to the label program, and what to do once the labels have been imported.

The following tips might be helpful:

» When you have performed the label display of your choice for a bibliographic record on OCLC, instead of printing the label right away, use the "SaveBlock Macro." If you haven't used it before, you may need to assign a function key. (If you are unsure of how to do this in PpfW, refer to instructions 6-13 in the above-mentioned "How do I create and assign a PRISM shortcut (function) key." The macro appears on the macro list as "PRSMUTIL!SaveBlock"). But make sure you have the updated version of the macro, which appears in version 1.10a of PpfW. If you have an earlier version, you'll need to download the file "Save.mbk" from the Product Services Menu or Product Services on the Web. (The earlier version of the macro supposedly inserts an extra blank line between labels).

» Once you have used the SaveBlock macro to save all the labels you need, open the OCLC Cataloging Label Program. Choose File, and then Import. You'll get a menu "Import file." On top, to the right of "Look in:", there is a box which should display "Oclcapps" (or whatever you named your group). Under this box there will be several choices, one of which should be "Labels.svs." Double click on Labels.svs (Definitely not on "Screens.svs"), or click on "open" at the bottom, if the file name reads "labels."

» The "Import file format" box should appear with your choice of label display (SL4, etc.) selected. If not, select the desired format, and click on "OK." You should get a message "Import successful," "x" labels imported, and another message "Delete C:\oclcapps\labels.svs?" Normally, answer "yes."

» After importing the labels, you are somewhat unhelpfully back at a blank screen in the labels program. To display what labels are in the file, select File, then Search. At this point, you can search by author, title, or call number for a specific label, or limit by labels edited/not edited, printed/not printed/marked for print. Or you can use List all, to display the entire list of labels you have imported, sorted by date/time (the default), spine (call no.), author, or title. Then you can edit any of the labels individually, print them right away, or mark them to batch print at a time of your convenience. The label editing is fairly sophisticated. You can make multiple copies, use any captions you want, and even instruct it to print labels for v.1-v.3, and a label for v. 4-5 , i.e. for two volumes bound together. However, the software won't tolerate v. 4/5, v. 4/v. 5, etc., as a print constant; in order to create such iconoclastic labels, you'll need to edit the individual spine and pocket label displays, rather than employ the print constant function. (You can also use the "create a new label" function (Edit, then Create Label)). By going into Options, and then Print, you can choose among various fonts, select printers, choose boldface, etc. Several of the fonts produced quite high quality labels: the smaller fonts Courier New and ALA BT Courier (the default), when combined with the bold option; the larger fonts, Arial and Times New Roman, when done without the bold option. (We found that the legibility suffered when printing these two fonts in bold). Arial (without bold) produced the most legible and easy to read, unfussy labels, in the opinion of my staff. On our rather venerable KXP1124 Panasonic, it took about one minute to print a label set. (Not so much of a problem if you batch print the labels at your own convenience).

» I'm quite pleased with OCLC's new label software. It's definitely a step forward. To further streamline the process, we developed several simple macros, which execute the SL6 command, add the specific library location on the spine label on the line above the call number, perform the SaveBlock macro, and save the bibliographic record.

FIRSTSEARCH DEVELOPMENTS

The Information Access Company (IAC): IAC will be offering three full-text databases via FirstSearch: "Health Reference Center," designed for the lay person, "Health Reference Center­Academic," and "!Informe!," a Spanish language reference tool, which provides indexing and full-text access to the most popular and well-read titles among Hispanic library users.

The "ATLA Religion" Database: This comprehensive reference tool, produced by the American Theological Association, should be added to FirstSearch in early 1998. The database will be offered on a subscription basis only, both as a full file, 1949 to date, and as an abbreviated version, with the most recent ten years of coverage.

The FirstSearch Web interface: The Interface has been enhanced. Both the "Basic" and the "Advanced" search screens now allow users to select indexes from drop-down menus. Also, there's a new "Search history" feature, which can be used to combine a new search with sets of results from previous searches. FS WorldCat now displays diacritics, both in brief record lists and the records themselves. These enhancements, and several others, can be seen in the revised FS "Guided tour," and sample databases, available at: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/fs.htm No ID or password is necessary to access the sample databases.

Kluwer Academic Publishers:Kluwer, publisher of more than 300 journals in applied, natural, and social sciences, agreed in late August to participate in FirstSearch's Electronic Collections Online (ECO). This service at first attracted primarily scientific and medical publishers. OCLC, however, has been attempting to woo more publishers in the areas of social science and the humanities. On October 10, 1997, OCLC announced that four publishers in these areas have agreed to contribute their journals to the service, including Jossey-Bass Publishing, Ohio State University Press, Plenum Publishing, and Sage Publications. As of early November, 21 publishers have joined the service, making available online more than 850 journals. Electronic Collections Online is expected to grow in the next couple of years to include several thousand journals, as more publishers become committed to digitize all or the majority of their publications. OCLC's Techpro has pledged to catalog all the titles available through the service.

Internet Protocol (IP) address recognition for both FirstSearch and ECO via the Web is now available. By adding a service keyword to the Reference Services URL, a patron's address and service type will be checked, before automatically logging on the user. To take advantage of this new feature, a participating library must complete an online form and send it to OCLC, which will normally make any necessary changes or add new authorizations within 48 hours of receiving the form. For more information, refer to: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/forms/ipaddr.htm or call Tam Dalrymple or Nita Dean at OCLC.

Direct Journal Access. Since September 1997, ECO subscribers can create hyptertext links from their Web page or Web OPAC to the journals available through the service. Users are authenticated through IP address recognition or through WebScript. Direct Journal Access is already used by OCLC in two FirstSearch databases, WorldCat and OCLC Union Lists of Periodicals, to link records in these two databases and journals in ECO.

The second edition of OCLC Interlibrary Loan User Guide (MAN8149) is due out in late 1997, with a revised reference card. New to this edition will be information about Customs Holdings, ILL Fee Management, and ILL Management Statistics. The Guide will be made available on the Web at about the same time.

OCLC ILL direct request has been introduced. Its basic features were described in my September 1997 TSLL column. More information may be found at http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/drill.htm.

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