SCURL and SUNCAT serials holdings comparison service

SCURL Metadata and Collaborative Collection Management event 

SCURL and SUNCAT: Serials Holdings Comparison service

Natasha Aburrow-Jones (SUNCAT Project Officer)

Introduction to SUNCAT• SUNCAT: the Serials Union Catalogue

for the UK• Project started in 2003; service

launched in 2005 – and still going strong!

• 100+ Contributing Libraries – National, University, Specialist

SUNCAT & collaboration• SUNCAT is a collaborative effort

between EDINA and the Contributing Libraries

• SUNCAT would be nothing without the Contributing Libraries – our most valued resource (they send us data!)

Contributing data to SUNCAT

• We receive data in all sorts of formats• We receive data catalogued to all sorts

of standards (often within one file!)

• We haz all the acronyms:– Content: AACR2, RDA, DCRM(S) and (B)– Carrier: MARC21, MARCXML, csv, Word

documents, Excel spreadsheets, etc.

Normalisation• We have to normalise all this incoming

data, so that it can be loaded into SUNCAT – and matched!

• Each library has its own data specification, based on data supplied

Matching

• Matching algorithm ensures that all records for the same title are collated into one set.

• There are exceptions – usually data based!

• New algorithm being developed in-house; hope to improve on current matching results

How SUNCAT can help: tools• Union catalogue search functionality

– location service for journals and their constituent articles

• Repository of high quality bibliographic records

• Z39.50 downloading functionality• My SUNCAT• Holdings Comparison service

Holdings Comparison

• Supports collection management decisions– Aggregated data provides overview of

serial holdings across the UK– Identify rare / unique titles for long term

preservation & continuing access– Identify possible items for rationalisation

• Who else holds titles locally• How do holdings compare with similar

institutions

Holdings Comparison• Compare holdings for many titles• Can compare against all SUNCAT

Contributing Libraries, or your preferred selection

• Several output options available – detailed, or overview, and export results

• Can filter and order results as appropriate

Holdings Comparison: how it works

• Create a data set

Holdings Comparison: how it works• Log in to My SUNCAT

Holdings Comparison: how it works

• Submitting a file:– Provide information (no. rows, ISSN column,

characters used to separate columns)– Select libraries (if appropriate)– Select other limits (if appropriate)– Click on “Submit Form”

Holdings Comparison: how it works

Holdings Comparison: how it works

• Once the job has completed, you will be sent an email:

Holdings Comparison: how it works

Holdings Comparison: how it works

Holdings Comparison: how it works

Holdings Comparison: how it works

• Possible to download csv files of:– Entire job– Filtered list view

Holdings Comparison: how it works

• csv download result

Summary

• SUNCAT consists of collaborative metadata

• SUNCAT can help libraries make the most of that metadata in real-life situations

• SUNCAT can help with collection management issues for serials

Contact details

[email protected]@TashaAJ

[email protected]

www.suncat.ac.uk