Another Word For It Patrick Durusau on Topic Maps and Semantic Diversity

September 24, 2013

…OCLC Control Numbers Public Domain

Filed under: Identifiers,OCLC Number — Patrick Durusau @ 2:17 pm

OCLC Declare OCLC Control Numbers Public Domain by Richard Wallis.

From the post:

I signalled that OCLC were looking at this, in my session (Linked Data Progress), at IFLA in Singapore a few weeks ago. I am now pleased to say that the wording I was hinting at has now appeared on the relevant pages of the OCLC web site:

Use of the OCLC Control Number (OCN)
OCLC considers the OCLC Control Number (OCN) to be an important data element, separate from the rest of the data included in bibliographic records. The OCN identifies the record, but is not part of the record itself. It is used in a variety of human and machine-readable processes, both on its own and in subsequent manipulations of catalog data. OCLC makes no copyright claims in individual bibliographic elements nor does it make any intellectual property claims to the OCLC Control Number. Therefore, the OCN can be treated as if it is in the public domain and can be included in any data exposure mechanism or activity as public domain data. OCLC, in fact, encourages these uses as they provide the opportunity for libraries to make useful connections between different bibliographic systems and services, as well as to information in other domains.

The announcement of this confirmation/clarification of the status of OCNs was made yesterday by my colleague Jim Michalko on the Hanging Together blog.

See: OCLC Control Number if you are interested in the details of OCNs (which are interesting in and of themselves).

Unlike the Perma.cc links, OCNs are not tied to any particular network protocol.

However you deliver an OCN, by postcard, phone or network query, an information system can respond with the information that corresponds to that OCN.

No one can promise you “forever,” but not tying identifiers to ephemeral network protocols is one way to get closer to “forever.”

October 24, 2011

OCLC Developer Network

Filed under: Identification,Identifiers,Library Associations,OCLC Number — Patrick Durusau @ 6:42 pm

OCLC Developer Network

From the webpage:

The OCLC Developer Network is a community of developers collaborating to propose, discuss and test OCLC Web Services. This open source, code-sharing infrastructure improves the value of OCLC data for all users by encouraging new OCLC Web Service uses.

Thought while I was looking at OCLC resources I might as well give a shout out to the OCLC Developer Network. A community that has an interest in identifiers and identification for the purpose of furthering access to information. Who could be more sympathetic to topic maps?

WorldCat Identities (Web Service)

Filed under: LCCN,OCLC Number — Patrick Durusau @ 6:42 pm

WorldCat Identities (Web Service)

From the webpage:

A service that provides personal, corporate and subject-based identities (writers, authors, characters, corporations, horses, ships, etc.) based on information in WorldCat.

  • Provides direct links to identity information based on LCCN or a personal name
  • Provides access to identity information using OpenURL based on lastname and OCLC Number
  • Provides search access to identity information

What you get

  • Browsable and searchable access to names in WorldCat and associated information such as
    • Works by
    • Works About

For non-librarians:

LCCN = Library of Congress Control Number.

OCLC number = OCLC Control Number.

A widget to search for LCCN or OCLC numbers would be quite handy.

For library purposes, I think merging on either one would be adequate. Would have to work out what do to with MARC fields that had varying data. Do we capture it with provenance? Discard, favoring one record over the other, etc.

For class:

  1. What would you suggest as an interface to this service? 2 pages (no citations)
  2. How would you use this interface at your library (or your local library)? 3 pages (no citations)

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