There are two realistic ways of doing this sort of thing. Note: this is
what I do for a living – library automation – so I think I’m qualified to reply.
a.. Creating a physical Union catalog – that is, collecting the MARC records
and holdings information, loading them into a single database, indexing them
and then applying geographical limits to searches. This is what OCLC does in
WorldCat, and to a lesser degree what certain statewide Union Catalogs – for
example, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Michigan, and Wisconsin – do to make
all library holdings in the state available.
The main issue with this approach is upkeep and maintenance. Each of
the individual libraries that is in the Union Catalog needs to output their
records periodically (monthly, quarterly) and upload them to the host, and the
host needs to load and index them. This means that the database
being viewed is always a month or more out-of-date.
a.. The second approach (virtual union catalog) is through the use of
Z39.50 (remote searching). A local library needs to have a Z39.50 client
capable of searching remote libraries that host Z39.50 servers. With Z39.50,
you’re searching the real, live-up to the minute holdings of the remote
library. You want to look for a book on Herzl that the library bought
yesterday, and it shows up.
There are a couple of downsides to this approach:
- you or your system needs to have a Z39.50 client
- the targets you want to search need to support Z39.50 servers
– not all do, particularly smaller ones
- Unless your system does federated searching (i.e. being able
to broadcast a Z39.30 search to multiple Z39.50 servers at the same time), then
you’ll be searching catalogs one-by-one
So all the tools exist today. Both take work.
Ted
Ted Koppel
[email protected]
From: Toby Harris
Sent: Thursday, January 5, 2017 4:37 PM
To: Martha McMahon ; [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] Questions for Jewish Librarians
Dear Martha:
I don’t know of one – other than Worldcat, which smaller Jewish libraries and
maybe some academics aren’t members of. Sounds like a great idea!
Toby Harris, Librarian
Temple De Hirsch Sinai
206-693-3379 Seattle
425-559-2578 Bellevue
http://lib.tdhs-nw.org for library hours, programs and CATALOG
From: Hasafran [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Martha
McMahon
Sent: Thursday, January 5, 2017 11:00 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: [ha-Safran] Questions for Jewish Librarians
A member of the board of the Jewish Virtual Library posed these questions if
anyone can share their thoughts:
I wanted to know if
1. there is a website which combines all digital catalogues from Jewish
libraries around the world, which would allow complex searches, such as "show
me all books on Theodore Herzl's childhood within a 50 mile radius of Los
Angeles"
2. Would Jewish librarians want such a site constructed if not available?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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