Knowledge Organization and Metadata Services

• OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards: Provides the same machine-readable standards as the Library of Congress MARC Standards, with specific emphasis on the application of the standards in the OCLC database

• OCLC Member Quality Assurance: Provides a list of MARC fields in non-CONSER PCC records that full-level catalogers can add or edit. See Section 5.2

• OCLC Alerts: Reports availability for the different services OCLC provides

• Connexion browser (requires login and password)

• Instructions and Guidelines for Reporting WorldCat Bibliographic and Authority Record Changes: supports the task of improving the quality of OCLC bibliographic and authority records

• WorldCat and Authority Record Quality Control Request: form for reporting bibliographic and authority record changes. 

To create consistent subject headings and names in bibliographic records, we use controlled thesaurus and authorized headings.  For subject headings, we use the Library of Congress Subject Headings. For names of persons, places or institutions, we use a variety of online resources, based on the Library of Congress Authority File.

• Classification Web: a searchable database containing the complete LC Classification Schedules and the current Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) Login and password required off campus

• Library of Congress Names and Subject Authority File: a free resource containing the authority records for subjects, names and series titles

• VIAF (Virtual International Authority File): a single, free resource combining the name authority files from around the world, as a service of OCLC

• FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology): a free database derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), simplifying the LCSH creation and use without losing the detail

• OCLC Authority File: a searchable database of Library of Congress name and subject authority records and records contributed by members of the Program of Cooperative Cataloging. Login and password required.

USMAI (University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions) (link opens to the consortium portal)

• Catalog, Database Maintenance website (Login and password required)

• Searching Holdings Record (from the Disclosing Retention Commitments with Holdings Field 583)