The document discusses maintaining accurate holdings records in OCLC's WorldCat. [1] It defines the difference between holdings, which indicate if a library owns a title, and local holdings records (LHRs) which provide item-level details. [2] It lists facilitating discovery, supporting WorldCat Local and resource sharing, and enabling collection analysis as key reasons for accurate holdings. [3] Finally, it notes that deleting holdings for removed items prevents wasted staff time on loan requests and provides accurate information to users and collection analysis reports.

1. Knowledge Check!
Effective and Efficient
Holdings Maintenance
1) In an OCLC context, what is the difference between “holdings” and
“local holdings”?
2) List at least 3 reasons why your library should maintain accurate
holdings in WorldCat.
3) Why is it important to delete WorldCat holdings for items removed
from your collection?
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2. Answers
1) “Holdings” are title-level holdings -- either your library holds
(owns) an item, or you don’t. Holdings for items you own or provide
access to are “set” on master records by adding your OCLC institution
symbol to the record. “Local holdings” refers to LHRs (local holdings
records) containing item-specific holdings information, often for
serials, but they can also be for other material types. For serials, you
can indicate which volumes and dates of the serial you hold. For any
material type, you can indicate whether your library will lend or copy
the item.
2) Some reasons for to maintain accurate WorldCat holdings are:
• To facilitate public discovery via FirstSearch and WorldCat.org
• If your library uses WorldCat Local, accurate holdings are critical
• They are important for WorldCat Resource Sharing (interlibrary
loan)
• To facilitate WorldCat Collection Analysis
3) Some reasons that it is important to delete WorldCat holdings when
items are removed from your collection are:
• So that the time of borrowing library staff and your own library
staff will not be wasted with interlibrary loan requests for items
you no longer own
• So that users of FirstSearch, WorldCat.org, and WorldCat Local
will not be misled into thinking that your library has an item
when you do not
• So that WorldCat Collection Analysis can provide accurate
reports on your collection
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