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OCLC's
Searchable PRISM Databases
|
Scope
- Which PRISM database you are in
is indicated in the upper-right-hand corner of the OCLC PRISM
window.

Online Union
Catalog
(OLUC
or
OL)
- A huge database that contains
45-million-plus bibliographic records of books and other items
owned by member libraries.
- Each record has an
associated
location record that
tells which libraries own a particular item.
- These bibliographic records are
used for:
- Cataloging
- Resource sharing functions
- Interlibrary Loan
(ILL)
- Union Lists
(UL).
OCLC Authority
File
(AF)
- This consists of records of
authorized or standardized forms of
- Names
- Titles
- Subject
Headings
- Variant forms that are not
authorized are also listed.
- The AF
records are created by the:
- Library of Congress
(LOC
or LC).
- National Coordinated Cataloging
Operations (NACO)
participants.
- These bibliographic records are
used for:
- Insuring the quality and
standardization of names, subject headings, and titles in your
records.
- Insuring that there are
consistent forms of names, subject headings, and titles in
libraries around the country, thus facilitating such functions
as searching for reference and interlibrary loan.
Name-Address
Directory
(NAD
or
ND)
- This consists of contact
information about:
- Libraries
- Publishers
- Professional
associations
- Vendors,
- Other
organizations in the information field.
- This information facilitates such
activities as resource sharing (eg: interlibrary loan),
acquisitions, research, and professional development.
Other
Directories
- These may include
- Harvard
- Records from the
Harvard University Library.
- BIP
- Books in Print from
Bowker
- nFirst
- Records from the
NetFirst Internet cataloging project.