Provider-Neutral Records & Use of Database-Level Records

Background

The use of Provider-Neutral records for electronic resources, print on demand reproductions and photocopies of textual materials, eliminates a proliferation of records describing essentially the same content. This reduces user confusion over multiple instances of a title and leads to better discoverability. Using the national standard for the WorldCat master record will save time and money. Local additions may be made using local bibliographic extensions in the IZ at the discretion of individual libraries.

Libraries may choose to catalog and/or migrate records representing databases (also known as integrating resources; e.g., Web of Science; Academic Search Elite). Libraries which currently catalog database-level records should aim to follow the guidelines outlined in this policy to ensure the use of Provider-Neutral records, which are identified in OCLC in 040 field with the code “pn" in subfield $e.

Policy Statement

• Libraries must use Provider-Neutral records in the shared Alma Network Zone;
• Follow the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) practice to use a provider-neutral approach for electronic resources, print on demand reproductions and photocopies of textual materials, scores, and cartographic materials, as described in the PCC Provider-Neutral guidelines (or the Library of Congress-Program for Cooperative Cataloging Policy Statements (LC-PCC PS) for RDA 1.11);
• Vendor records for sets of electronic resources added to the Alma NZ must, whenever possible, be provider-neutral. Exceptions may be made for vendor record sets, including streaming video collections, but libraries must make a commitment to using the best available sets that adhere to the standard of provider-neutral in such cases;
• This mandate addresses the Alma Network Zone, and does not apply to Alma Community Zone records.

Procedures in Alma

• Follow PCC Provider-Neutral guidelines for encoding URL in 856 field in the OCLC master record: Use $u for URLs that are general (not institution specific). Do not use $z for information that is institution specific. If the domain name is not specific enough, $3 may be used to record package/provider name.
• Encode local data following guidelines for Local Extensions.

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