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Servicio de soporte de OCLC

How to contribute data to UnityUK

Learn how to contribute data to UnityUK.

Submit and update your data

Submitting and keeping your data up-to-date benefits you and the libraries who borrow from you and all known UK LMSs can contribute data.

You can supply data in ISBN Notify format (holdings only matched on ISBNs and against a BL master record in our database, anything else will be discounted)

Update files can be uploaded via FTP - most locations send updates on a monthly basis. Please download the following instructions, which should contain all the information you need to get up and running with an ISBN Notify format file.

Please ensure that all files are sent to the to the home-directory of the FTP-account

We would ask you to follow the file naming convention as follows (to facilitate the automated file process):

(Library code)(kind of update)(date/month of delivery)(serial number).(holding format)

Library code: D008

Kind of update: FDA (full database extraction); ADL (ads/deletes)

Date: three letter code for the month (e.g. JAN)

Serial number (if required): 2 digits (e.g. 01)

Holding format: e.g. NOT, UKM, ISBN or M21

e.g. H020ADLJAN01.NOT

Codes confirmation:

e.g. Dudley – D008

UnityUK FTP Server Access details:

http://ftp-emea.oclc.org/unityuk/

Server: ftp-emea.oclc.org

username: tcrdata

password:     * the password can be obtained by contacting OCLC Support.

Please ensure that all files are sent to the to the home-directory of the FTP-account

To access the ftp site you may need to download an FTP client to you PC - please consult your IT Team for assistance.

Upload data

For more information, see UnityUK data upload.

Library holdings notification

On an ongoing basis, libraries are welcome to supply us with a notification of new stock, deleted stock or updates to existing stock. Files can be sent via email or FTP. We automatically process files of this nature. Notifications include:

  • Control number (ISBN, BNB, Library of Congress, OCLC)
  • Library code
  • Loan indication (Loan, Reference)
  • Status (delete, addition)

Example of library holdings notification from library code 0003:

0901496278;0003;L;A
3871740454;0003;L;A
b5307023;0003;L;A
b5314548;0003;L;A
b5404925;0003;L;A
b5709825;0003;L;A
0573012504;0003;L;A
b5714853;0003;L;A

Methods of supply

We will only accept library holdings sent by email or FTP.  FTP is preferable.

Note that email-addresses and FTP server addresses are announced, but can be changed.

Correo electrónico

Send an email containing the holdings to mailto:unityuk@oclc.org.

 Note: The sender email address of the original library holdings email is used as the address to send any error and/or statistics reports to, so please mail from/with an email address that is reachable!

Please make sure the library holdings data is enclosed in the body of the email message sent. (Do not send the library holdings in an attachment.)

To ensure that we can always correctly identify data back to the source, we use the subject line of the email for authorization purposes. Please observe the following structure for construction of the email subject contents:

Character position Length Content  1 4  Library code   5 3 Character month of production  8 1 Followup digit (if needed)

Only uppercase characters are allowed in the subject of the email.

 Note: The library code in the table above is the library code of that library for which holdings are updated. For example, if you as library 0002 want to update holdings for library 2003, the first four characters of the subject line should be 2003. If you as library 0002 want to update holdings for your own library, the first four characters of the subject line should be 0002. Also, each email is limited to holdings data for one single library only. The follow-up digit is only necessary if more than one file is being sent in the same month.  Since additions and deletions can now always occur in the same file, the extension requirements of the old filename format are dropped.

Examples of email subject lines:

0007MAY
2050NOV1
FTP

Procedure for submitting library holdings data with FTP

Please make sure the filename is structured as follows:

Character position Length Content  1 4  Library code   5 3 Character month of production  8 1 Followup digit (if needed)

  • Only uppercase characters are allowed in the subject of the email.
  • Note: the library code in the table above is the library code of that library for which holdings are updated. For example, if you as library 0002 want to update holdings for library 2003, the first four characters of the filename should be 2003. If you as library 0002 want to update holdings for your own library, the first four characters of the filename should be 0002.
  • Also, each FTP holdings file is limited to holdings data for one single library only.

Z39.50 searching of your catalogue

It is entirely up to you which method you choose - and for authorities who encounter problems extracting and sending data to the UnityUK server - then z3950 searching is a very viable alternative. However, there are benefits from searching directly against the UnityUK union catalogue when it comes to creating the rota - if a match is found on an item then the available holdings (from all the authorities who contribute data) will be displayed against the record  - (if they have a copy). If the search is done on a z3950 target then the location will need to be added to an existing rota manually (unless merge duplicates is used). We encourage authorities to make regular data contributions to the UnityUK union catalogue so that we can aim to a create a more streamlined searching and ILL requesting tool.

In order for us to configure your catalogue, we ask for three pieces of information:

  • Port number
  • Database name
  • Record syntax

Setting up your catalogue in this way, means that once it is set up, the service runs without further intervention. However, please be aware that there may be some technical issues, which may require resolution during the initial set-up. We will work with your technical team and test your Z39.50 configuration before we offer it to UnityUK subscribers.