[Koha] [EXTERNAL] NCIP User Question - biblionum in 001 vs 999c

[Heather Hernandez]

Hi, Kelly--

Our records in Koha actually have different values in the 001 field based
on the age of the record.  When I first thought about this, I pretty much
clutched my pearls and took to my fainting couch, thinking things like,
"But the 001 should be our consistent, primary database key!  Oh my stars
and garters!!!"

Then after applying a cool cloth to my forehead I got to thinking about how
we used the 001 and what data was there:  based on the age of the record,
it's either an old catalog record number (which I want to keep in the
record) or the OCLC number (which I definitely want to keep in the
record).  How do I use it?  Well, to just store those numbers, and if I
want to overlay the existing Koha record with a record that I'm exporting
from the OCLC Connexion Client, I include a 999 $c with the Koha record
number in that field in the OCLC record.  I'm currently having some trouble
with links into our catalog from our holdings in WorldCat.org, but that
doesn't seem related--we're trying to use ISBNs or title data for that.

So perhaps it might be helpful to ask how you would be using the 001 field
and the 999 $c field, and how it's used among the other libraries.  I don't
have a lot of experience with using MarcEdit and such since ByWater
supports our Koha catalog & I happily rely on them for things like this,
but I think it would be entirely possible to export your records to
MarcEdit, copy record numbers that you're not using to another field (e.g.,
035) and copy the Koha biblionumbers to the 001, then reimport/replace the
records.  But that sounds kind of drastic to me.  I also clutch my pearls
at the thought of data being duplicated in a record, e.g., in the 999 $c as
well as the 001, but I can't think of any harm that it would do in *my*
setting--perhaps others could?  Your system would also need some sort of
configuring for ongoing cataloging, to see that the biblionumber gets
copied into the 001.

But if it were me, I'd think long and hard about if this is really
necessary.  For us, it's been absolutely fine to have the Koha
biblionumbers in the 999 $c and an assortment of types of numbers in the
001--I've gotten up off my fainting couch, adjusted my pearls, and realized
that it works!:)  I hope that others will chime in, because I would be very
interested to know about other options and possible consequences that might
face us in the future since we do have such a variety of numbers in our 001
fields.

I hope this helps!  Best,
h2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heather Hernandez
Technical Services Librarian
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Research Center
2 Marina Blvd., Bldg. E, 3rd floor, San Francisco, CA  94123-1284
415-561-7032, heather_hernandez at nps.gov
Library catalog: http://keys.bywatersolutions.com/