MARS Authority Control

Any time we process a file for your institution, we generate a Statistical Summary report.  Within this report, we list match-rates, types of records processed, as well as the number of fields changed during processing.  While this is all well and good, as soon as that report is sent out to you, those statistics have been forgotten.

We thought it would be a good idea to keep you informed of some of those statistics on a regular basis, all completely tailored to when you send us files for processing.  And we wanted to do this in a graphical way so that you’re not just looking at lists of numbers and confused as to their relevancy to your records.

As we started planning on what to do with the statistics, we realized early on that not everyone goes through our website to process their files.  Some of our clients use external FTP servers, while some use the website.  We never want our customers to feel left out on any functionality we have implemented.

Whenever a file is submitted to Backstage for processing, we keep track of certain statistics within our tables.  We have to keep track because this is how we generate that Statistical Summary report that we deliver for base files, ongoing current cataloging, and samples.  It doesn’t matter how the file reaches us (website, ftp, email, etc)—once we process it, we keep track of the data.

This statistical tracking helps us determine the busiest times of the year and how we should structure the time on our side to meet the expectations on your side.  We also realized that this could be a useful tool for you and your staff to track the trends in your own processing.  Throughout the year, how often do you send in files for processing?  What kinds of match-rates or types of records do you usually see?

We have created two sections for you:

1. Record Statistics
2. Match Statistics

For Record Statistics, we’ll show you how many books, serials, and other types of records were processed:

Of those records, how many were changed vs unchanged?

We’ll also plot how many records you sent throughout the year:

We think it makes sense to only include months where you send us bib files to process.  Each part of every graph has parts that can be clicked to determine more information, or isolate that part of the process for you.

With Match Statistics, we go a step further than our Statistical Summary report and tell you about the kinds of matches you’ve received on your records:

Finally, we wanted to also show you how many of your headings (1xx, 6xx, 7xx) found full or partial matches, as well as the number of unmatched headings:

Over the next few weeks, we plan on putting this information in place for all of our clients.  Whenever you log into our website to view your profile or current jobs, you can also view your stats.  Again, it doesn’t matter whether you send us your bibs through the website, ftp server, or email—once we process them, those stats will be added to your stats page.

As a bonus to those clients that do send us their files through the website, each one of those website bibliographic jobs will have its own set of graphic statistics as well.

We hope this information gives you the edge you may need for your staff.  As always, feel free to let us know if you would like to see other statistics.

Since we acquired the MARS Authority Control service from OCLC back in 2004, the Backstage crew has focused on bringing choice to our customers. Whether expanding search capabilities with updates like the heading tracker, simplifying our planning guide, or providing regular updates in an easily digestible format on our blog, our intent has been to give you, our clients, more options for getting things done.

Recently, we partnered with Bowker’s Syndetic Solutions to provide our customers with another choice when it comes to table of contents (TOC) enrichment. The Bowker service is designed to complement and serve as an alternative to our existing TOC service through Blackwell.

Our clients who use the Bowker service will see immediate benefits in:

1. Lower cost
2. Faster turnaround

For the new service, we host the entire Bowker database on our servers and integrate regular weekly updates. Because the database resides locally, we are able to repurpose some of our highly efficient MARS routines, fully automating the enrichment process and keeping costs on our end to a minimum. Then we pass those savings on to you.

In addition to Table of Contents field (505), we also provide Summaries (520) and Fiction Profiles (69X). And we only charge you for the enrichments your records actually receive, regardless of how many options you may have selected.

Housing the database locally allows us to track how many and what type of enrichments a record receives, so we can bill at a lower price for records that are only enriched on one or two elements.

Besides lowering the cost of enrichment, hosting the Bowker data at Backstage dramatically reduces the time your records spend out of your system for processing. Your records will be processed and returned to you with the same quick turnaround you’ve come to expect on your authority control.

With the database in-house, we can integrate the entire TOC enrichment workflow into your Current Cataloging process, or you can select groups of records for stand-alone enrichment.

Because each library’s ILS configuration is unique, we allow you to choose where you prefer to place the Bowker data. For example, you can place the 505 data from the Bowker record in a 970 field on your record.

You may prefer that existing data in your records be retained over potential Bowker matches in the same field. If you like, we can keep your content and not enrich on that particular element

The point is that you have more choices.