You may have noticed that we’ve recently changed the name of this blog from MARS Authority Control to MARS Automation Services. Why the change? I’ve asked our Chief Operations Officer of the Utah location, John Reese, to explain why. Here is what he had to say.
***
Before the purchase of MARS from OCLC, Backstage Library Works ran several bibliographic automated products. These services include Non-MARC or Brief MARC Record Upgrades (Machine Matching), Deduplication and Consolidation of bibliographic data, Union Database creation, Marcadia and Custom Programming. Prior to this week, these services were run independent of the MARS 2.0 Automated Authority Control Service. Backstage is happy to announce the consolidation of all of the above mentioned services and MARS 2.0 Automated Authority Control under one division to be called, “Backstage Library Works Automated Services.”
We found that there was a lot of overlapping in client needs involving authority control with the above mentioned automated bibliographic services. All of these services require technical knowledge of the automated process. At Backstage we are now sharing this valuable resource under one umbrella, Automated Services. We look forward to having one department work with your sales representative in offering the most efficient automated solution for you. Below is a list of all of the services under our newly formed Automated Services department. If you have question about this change please contact John Reese, jreese@bslw.com.
MARS 2.0 Automated Authority Control:
MARS 2.0 service is one of the oldest and most reliable automated authority control offerings on the market. With our new system upgrade introduced in 2008, managing your authority records has never been easier. MARS 2.0 offers name and subject authority control based on the Library of Congress name and subject authority databases (and other available National databases like MeSH, NLC, etc.). The authority control process standardizes name, subject, series and Uniform title headings.
Automated Machine Matching:
This service offers several options to upgrade non-MARC or brief MARC records to full MARC bibliographic records. This process searches electronic records against Backstage Library Works database and the Library of Congress Bibliographic Database to return a full standard MARC record. There are over twenty million records to match against in this database.
Automated Deduplication:
Backstage Library Works offers a deduplication process that consolidates bibliographic or authority records in a library’s database(s). This process is performed according to the profile specifications of the library and is often used when a library or a library consortia is forming or adding new libraries.
Union Database Creation:
Library consortia or library districts often require a central database for their consortia to work from. Backstage helps libraries create Union Bibliographic as well as Union Authority databases.
Marcadia:
Marcadia is an automated batch copy cataloging service offered jointly by OCLC and Backstage Library Works. This product finds, evaluates and delivers catalog records from OCLC WorldCat. It is based on search records you supply from your local system and a selection criterion you provide. Marcadia selects matching records from WorldCat and delivers them to you.
Custom Programming:
It has been a long standing Backstage Library Works’ tradition to customize our services to the needs of our libraries. Many libraries require special programming to accommodate either earlier cataloging practices that no longer meet current standards and need to be changed or special programming to create unique processes for their library. Backstage takes pride in its ability to accommodate these special needs.
Tags: Announcements, Authority Control, Bibliographic Records, MARC