Flipped Classroom: MARC Records

Welcome to MARC records month! This month, we’ll be going over the basics of MARC records: what they are, how to download records from OverDrive Marketplace, how to upload records into your catalog, and more!

What is a MARC Record?

A MARC record is a MAchine-Readable Cataloging record. MARC Records are the standardized bibliographic information for titles that can be read and the data interpreted by a computer. Bibliographic information includes such data as the title and author, description of the item, and subject headings.

MARC Records and Sora Content Access Levels

Sora allows WSDLC members to determine what can be searched, viewed, and accessed by each student through Content Access Levels (CALs). These CALs are the collections that your students have been assigned to when you enrolled in the WSDLC: K-5/Juvenile, 6-8/Young Adult, and 9-12/Adult.

It is important to note that if students are directed to use the online catalog to access WSDLC titles instead of Sora, the CALs cannot be applied. This means students can search and view titles outside of their grade levels, however, they are not able to check the titles out or read them.  

In addition, CALs and Publisher Audience Ratings are not the same thing. CALs are assigned by OverDrive staff (and for the WSDLC, [re]assigned by our dedicated Content Specialist), while Publisher Audience Ratings are defined by each publisher based on their own standards.

If you are interested in using MARC records, contact wsdlc@overdrive.com to discuss your school’s set-up.

Student Discovery: Using Sora to Access WSDLC Titles vs. an Online Catalog

As we mentioned in the section above, Content Access Levels cannot be applied to online catalogs (for example: Destiny by Follett, etc.), meaning if students are looking at titles within the catalog, they will be able to see all of the titles that are available in Sora (although they will not be able to checkout or read any titles that are above their CAL).

It is up to the school/district to decide if they would like to have Sora titles discoverable within their catalog or not, and there are benefits and drawbacks to both methods: directing students to Sora or the online catalog.

In October 2023, the WSDLC will be hosting a webinar featuring two WSDLC member school districts: one district that utilizes MARC records and uses their online catalog for student discovery, and another district that directs their students to Sora for discovery. Representatives from both districts will talk about their workflows, and why they chose their method of discovery.
A recording of this webinar will be available to view if anyone is unable to attend the webinar live.

OverDrive MARC Express Records

OverDrive has four types of MARC Records available (details for each can be found here), and the WSDLC utilizes one of these by default: OverDrive MARC Express. OverDrive MARC Express offers minimum, ready-to-load records in MARC21 format that can be edited locally as needed. MARC records are created in-house from publisher-provided metadata and delivered to OverDrive Marketplace within 24-48 hours of placing an order with OverDrive.
These MARC Express records include:

  • An 856 field link to direct patrons from the catalog to the OverDrive-powered site for checkout and download.
  • Custom public note text (e.g., “Click here to access this title”).
  • Publisher-provided metadata as available in OverDrive Marketplace, which includes title, creator, description, subject headings, etc.
  • Optional UTF-8/Unicode formatting.
  • Additional preferences for the following fields:
    • The default formatting for the 245 field is to capitalize only the first letter of the first word—all others are in lowercase. This can be changed so that all words in the title are capitalized as seen in OverDrive Marketplace and on the OverDrive website.
    • The 521 field can be removed from the records.
    • For school partners, we can enable the 852 field. With this field enabled, school codes can be entered into the 852_a field and barcodes can be added to the 852_p field.

What is not included in MARC Express records are:

  • Library of Congress or DEWEY subject classifications
  • OCLC Control Number
  • Customization of the file and formatting. Once you receive the file, you can edit if needed.

Managing MARC Express Records

To get an overview of how to manage the MARC Express Records for your Advantage titles, watch the video below that covers the basics of MARC records in OverDrive Marketplace.
Please note:  This video refers to updating your MARC records preferences (1:04 to ~1:47). WSDLC members do not have access to this preference.

 

If you want MARC records for all titles in the shared collection, we’ve got you covered! Four times a year, OverDrive creates files of MARC records for the entire collection by content access level. You can find these on the WSDLC Collection Information Page.

How Do I…

We have a few PDF how-tos that show step-by-step how members can download and use MARC Express records. You can bookmark these pages or save them locally to use as a handy guide for your own processes or look through them to get a sense of what your colleagues across Wisconsin work on.

 

If you have questions specifically about the WSDLC consortium, you can contact wsdlc-info@wils.org.

Join us again in November for our next Flipped Classroom topic: Advantage!

You can view the full year’s training plan and revisit previous Flipped Classrooms here: WSDLC Training Schedule