Yeah, the statement that it's a static copy from 2006 would have stopped me in my tracks if I had somehow happened accross the page, which I probably wouldn't have, but now I've bookmarked it so I might find it again -- but will probably forget that it's REALLY up to date even though it says 2006 on it. Nice catch Karen. 

Karen, that looks to me like an HTML front-end for an SRU service, I bet it's got an SRU api. Which one of these days I'll get around to figuring out how to write code for. 
________________________________________
From: Code for Libraries [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karen Coyle [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 11:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] WorldCat Terminologies

Quoting "LeVan,Ralph" <[log in to unmask]>:

> I hate to muddy the waters, but I can't resist here.
>
> Research also exposes a copy of the LC NAF at
> http://alcme.oclc.org/srw/search/lcnaf
>
> It gets updated every Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, that page states right up front:

"A static copy of LC's Name Authority File from February of 2006"

That might confuse visitors. Maybe a quick revision is in order? :-)

Also, API access?

kc

>
> This is something I've been maintaining for years and is what
> Identities points at when you ask to see the NAF record associated
> with an Identities record.
>
> This particular service has none of the linked-data-type bells and
> whistles I'm putting into VIAF and Identities, but easily could, if
> there was interest.  I believe I've made the indexing on it
> consistent with what I do in Identities.
>
> Looking at the configuration file for the load of this database, I
> am omitting records with 100$k, 100$t, 100$v, 100$x or any 130
> fields.  I'm sure Ya'aqov (or other similarly expert Authority
> Librarian) could tell you why I am omitting them, because I can't
> off the top of my head.
>
> This service is actually running as a long established model of how
> similar services should run in Research.  While it is not running on
>  a machine operated by our production staff, it is automatically
> monitored by them, they have restart procedures in places when the
> service becomes unresponsive and problems are escalated by email
> when the restart fails to fix the problem. (Those emails come to me
> and where they get treated appropriately.)
>
> Let me know if there are questions about any of this.
>
> Ralph
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Ya'aqov Ziso
>> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 3:29 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] WorldCat Terminologies
>>
>> Jonathan, thank you, in full accord.  Yes, the crux of the matter is Names
>> (NAF being the more expensive library subscription
>> and the one not available for free like http://id.loc.gov
>>
>> At http://orlabs.oclc.org/Identities/ I searched Œclapton, eric¹ and wonder:
>>
>> * are all WorldCat+NAF 49 retrieved headings there helpful? do we need in
>> the list  Œclayton, cecile¹ (etc.)
>> * Names that haven¹t made it into an authority record are definitely
>> helpful, but can we suggest a way to sort and rank them more usefully (for
>> the user) on the page?
>>
>> Your thoughts?
>> Ya¹aqov
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3/19/10 2:35 PM, "Jonathan Rochkind" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> > I don't think the inclusion of non-NAF headings in Identities is
>> a flaw, it's
>> > a benefit to the purpose of Identities not to be held back by the somewhat
>> > glacial pace of change in NAF.  But you're right, the right tool
>> for the job,
>> > I don't know that any of the existing OCLC "free" (or included
>> with other OCLC
>> > membership/services) services are the right tool to replace any existing
>> > purchased authorities tools or sources. It depends on what you're
>>  using them
>> > for, of course.  I agree that the brochure statement was potentially
>> > misleading, but these (Identities, Terminologies, Research
>> Terminologies) are
>> > still very interesting and useful services.
>> > ________________________________________
>> > From: Code for Libraries [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Ya'aqov Ziso
>> > [[log in to unmask]]
>> > Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 2:14 PM
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] WorldCat Terminologies
>> >
>> > Karen,
>> > Seems like pulling-teeth was worth it. Thank you for these updates and for
>> > making them available for all interested.
>> > Essentially, given your 6 months latency compared to
>> http://id.loc.gov) and
>> > the inclusion of NAF and non-NAF headings in Identities,
>> > both Terminologies and Identities are not yet at a level of databases that
>> > libraries can go for, forgoing what they currently need to buy, load, and
>> > maintain locally.
>> > Your withdrawal of the brochure statement is justified and
>> apology accepted.
>> > Ya¹aqov
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On 3/19/10 1:35 PM, "Karen Coombs" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >
>> >> > Ya¹aqov,
>> >> >
>> >> > Identities is not based on a name authority file it is based
>> on name data
>> >> in
>> >> > WorldCat. These two are not the same thing. Names within
>> Identities come
>> >> from
>> >> > several different fields within the WorldCat MARC records
>> including 1xx,
>> >> 6xx,
>> >> > and 7xx fields. This is why Identities contains names which
>> have not made
>> >> > their way into a name authority file
>> >> > (http://www.worldcat.org/identities/np-levan,%20ralph%20r).
>> Also Identities
>> >> > doesn¹t contain authority records, it contains Identity
>> records. Identity
>> >> > records contain different information from Authority records.
>> >> >
>> >> > There are name authority projects going on within OCLC Research. The
>> most
>> >> > active is VIAF http://www.viaf.org/ . This service contains
>> name authority
>> >> > information from several national libraries, not just Library
>> of Congress
>> >> and
>> >> > right now not all of NACO has been loaded, only differentiate personal
>> >> names.
>> >> > More information on the VIAF project is available at
>> >> > http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/viaf/
>> >> >
>> >> > Regarding up to dateness of Terminologies as I said in my previous
>> message
>> a
>> >> > schedule for updates was posted to the Developer Network
>> listserv and the
>> >> > Developer Network wiki
>> >> > (http://worldcat.org/devnet/wiki/Terminologies_Updates).
>> Andrew Houghton
>> >>
>> has
>> >> > also informed you that information about how recently a given
>> terminology
>> >> is
>> >> > located on the Experimental Terminologies page (
>> >> > http://tspilot.oclc.org/resources/index.html).
>> >> >
>> >> > Karen
>

--
Karen Coyle
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