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OCLC Daily Bib Updates

As approved by the WRLC Metadata Committee on April 24, 2026, WRLC has configured a new OCLC Daily Bibliographic Import Profile for bibliographic records associated with the Network Zone (NZ).

Incoming Records

The import profile retrieves bibliographic records from OCLC that meet all of the following criteria:

1. Record Contains a WRLC Holding Symbol

The bibliographic record must contain at least one of the following OCLC holding symbols associated with a WRLC institution:

  • EAU
  • WCL
  • DCU
  • LI2
  • DCV
  • DDU
  • DCJ
  • GQG
  • VGM
  • VGL
  • DGU
  • GTU
  • KIE
  • GUL
  • DGW
  • GWM
  • GWL
  • DHU
  • DHX
  • HLL
  • HUD
  • DCHUA
  • MMV
  • CAO

2. Record Was Recently Updated in OCLC

The record must have been updated in OCLC within the previous 24 hours, or since the last file was sent by OCLC to WRLC.

WRLC’s WorldShare Collection Manager currently defines an “update” as:

  • Any change to a MARC field
  • Any encoding level change

The following records are excluded from update processing:

  • Records with a publication date of 1820 or earlier

3. Record Was Recently Merged in OCLC

Records that were merged in OCLC within the previous 24 hours, or since the last file delivery, are also included.

Import Behavior in Alma

Matching Requirements

Incoming records must match an existing Network Zone bibliographic record in Alma.

The import profile uses the Unique OCLC Identifier Match Method, which searches for matching OCLC numbers in:

  • 035 $$a
  • 035 $$z

If no matching Network Zone record is found, the incoming record is not imported.

Merge Process

When a match is found, the incoming OCLC record is merged with the existing Network Zone bibliographic record using WRLC’s configured merge rules.

For additional information about WRLC consortium merge rules, see the WRLC Alma Wiki page on Merge Rules.

Multiple Match Handling

If the import profile finds more than one matching Network Zone record, Alma selects the record with the most recent creation date for the merge.

Import Schedule

The OCLC Daily Bib Update import job runs:

  • Daily at 8:00 AM
  • Average completion time: approximately 5 minutes

Identifying Updated Records

All records updated through the OCLC Daily Bib Update process receive a 995 field containing information about the update transaction.

995 Field Structure

Subfield Description
$$a Name of the WorldShare Collection
$$b Date of update
$$c Reason for record output
$$e Transaction type (UPDATED or MERGED)
$$5 WRLC OCLC symbol

Example

995  __ $$a Washington Research Library Consortium Master Collection $$b 2026-05-11 $$c WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 040, 050 $$e UPDATED $$5 CAO

 

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