Serials Analysis Directions: The importance of Standard Numbers in Collaborative Collection Development for Serials

Abstract

The Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) partners contracted the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) to do a volume level analysis of their combined print serial collections. This paper focuses on the decision to use the OCLC number as the primary match point and the starting point for the collection analysis, challenges encountered due to inconsistent OCLC number use across collections, the way those challenges informed the overall project, and the method CRL created to find OCLC numbers for records without them. Final results of the volume-level analysis, ongoing work to integrate Harvard’s serials into the analysis, and the effects of ReCAP partners’ collaborative collection development initiatives are included.