When you look for holdings for an analyzed volume--i.e., a volume that's part of a cataloged set or series, but that also has its own catalog record--it matters which place you look for the holdings information in the MNCAT public catalog. The "Availability Link" list on the brief display will generally be more complete than the "Availability" line holdings on the full record display. For details, please read the full entry.
I'm learning more about how Aleph works in the process of relinking a number of analytics to their set or serial record, where their item records are stored. One recent discovery is that the holdings listed for an analyzed volume in the "Availability Link" column in the brief MNCAT public catalog display are more complete than the list of holding locations that appear on the full record display. Understanding how Aleph stores and links to item records can help explain this difference.
In Aleph, the bibliographic record is linked to other records, including the holdings record and the ADM or "administrative" record. The holdings record gives information about a location where a copy of the title is held and summary information about what parts of a set or serial are held. The ADM record is the record to which all the item records for the title are attached. An item record can also be linked to a particular holdings record. When such a link is in place, Aleph is able to display holdings just for that location when asked to do so in the public catalog. Still, all the items for all locations are tied primarily to the ADM record. Lastly, an analytic bib can be linked via a LKR ("linker") field to an item on a set/serial record. Each piece can have only one item record. Aleph's ability to link two bib records to the same item has given us linking options we never had in our old NOTIS system.
When an analyzed volume's bib record is linked to the corresponding item record tied to the corresponding set or serial record, the item information can be displayed in the public catalog when the analytic record is viewed. There must be a match between the analytic record's holdings record's sublibrary/collection codes and the codes on one of the set/serial record's holdings records; but once that match on sublibrary/location is made, all the items linked to the set/serial ADM record which match the analytic LKR field's enumeration data will be displayed in the brief display's "Availability Link" column. Each item carries sublibrary location data which it borrows from the holdings record to which it's linked, but every item tied to the ADM whose enumeration values match the LKR field will be displayed; so effectively, items in several locations can appear in the "Availability Link" column even though the analytic bib record has a holdings record for only one of the locations.
By contrast, when the full bib record is displayed in the OPAC, it shows data only from the holdings records linked to it in the line labeled "Availability." If only one location has a holdings record, only that location will show in the full display, and only its items can be called up by clicking the link. Since many analytic records were originally created for a specific collection, many do not have holdings records for all other copies in the system.
So, for the most complete listing of copies held, check the Availability Link column on the brief display. There can still be other circumstances (e.g., differing Enum values on the items) which will cause one or more location's copies not to display here; but the absence a holdings record tied to the analytic bib record will not be one of them.
Posted by s-hear at March 2, 2006 8:58 AM