MarcEdit, the popular free library metadata software suite, includes new functionality that will give OCLC member libraries the ability to contribute and enhance their bibliographic and holdings data within WorldCat while using MarcEdit. The new functionality will provide catalogers with a new way to interact with their OCLC data, as well as provide another option for libraries looking to streamline their metadata workflows. The new functionality in MarcEdit is made possible by leveraging the WorldCat Metadata API, one of the many APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) being made available from OCLC through the WorldShare Platform.
The integration work between MarcEdit and OCLC's platform services started out as a discussion between the application's author, Terry Reese, and OCLC's Steve Meyer, the WorldShare Technical Product Manager.
In addition to the new functionality being made available in MarcEdit, Reese has released the source code used to interact with a variety of OCLC WorldShare Platform Services. The code library, written in C#, is available via github at: https://github.com/reeset/oclc_api, and includes support for OCLC's Metadata API, Search API, Classify web services, and FAST web services.
API-eligible libraries that also use MarcEdit will now be able to upload new records to WorldCat or create new WorldCat-derived records through MarcEdit. In addition, libraries can now update WorldCat holdings, with options to add or delete holdings in batch.
In order to utilise the new features in MarcEdit, libraries will need to request a Web Services Key (WSKey) that supports both the WorldCat Metadata API and the WorldCat Search API. The WSKey enables OCLC to authenticate users and activity so libraries can be confident about updating their data through third party or locally-built applications. WSKeys can be requested through OCLC's Service Configuration and used across applications. If institutions already have a WSkey for the WorldCat Metadata API and WorldCat Search API, they can put the new functionality in MarcEdit to use immediately.
MarcEdit also uses two additional OCLC Web Services, notably the FAST service to generate subject headings and Classify, to provide classification recommendations based on a control number.
