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Modify a collection to select your subset of titles

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Follow the instructions to download a KBART-formatted spreadsheet of title data, modify the data to match your subscription, and upload the collection.

About adding knowledge base collections

To see the collections in the global knowledge base, browse the collections available in the WorldCat knowledge base (updated monthly). Alternatively, perform a search in Collection Manager to return all available collections. Deselect My Selected Collections and click Search.

When to select a knowledge base collection in full (the entire collection)

Select a knowledge base collection in full if it is available in the global WorldCat knowledge base and the entirety of the collection titles match your subscription.

When to modify a collection to select your subset of titles

Modify a knowledge base collection if it is available in the global WorldCat knowledge base and your library subscribes to a subset of the titles in the collection.

If your library subscribes to a subset of the titles in a collection, you can modify the collection. You have the following options for selecting the collection:

  • Select the titles individually via the Titles drop-down in the collection.
  • Modify the title selections, coverage and other title data to match your library-specific holdings one title at a time within the interface or in bulk by modifying the KBART-formatted spreadsheet and uploading your modified file.
When to create a knowledge base collection

If a collection your library needs is not already represented in the global WorldCat knowledge base data, create a knowledge base collection in Collection Manager using the steps on this page. For example, if your library has a niche or unique electronic collection, you can create the collection.

Find instructions to create knowledge base collections for print serials or represent databases:

For some collections, OCLC and your provider can automatically add and maintain your library-specific collection data. See Providers and contacts for automatic collection loading for more information.

 Caution: Once you have requested to have your collections selected automatically, do not add, delete, or update any of the titles within the collection. If there is an issue with the titles selected or missing from your collection, please contact OCLC Support with examples.  

For other methods to add knowledge base collections, see Choose a method to add or create a knowledge base collection.

Watch a video

Select and edit WorldCat knowledge base collections

Run time: 12:47

This video demonstrates how to use the WorldShare Collection Manager interface to select and edit WorldCat knowledge base collections, as well as edit these collections using KBART files.

 

Modify a collection to select your subset of titles

You have the multiple options for modifying titles within collections. Follow the instructions to Search for a knowledge base collection and then choose an option:

Search for a knowledge base collection

  1. Navigate to the WorldShare interface > Metadata tab > Collection Manager.
  2. Select Collection as the Data Type from the drop-down list.
  3. Select a scope to limit your search. Options include:
    • My Selected Collections: Search across your library-specific collections that you have created or selected.
    • All Collections: Search across items that are available in the global collections available in the WorldCat knowledge base and collections you have created.
    • Not Selected Collections: Search for collections to add to your knowledge base that are not currently selected. 

      Collection Manager My Selected Collections

  4. In the Search Term(s) field, enter your terms or leave the field empty.
  5. Click Search.

    Filter

  6. After search results are returned, you can filter your results by using the Filter by drop-down list at the top of the search results:

     Note: Filter options will appear based on institution settings and your library's subscription level.

    • Collection Type - From the second drop-down list, select a collection type.
      • Cataloging Partner Collections
      • Databases (Contains No Titles)
      • Knowledge Base Collections
      • Query Collections
    • Collections I Created
    • Contains Open Access Content
    • Demand Driven Acquisitions Collections
    • Discontinued 
    • Document Delivery Collections
    • Google Scholar - From the second drop-down list, select enabled or disabled.
    • Maintain WorldCat Holdings - From the second drop-down list, select enabled or disabled.
    • MARC Record Delivery - From the second drop-down list, select enabled or disabled.
    • OCLC Cataloged Collections
    • Sharing - From the second drop-down list, select an option.
      • Collections Shared By My Library
      • Collections Shared To My Library
    • Use Proxy
      • Enabled
      • Disabled
  7. (Optional) Add additional filters by using the green plus add icon (collection-manager-add-icon.png). 
  8. Click Filter to filter the results based on your specifications.

Option 1: Modify titles using a KBART file

 Learn more in a training course: Use KBART files to edit WorldCat knowledge base collections

Download a KBART-formatted file of title data

Navigate to the collection
  1. Navigate to Metadata > Collection Manager.
  2. In the search box, search for your knowledge base collection (Select My Selected Collections if appropriate for your search).
  3. Click on the name of the collection to open the collection.
  4. Use the Collection Actions drop-down list to select Download Titles in This Collection.
    • If you select My Selected Collections, the file will not be immediately available. A Download here link appears on the collection when the file is ready.
Choose a download Scope
  1. In the Download Collection File box, choose the Scope of your file:
    • Available titles in collection
      If you have not selected any titles in the collection, the scope "Available titles in collection" will be the only option displayed. If you choose the "Available titles in collection" scope, your file will contain the complete title data from the global knowledge base collection and can be used to select the desired titles for your library's local holdings. 
      • Choose this option if you want to download title data for all of the titles available in the collection.
    • My Selected Titles
      If you have selected titles in the collection, you will see the scope "My Selected Titles". Selecting this scope means your file will contain only your selected and/or modified titles. 
      • Choose this option if you are downloading title data for a subset of titles you have already selected.
        • The file will be generated. The user is asked to return to the collection and select the Download it here link when the file is ready.
  2. Click Download.
  3. The file you download will be a .txt file. To edit the file, open it in Microsoft Excel or in an equivalent spreadsheet editing application.  
Open your .txt file as a KBART spreadsheet

Open the .txt file you downloaded from the WorldShare interface in a spreadsheet editing application:

  1. Open the .txt file in Notepad or TextEdit.
  2. Navigate to Edit > Select All and copy the entire selection.
  3. Open Office, Microsoft Excel, or your preferred spreadsheet editing application.
  4. Click in the first cell of the spreadsheet and then right click and paste. The content of the .txt file will populate the spreadsheet in KBART format.
  5. Sometimes tab delimited text files get corrupted in the process of opening them. Check to make sure that the columns are not reformatted and correct the formatting if needed. For example, the below columns may more frequently need correcting:
    • Date columns
    • ISSN or ISBN (print_identifier)
    • eISSN or eISBN (online_identifier)
    • OCLC Entry ID (oclc_entry_id)

 Caution: If you wish to download the titles from a very large collection such as a HathiTrust collection or an Internet Archive collection, it will download but will truncate your titles.  See Download large files for Internet Archive and HathiTrust collections and for My Selected Titles (KBART) for more information.

Edit KBART title data

See KBART values and formatting, Recommended values by format to:

  • Delete titles that aren't part of your access
  • Modify coverage information
  • Modify other title data
  • Add values to the ACTION column

    See the KBART ACTION column values for more information.

Save your file

Before you upload your file to the WorldShare interface, save your spreadsheet as Text (Tab delimited) (.txt).

 Note: If the file includes diacritics, including Non-Latin/Non-Roman characters, save it as Unicode Text (.txt). When you upload the file in the WorldShare interface, use the File encoding drop-down list to change the default selection to UTF-16LE (Unicode Text/Excel).

Upload your file

  1. Navigate to Metadata > Collection Manager.
  2. Search for a knowledge base collection (Deselect My Selected Collections if appropriate for your search).
  3. Click on the name of the collection to open the collection.
  4. Use the Collection Actions drop-down list to select Upload Titles to this Collection.
  5. In the Upload Collection File box, choose the Scope of your file:
    • Update changes only (default)
      Choosing "Update changes only" causes the system to look only for changes in the file and to use the specified ACTION value to determine how to process the changes. Choose this option if:
      • You are creating a collection for the first time
      • You have made changes to title data and are using the "overlay" or "covoverlay" ACTION value
    • Replace all titles in collection
      Choosing "Replace all titles in collection" will cause the system to delete or deselect any existing title selections in the collection and replace them with the information in the new file you are uploading. Choose this option if:
      • You are using a file to delete or deselect titles from a collection

        kb_upload_collection_file.png

  6. Choose an upload File encoding
    1. Leave the default File encoding UTF-8 unless you need to change it. If your collection data includes Non-Latin/Non-Roman characters, use the File encoding drop-down list to change the default selection to UTF-16LE (Unicode Text/Excel).
      The following options are available:
      • UTF-8
      • ISO-88591 (LATIN-1)
      • UTF-16LE (Unicode Text/Excel)
  7. Browse for and select your .txt file and click Upload. 
  8. When the upload has finished processing, preview the report and decide whether to approve the KBART upload or discard it and start again.
    • The upload preview will be available for 72 hours from the generation date.
  9. The collection will then be locked for re-indexing until your changes have had time to process.

 Caution: Excel files (.xls) and (.xlsx) will NOT upload correctly. Your file should be saved as a (.txt) tab delimited text file, Unicode Text .txt.

View the status of your file upload

 Note: When reporting problems, include your Registry ID and attach the file you attempted to upload. If possible, include proxy credentials that will allow us to access full-text links. Your information is needed to diagnose and resolve certain issues.

After you upload a knowledge base collection in Collection Manager, you can check the status of your file upload by opening the Collection History accordion within the collection.  Alternatively, you can view your institution's history in your institution Activity History. See Collection Manager Activity History for more information.

Option 2: Modify titles one-by-one in the interface

 Learn more in a training course: Edit WorldCat knowledge base collections with user interface

  • At the end of this session, learners will gain the foundational knowledge to search and perform basic actions on knowledge base collections.

To modify one title at a time:

  1. Navigate to the collection. Open the collection and expand the Titles accordion.
  2. Modify title information:
    • Select and deselect titles
    • Modify coverage, and so forth

For more information, see KBART values and formatting.

Option 3: Modify titles using the Title Work List

To deselect or select several titles within a collection or across collections, use the Title Work List.

From the search results or collection Titles drop-down,

  1. Select each title to be added by using the checkboxes on the left side.
    • To select all titles on the page, select the checkbox in the top row. Click through additional pages to add more titles from the results. 
  2. Once selected, the item count in the left navigation menu next to Title Work List will update to reflect the number of Titles added.
    • Add up to 500 titles to the Title Work List. 
    • To remove individual titles from the Title Work List, select the remove button Collection_manager_remove_button.png next to the desired title. 
  3. Click on the Title Work List option in the left navigation. 
  4. From the Title Work List screen, select the Work List Actions drop-down.
  5. Select Deselect all Titles or Select all Titles. 
  6. The list will appear as Successfully submitted. Once it finishes processing, an Operation complete status will appear and the Result of each title will appear in a new column.
  7. The titles will be deselected or selected. 

Refer to Title Work List for more information.