PURL Pilot Procedures

General Information

For procedures on Batch Adding PURLs, see http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~rd13/batch.html.

Registering on PURL Server

• Log into OCLC Bibliographic PURL Service at http://bibpurl.oclc.org
• Bookmark site for future access
• Click on Register a new user in list on left side of page
• Read User Registration page and click on I agree button at bottom
• Fill out User Registration form
  • For ID use your CONSER authorization logon, with or without hyphens
  • For password, use your CONSER authorization password
• Click Register button
• If you get a message "This PURL resolver is for CONSER users only", something is wrong. Try retyping your password. If it still doesn't work, check your authorization logon.
• If you get Please Confirm User Information page, check information. Click Confirm button if it's ok. If it's not ok, use browser's back button to go back to the form and correct it.
• You should get a message "The requested ID has been added successfully."

Searching URL on PURL Server

• Log into OCLC Bibliographic PURL Service at http://bibpurl.oclc.org
• Click on Log into this resolver in list on left side of page
• Fill out PURL Server Login form
  • For ID use your CONSER authorization logon (without hyphens)
  • For password, use your CONSER authorization password
• Click on Search PURLs in list on left side of page
• Search URL by typing a distinctive part of the URL in the URL box
  • Use key words instead of whole URLs because different catalogers may have added slightly different URLs
  • You can type any combination of terms between dots or including dots
  • Searching is case sensitive
• If you find a PURL, check it to make sure it works and if so, use that PURL in your bibliographic record
• If you do not find a PURL, you can create one

Creating PURL

• Return to the PURL Resolver Home Page
• Click on Create a PURL in list on right side of page
• Open web browser again
• Type URL for your resource in 2nd browser session and go to resource
• Copy URL from browser when you are where you want to take users
• Minimize 2nd browser session
• In PURL Creation form, delete http:// from URL box
• Paste URL for your resource in URL box
• Click Create PURL button
• You should get Confirm PURL Information screen
• Check URL
• If it's not correct, use the browser's back button to go back to the form and correct it
• If everything is ok, print page and/or copy PURL to use later when cataloging resource
• Click Confirm button
• You should get a page that says "Results of PURL Addition Request", which gives the PURL and the associated URL
• If you want to see the PURL Information Display page, which gives additional information about the PURL
  • Return to the PURL Resolver Home Page
  • Click on Search PURLs in list on left side of page
  • Search URL again
  • On Search Results page, click on /web[#] before your URL
• Return to PURL Resolver Home Page
• Click on Log out from this Resolver in list on left side
• Take statistic under "How many PURLs did you create for this month for ..." under appropriate category on your monthly PURL report

Cataloging the Resource

• Put the PURL in the first subfield u of the 856; put the URL in the second subfield u of the same 856.
  • The purpose of the URL in the 2nd subfield u is for duplicate record detection in OCLC. If the PURL server is integrated into OCLC's new cataloging interface, that will no longer be necessary.
• If you are using CORC, you can paste the PURL in the box to harvest the site.
  • You will get a note about the page being redirected.
  • Click Yes to harvest new page.
  • This will help verify that the PURL works.
• If the resource is available in print and there is a record in OCLC for the print version, add PURL to it also.
• If we have the print version, you must still add the PURL to the OCLC records for the electronic version and the print version, even though we might not normally update the OCLC records when we add the URL to the print version locally.
• Put Free in the Staff Note in the Horizon copy record.
• Notify selector that you have created PURL. Give them the PURL so it can be used instead of the URL if resource is added to the list of Electronic Resources on the library website.
• If you are creating a PURL for something that did not come from a selector, check to see if the resource is in the list of Electronic Resources on the library website. If it is, notify the maintainer that the URL should be changed to the PURL.

When the URL Changes

If you receive notification from OCLC or from anywhere else that the URL has changed, do the following:

• Try to find the new URL by navigating from the main part of the old URL if it still works, or doing a Google search.
• If you cannot find the new URL, follow instructions in UCLC's Link Validation document at: http://wwwtest.library.ucla.edu/libraries/cataloging/sercat/digitalcat/CORC/validation.doc and in our local Digital Resources Cataloging Policies document at http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/staffweb/depts/cat/serials/digital.html.
• If you find the new URL, follow the procedures below.
• Go to the OCLC Bibliographic PURL Service at: http://bibpurl.oclc.org.
• Under PURL Creation and Maintenance section on the right side, click on Modify a PURL.
• Log in with your ID and Password.
• At the bottom of the PURL Modification Form 1 of 2, type the PURL number preceded by a slash, e.g., /5682.
• Click on the Continue button.
• Select the PURL you want to modify by clicking on the /web/[PURL number that's you want to modify].
• Type or paste the new URL into the box beside URL.
• Type URL changed or something like that in the box beside Reason for Change.
• Click on the Modify PURL button.
• Check to make sure the URL goes to the right place.
• Use the back arrow button on your web browser to go back to the OCLC Bibliographic PURL Service.
• Click on the Confirm button.
• Click on PURL Resolver Home Page.
• Click on Log out from this Resolver.
• Change also the URL in the OCLC bibliographic record. This is not a requirement for the CONSER PURL Pilot Project, and not all participants are doing this, but we will do it at the University of Chicago Library. The reason we are doing it is so that the record will be found if someone tries to create a new record in Connexion by extracting data from the new URL, and also so that someone can search on the new URL using Connexion's URL phrase or word search in the Resource Catalog.
• You do not need to do anything in the Horizon record since we deleted the real URL when we originally brought the record in.

Working with OCLC's CONSER PURL Validation Reports

• Print report.
• Click on URL.
• If it works, write OK by it on printout.
• If it doesn't work, write doesn't work and the date.
• If you notice that the same resource is appearing on multiple reports, refer to supervisor (unless it's Scielo) to ask a colleague from another university to check.
• Check the ones that don't work again at least a week later.
• After 3rd check, follow procedures above for When the URL Changes.
• When the entire report is done, give to section head.