Using Shared Collection Materials

On Sept. 26th, 5 million bibliographic records of Columbia and New York Public’s ReCAP shared and open collections became visible in the New Catalog. Please note the following:

  1. The holdings of each institution have their own bibliographic records. If Columbia and NYPL both own a ReCAP copy of a Princeton item, three records will appear in the search result list. In other words, duplication will not appear as multiple copies in a single bib record. However, within a bib record users will be alerted to the availability of other copies by a link in the right-hand column labeled “Other versions.” Of the 5 million records, an estimated 1 million with have at least one duplicate.
  2. In addition to other copies, the “Other versions” link also connects users to other editions and related works. In the case of serials, the link connects to earlier and/or later titles.
  3. The owner of Columbia and NYPL items is noted by a code in the last field of the bib record (RCP). There are two elements of the code: owner (C = Columbia; N = NYPL) and collection type (S = shared, O = open). Princeton records do not contain this field but can be identified by the “Other views” field (with links to Staff view and the Main Catalog).
    1. A search can be limited to only Columbia or NYPL’s ReCAP holdings via the Advanced Search interface. The “Holding location” option in the “Limit results by” menu includes the appropriate codes: scsbcul: RECAP and scsbnypl: RECAP. Limiting to Princeton ReCAP holdings also requires the appropriate location code (e.g. rcppa: RECAP =  “regular” ReCAP; rcppb: RECAP = Supervised use in Firestone, etc.).
    2. Columbia and NYPL records can also be identified by their URL, which contains a SCSB-[number] suffix, e.g., https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/SCSB-4931032. This URL can also be noted from a result list by hovering over the title in the brief display (the URL appears in the lower left corner of the browser window).
  4. There are three types of use for Columbia and NYPL items: 1) unrestricted, 2) “In Library Use,” and 3) “Supervised Use.”
    1. For the time being (through at least this semester) all Columbia and NYPL items, regardless of use type, will be delivered to (and picked up at) Firestone.
    2. “In Library Use” items are restricted to within Firestone. Circulation staff will alert borrowers to this restriction, and a yellow security-stripped flag will accompany the piece.
    3. “Supervised Use” items are restricted to the RBSC Reading Room. The records of these items contain a “Reading Room Request” button which routes the user to RBSC’s Aeon software in order to place the request and to schedule an appointment.
  5. Unrestricted ReCAP items can be returned to any Princeton library. A grey band wrapped around the front cover identifies Columbia and NYPL items.
  6. Some Columbia and NYPL items will contain holding location information that is irrelevant to their use by Princeton borrowers.
  7. Columbia and NYPL ReCAP items are NOT eligible for retention as course reserves.
    1. A section of a Columbia or NYPL item CANNOT be scanned for E-Reserves unless Princeton owns a physical copy of that item. 
  8. Borrow Direct functionality is not affected by the inclusion of these collections (Princeton and Columbia are members, NYPL is not). If a Princeton item is checked out and a Columbia copy is available in ReCAP, a Borrow Direct request can still be initiated via the record of the Princeton copy. Of course we hope that patrons will notice that another copy is available here at Princeton, but if not, their Borrow Direct request will be processed. However, note that if a Columbia copy in ReCAP is checked out and a Princeton copy is available, a Princeton borrower will be unable to complete a Borrow Direct request via the Columbia copy since the system recognizes that a Princeton copy is still available.