Hi Birdie:

I'm happy that you are considering NEUL.  Go for it!

Yes we are maintaing two holdings files (actually three since we are still
typing holdings cards for the shelflist - anyone who is not please confide
how you handle detailed holdings for items you don't barcode in NOTIS)

We were the pilot project for NEUL so I started unionlisting way back when
searching the OCLC database for impossible titles was the favorite indoor
sport of those who enjoyed the quest for the impossible dream.  Ah PRISM
users - how few of you can appreciate what it was like in those days to
search ann,re,of,t ... 19uu-19uu in those days!  One needed a knowledge of
the history of cataloging rules since Alexandria (or at least since Cutter)
to figure possible author/title combinations!

But you are right.  Notis holdings records and OCLC unionlist records are
not compatible.  Notis does not have institution level holdings fields.
And in my opinion the announced "MARC holdings record" is a figment of
NOTIS imagination on how to convince us if it doesn't quack like a duck
but they call it a duck will we believe it is a duck?!?  Not according to
Cornell which has spent years planning implementation to MARC.

Not that OCLC is much better.  Three more years before ILL and
Unionlisting migrate from FIRST system to PRISM let alone to the current
standard for reporting holdings and MARC format.

But OCLC is the preferred method of choice for reporting holdings.  So my
advice is bite the bullet and report twice, to your local system and to
NEUL.  Two of CTW libraries succeeded in downloading from NEUL and CULS
tapes via programming provided by our vender.  But this is going from
coded fields in OCLC to free text fields in NOTIS.  Trinity had holdings
in about 50 + major and minor collections or locations so after spending 6
months trying to figure out tables to get call numbers correct in
conversion I gave up after having had our bib records erased from our
archival tapes for serials and recataloged every single serial we had for
CTW..  This did give me the opportunity to implement the 1986 serial
standard in CTW and remove copy specific fields in OCLC, cleaning up a
bit while I went.  I don't recommend this trip for most libraries.  My
suggestion is to get a printout of your holdings records in NOTIS and have
someone else input into OCLC if possible.

But the important thing is - do it.  It will make ILL so much easir for
 everyone!  And then you too can make  nasty remarks about folks who don't!

    Maggie Wright
    Assistant Head of Cataloging
    Trinity College Library
    300 Summit Street
    Hartford, CT 06106
    Bitnet: mwright@trincc
    Phone: <203> 297-2243