New Format Facets in VuFind Local Catalogs

CARLI has completed reindexing of all VuFind local catalogs. The reindexing takes advantage of new data elements in RDA catalog records, and also of some previously unexploited data elements in AACR2 and older catalog records. We expect a new index for the I-Share union catalog to be ready within the next few days. Until then there will be differences between the local and the union catalogs, in the way VuFind identifies formats.

On the Results page in the VuFind local catalogs you will now see the following:

• Publication dates will now display for RDA-cataloged titles. (VuFind now treats the 264$c the same as the 260$c.)
• "Microform" and "Electronic" icons will now display for RDA-cataloged titles. (VuFind now consults the 338 as well as the GMD for version information.)
• Only one icon will now display for microforms. Formerly there would be two: one for, say, "book" and the other for "microform," which could give users the impression there were two versions of a title in the library's collection, when there was actually only one. Microform will trump other formats for icon display purposes, but multiple facets will still apply: a title can still be both a book and a microform.
• The "Film / Video" facet has been renamed "Movie."
• New facet options are available for eight specific media or carrier types: Audio CD, Audiocassette, Vinyl LP; Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, Film [reel]; and Slide. These will present as format facets that are not mutually exclusive: something can be "Movie" and "DVD" and "Blu-ray" all at the same time.
• New icons display on the Results page for the newly identified media. Usually only one icon will display, but there will be times when multiple icons do display. For instance, some records meet our criteria for both "DVD" and "VHS," usually because of incorrect coding in the 007. I-Share library catalogers may want to become aware of the criteria CARLI uses to identify formats/media in the VuFind catalog.

In addition, on the Advanced Search page in the VuFind local catalogs, you will now see the following:

• New limit options are available, for the eight newly identified media.
• When users check either "Music Recording" or "Sound Recording", each of the specific sound recording media will also be checked automatically. Similarly, checking the "Movie" box will check the various movie media automatically. Users can then uncheck particular media boxes if they want to. Note: because VuFind identifies formats with a variety of criteria, it is possible for there to be a record that, for instance, is "Blu-ray" but is not "DVD," or even that is "Blu-ray" but is not "Movie." The more you limit, the less you retrieve; but the more format options you check within your format limit, the less you will miss.

We hope the new indexes, icons, facets and limit options will be helpful to your users. Please send questions to support@carli.illinois.edu.