Abstract

Providing Access to Geospatial Data from the Library Catalog
Track: User Presentations - Research
Authors: Amanda Henley

UNC Chapel Hill Librarians used Esri-supplied metadata to create over 1800 MARC records to include Esri Data & Maps holdings in our online catalog.

MarcEdit software was utilized to batch convert FGDC metadata into MARC records. Data files were processed and made available for download from a password-protected virtualized server. Records were augmented with Library of Congress Subject Headings and download links. The online catalog was customized to display thumbnail previews of data sets.

Completion of this project has multiple positive outcomes including progress towards our goal of retiring a parallel (silo) system, and the ability to share records- we uploaded them to OCLC. We anticipate that the records will be well-received by other GIS Librarians, as these records describe data sets duplicated in many research libraries. Most importantly, patrons now have easy access to geospatial data sets from on or off campus, searchable from the library catalog.