RE: Accessing MARC record directly in Webpac

["Harrison, Roger" <rharrison@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I love questions like these! I don't fully understand the syntax of the
INNOPAC URLs, but since the URLs change when the search results yield more
than one hit, I think a title search is not your best bet. An OCLC or bib
record number search would be better, since you are guaranteed only one hit,
and can then ask for the MARC display from there. Of course, if your title
search has only one match, and you are confident that won't change, then
title would work also.

My testing finds that the following type of URL works for any OCLC number.
The example here is OCLC # 12345.

http://opac.fullerton.edu/search/o12345/o12345/1,1,1,B/marc&F=o12345&1,,0

This strangely different example works for any bib record number (guaranteed
to be unique, and every record has one!). The example here is for bib record
number 1234567a, where "a" represents the unknown check digit. The check
digit must be left off!

http://opac.fullerton.edu/search/.b/.b/1,1,1,B/marc~1234567

The URL for your school's INNOPAC for record number 1234567a is
http://oasis.orst.edu/search/.b/.b/1,1,1,B/marc~1234567

Has Innovative ever released an explanation of their very strange URL
syntax? It would sure help to know if any parts of the URL can be removed or
modified to make them either shorter or easier to remember.

Roger Harrison	P.O. Box 4150
Network Analyst	Fullerton, CA 92834-4150
CSU Fullerton	Voice: 714-278-2666
Pollak Library	Fax:   714-278-1333

mailto:rharrison@xxxxxxxxxx
http://rharrison.fullerton.edu/ 

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Kyle Banerjee [mailto:banerjek@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent:	Friday, July 28, 2000 12:24 PM
To:	INNOPAC@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject:	Accessing MARC record directly in Webpac

    I'd like to use a program to directly access MARC records in the Webpac
when I already know the title. I can do this by performing a title search,
parsing the resulting HTML, and following the link on the search results
page to the MARC record, but I'm wondering if there's a slicker way that
doesn't involve two searches. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.

kyle

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