Figure 256925: Scitech Connect MARC newsletter15
Since 2008, OSTI has offered librarians and the library community the opportunity to download records of DOE scientific and technical Information in MARC format. By using OSTI's DOE MARC Records System, libraries can easily expand access straight from their online catalogs to DOE-funded research results available via SciTech Connect, the primary repository of DOE science, technology, and engineering research information, from the Manhattan Project to the present.
MARC, short for MAchine Readable Cataloging, is a standard format for bibliographic records, a universal translation of the information that allows any computer to read and interpret the record. The MARC standard relies on field designations, file structure, and content encoding to present clear descriptions of each record.
SciTech Connect full-text MARC records include all the records from SciTech Connect that contain links to freely available full text, including textual material, multimedia, and datasets. The subject disciplines covered include physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics of interest related to the DOE mission. Currently, the downloadable files comprise more than 434,000 DOE-sponsored STI records.
Records can be downloaded by subject matter, publication year, sponsoring organization, or individual reports. A zip file of the full collection is also available.
To date, 20 universities and five DOE national laboratories have taken part in the SciTech Connect MARC records program (see box). Libraries that have loaded parts or all of the SciTech Connect full-text collection into their catalogs have experienced significant increases in retrievals of DOE scientific and technical reports by their library users - and rank among the top universities for downloads from OSTI.
During the summer of 2015, Stanford University became the latest library to load the complete set of SciTech Connect MARC Records into its general catalog. This made a more comprehensive collection of scientific research materials freely available to the Stanford community, and analysis of traffic patterns indicates that students and researchers there are taking advantage of the corpus. During the first quarter of FY 2016, Stanford University traffic accounted for the fourth highest number of user sessions logged by SciTech Connect, higher than many DOE national labs and government agencies.
Adding SciTech Connect's full-text MARC records to a library archive is a valuable way to expand access to scientific information and provide users with further content, thereby aiding research and discovery. While OSTI's databases of DOE STI are publicly available and searchable and many universities and DOE national labs feature SciTech Connect as a link on their websites, having the records themselves in a library collection allows for organic discovery in the same place that a user would normally search for books and other resources. If you are interested in more information about downloading SciTech Connect full-text MARC records, please view the FAQ or contact MARCrecords@osti.gov.
Libraries That Have Loaded SciTech Connect Full-Text MARC Records
Universities:
- Auburn University
- Cornell University
- Florida International University
- Michigan State University
- New College of Florida
- Oklahoma State University
- Purdue University
- Rice University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Central Florida
- University of Colorado
- University of Denver
- University of Florida
- University of Iowa
- University of Michigan
- University of Missouri
- University of South Florida
- University of West Florida
- University of Wyoming
DOE National Laboratories:
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Sandia National Laboratories
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory