[Yulcat-l] Fwd: system problems in Worldcat/OCLC

[Manon Theroux]

FYI. Emily Horning reported searching Worldcat and getting a strange 
completely "empty" record, supposedly held by 3 institutions. I replicated 
the search in the OCLC cataloging client and got the cryptic message 
"object ref not set to instance of object". I reported this to OCLC and 
apparently it's a known problem - they are working on a fix. If anyone 
subscribes to the OCLC-CAT list, that's where updates will be posted (I'm 
not a subscriber).

-Manon

>Subject: RE: WorldCat Record Change Request - Manon Theroux
>Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 17:18:48 -0400
>From: "OCLCBibChange" <OCLCBibChange at oclc.org>
>To: <manon.theroux at yale.edu>
>Reply-To: "Goodson,Luanne" <goodsonl at oclc.org>
>
>Hi Manon - this is a system problem - please see the following
>information sent to the OCLC-CAT listserv:
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OCLC-Cataloging [mailto:OCLC-CAT at OCLC.ORG] On Behalf Of
>Gabel,Linda
>Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 8:58 AM
>To: OCLC-CAT
>Subject: Re: [OCLC-CAT] object ref not set to instance of object
>
>Hi, Zora (and others),
>
>This is the same problem as yesterday.  We thought we had a fix last
>night, but it had to be removed.  We are still working on the problem,
>and will post to the list as soon as we know when it will be fixed.
>
>Our apologies for the inconvenience.
>
>--Linda
>
>
>Linda Gabel
>OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
>6565 Frantz Rd.
>Dublin, OH  43017
>800-848-5878, ext. 6374
>Fax: 614-718-7196
>email: gabell at oclc.org
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OCLC-Cataloging [mailto:OCLC-CAT at OCLC.ORG] On Behalf Of
>Gabel,Linda
>Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 12:56 PM
>To: OCLC-CAT
>Subject: Re: [OCLC-CAT] Object reference not set to an instance of an
>object
>
>Hi, Mark (and others),
>
>This is a very sporadic problem: some records can be retrieved with no
>problems, others will fail.  If it fails, all search keys will fail.  If
>it works, all search keys will work.  Unfortunately, there is no way to
>predict which will work, and which will fail.  We are working on the
>fix, and hope to get it installed today.
>
>--Linda
>
>Linda Gabel
>Cataloging Product Management
>OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
>6565 Frantz Rd.
>Dublin, OH  43017
>800-848-5878, ext. 6374
>Fax: 614-718-7196
>email: gabell at oclc.org