Melvyl® Catalog

The Melvyl Catalog contains records for materials (books, journals, movies, maps, music scores and recordings, computer files, dissertations, government documents, etc.) held by the libraries of the 10 University of California campuses, the California State Library, Hastings College of the Law, the California Academy of Sciences, the California Historical Society, the Center for Research Libraries, the Graduate Theological Union, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. All publication dates are included. The database contains more than 27,000,000 records; most campuses update their holdings on a weekly basis.

For information about searching the Melvyl Catalog, go to Melvyl Help.

See information about the Next Generation Melvyl Catalog, a pilot project of UC and OCLC utilizing WorldCat Local.

See sections below:

• Instructional Materials
• Newsletter
• Melvyl Catalog Contributors
• Melvyl Statistics
• Tools and Documents
• Reports and Background Information
• Usability and Evaluation

Instructional Materials

• Instructional Materials: Melvyl Catalog user guides
• Melvyl Catalog Flier, January 2006 [PDF]

Newsletter

• Melvyl Matters: Current issues of the Melvyl Catalog newsletter.
• EL Mel Tells: The Melvyl Catalog newsletter. Volume 1, number 1 through volume 3, number 3. July 2002–April 2004

Melvyl Catalog Contributors

• Information for Melvyl Catalog contributors: For libraries who contribute records to the Melvyl Catalog. Includes information about specifications for record conversion, FTP instructions, location table maintenance, and input standards.
• FTP instructions: Describes procedures for FTPing records to and from the CDL.

Melvyl Statistics

Record Loading: Monthly record loading counts for Melvyl contributors

2008  Loading Statistics

2009  Loading Statistics

Tools and Documents

• Linking to the Melvyl Catalog: Explains how to create URLs and link to the Melvyl Catalog. [RTF]
• Melvyl Catalog trademark: Information about trademark protection and use of the name "Melvyl." [HTML]
• Melvyl Z39.50 connection information: Provides technical information about CDL's Melvyl Catalog Z39.50 server to help campuses set up their Z39.50 client for searching. March 11, 2008 [RTF]

Reports and Background Information

• Melvyl Catalog history: Brief history of the Melvyl Catalog. 1977-1994 [HTML]
• Melvyl Catalog timeline: Significant dates for the development of the Melvyl Catalog. 1983-1996 [HTML]
• Background on content contributors: Explains why the decision was made to transition to a merged database that covers all formats. [HTML]
• Melvyl Catalog content comparison: Compares the content contributors of the legacy Melvyl/Periodicals Titles and the new Melvyl Catalog. [HTML]
• Catalog/PE regeneration project report: Describes the project, staffing, and major functions. [PDF]
• Policy issues: Provides an overview of the major policy issues of the transition of the Melvyl Catalog to a new software platform. [HTML]

Usability and Evaluation

An extensive amount of usability testing and evaluation work on the Melvyl Catalog was conducted in cooperation with campus Evaluation Liaisons. A full list of activities can be found at the Melvyl Catalog usability and evaluation page.