Underscore character ("_") misplaced in URLs in note fields in imported OCLC rec

• Article Type: General
• Product: Aleph
• Product Version: 16.02

Description:
We have a problem with OCLC records with the underscore character (_) in URLs in the 530 (Additional Physical Form Available Note) or 538 (System Details Note). When this kind of record is imported into ALEPH, using OCLC Connexion, the underscores move one space ahead to the left:

the underscores moved one space ahead to the left:

In OCLC:

http://….. dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ328.109

After importing into Aleph, these underscores are moved and become:

http://…. dbname=10_9con_gpubli_claws&docid=f:publ328.109

Resolution:
This problem occurs because of a confusion between the non-spacing, combining underscore (X'6F'), which is shifted in this fashion in conversion to MARC8, and the spacing underscore (X'5F'), which should not be. (The combining underscore diacritic is used in certain languages where a character appears with an underline below it.)

The OCLC Connexion 1.6 is confusing the two.

The solution is to upgrade to Connexion 1.7.

Thanks to Charles Husbands at Harvard University for diagnosing this problem and providing this solution.