Related records indicate to the OpenURL link resolver that, when a user receives a certain record in the search results, another record should also be returned as related. Certain MARC fields, called linking entries (such as MARC fields 76X-78X), allow records to link to related bibliographic records and to differentiate their relationships to users. For a full list of MARC fields that are used as linking entries, see Modifying the Display Labels for Related Electronic Services. For additional information regarding physical resources, see Configuring Related Records for Physical Inventory.

For electronic services, the configuration of related records is useful for the following reasons:

• Articles sought by users may be available only in related versions of the journal.
• Metadata in the OpenURL can be for one publication, but in fact, a related journal by another name is what the end user sought.
• Vendors may list previous or newer versions in their holdings, causing inconsistencies in the Community Zone. For example, the journal Civil Engineering Systems is now named Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems.

In the following example, View It displays the available services for the discovered record and the related record:

A close relation indicates that the two records should be considered identically useful in the search results. If the record requested in the OpenURL has close relations (MARC 773 and 774) with another record, electronic services for the related record are included in View It, with no indication that these services are for the related record. To the user, it seems as if these services are for the record sent in the OpenURL. Since the relation type is very close, it can be considered equivalent; and as far as the user is concerned, no distinction needs to be made. Other types of relations are considered remote and are listed under the Services for Related Titles section in View It.