![\"50th-Anniversary-revised\"](\"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/50th-Anniversary-revised.jpg\")
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You can find links to thousands (maybe millions) of recipes using the WorldCat Cookbook Finder<\/a>. And it\u2019s the work of many, many catalogers over 50 years that makes that possible, of course. The metadata entered into WorldCat is what powers the Cookbook Finder and many other library services.<\/p>\n But can you find an actual recipe within those 394 million bibliographic records?<\/p>\n For one (or more?) brief times during OCLC\u2019s history, yes you could.<\/p>\n And today? Well \u2026 read on to find out!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Details are vague. Memories are hazy. And while some may claim to be the first cataloger to create a WorldCat MARC record with the details of an apple cake recipe\u2014and others may deny it!\u2014there is no proof one way or the other. No one knows the motivation behind creating the record other than the sense of humor of the cataloging community.<\/p>\n What we do know is this. At some time in 1974, someone did just that. The record had this in the notes field:<\/p>\n One step along the way was when the recipe was added to The OCLC Employees’ Cookbook<\/em><\/a> in 1990 by OCLC\u2019s Ron Gardner, who retired earlier this year.<\/p>\n And to celebrate the 25th<\/sup> anniversary of WorldCat in 1996, librarians from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Clifford E. Barbour Library actually prepared an in realia<\/em> copy of the OCLC apple cake.<\/p>\n But what about the record itself? What was the final conclusion of the cataloging community?<\/p>\n In the early 1990s, it seemed as if the recipe would <\/em>have to remain within the confines of the library material itself, not the WorldCat bibliographic data.<\/p>\n Or would it \u2026<\/p>\nWhere do you stand on the Great WorldCat Apple Cake Record discussion? <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\nIt all began in 1974 \u2026<\/h2>\n
![\"505-field-apple-cake\"](\"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/505-field-apple-cake.jpg\")
As you might imagine, some catalogers took exception to using metadata fields for actual information. Some argued that the record should remain; others that it would only invite additional shenanigans. Eventually, the record was removed \u2026 but not before nearly 200 locations chose to list their libraries as holding the item.<\/p>\nBut wait! There\u2019s more!<\/h2>\n
![\"apple](\"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/apple-cake-baking.jpg\")
Over the next few years, the record was added and deleted at least once more. By some accounts, it came and went with alarming frequency as the two sides of argument struggled for apple cake supremacy.<\/p>\nThe apple cake record is alive!<\/h2>\n
![\"worldcat](\"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/worldcat-cake-record.jpg\")
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