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"General Observations
• The plurality of risks (30%) is associated with concerns about an uncertain library value proposition.
• The second largest class, and second priority in terms of medium to high risks, is related to staffing and human resources.
• Risks associated with legacy technology are all high.
• The high risks are chiefly operational in nature and the results of general organizational weaknesses.
• The high risks represent circumstances that require continuous monitoring and are mostly controllable-that is, either the occurrence or the impact can be managed. This confirmed for us that there is an opportunity to collectively consider these risks so that research libraries can appropriately calibrate local and group responses.
• We expected to see serious concerns emerge about the custody of intellectual property (peer-reviewed literature, locally created content) that supports the research enterprise. Interestingly enough they did not. Libraries do not seem to perceive an immediate threat to core operations or services from this."
"The OCLC Record Use Policy Council members have been working for the past few months to develop the next generation of a WorldCat use policy. This draft document is open for community review.
This draft document is not final. Between now and the end of May, we very much want your feedback. We hope you will take the time to review the draft carefully and let us know your thoughts. You can post comments to the community forum, send an e-mail to recorduse@oclc.org, or register to attend a webinar where you can ask questions and submit feedback to members of the Record Use Policy Council. We will continue to add content to the accompanying FAQ as we get more questions from the community review process. "
"Using Web services, search terms can be sent to WorldCat's centralized authority and identifier files to retrieve authorized terminology that helps users get a comprehensive set of relevant search results. This article presents methods for searching names, subjects or ISBNs in various WorldCat databases and displaying the results to users. Exploiting WorldCat's databases in this way opens up future possibilities for more seamless integration of authority-controlled vocabulary lists into new discovery interfaces and a reduction in libraries' dependence on local name and subject authority files. "
Yet another commentary on OCLC, MSU, etc.
And yet another commentary on OCLC
Another commenatary on OCLC & SkyRiver
More comentary on the OCLC, SkyRiver & MSU
Outlines what the new Record Use Policy will include:
"We intend to use a different approach for the new policy. A few things to note about the new policy:
* It will be a code of good practices for members of a cooperative based on shared values, trust and reciprocity in understanding rights and responsibilities, not a legally enforceable policy for members
* The Policy will focus on member rights and responsibilities instead of detailed provisions or restrictions with the general aim to foster innovation in our ever-changing information landscape
* Members can transfer their data to other libraries, cultural and scientific institutions and/or to their agents acting on their behalf
* There will be a separate legally enforceable policy for third parties and their commercial use
* The Policy will focus on the WorldCat database as a whole and its value to members in visibility of holdings, in support for resource sharing and other services without using the distinction between original cataloging and WorldCat derived records, or the ownership of individual records as the focus"
"A new company called SkyRiver (www.theskyriver.com) has launched a bibliographic utility directly challenging long-dominant OCLC. Over the last 18 years, strategic acquisitions by OCLC have narrowed competition, but SkyRiver-started by Jerry Kline, the owner and cofounder of Innovative Interfaces-aims to expand the market and offer an alternative bibliographic utility for cataloging at a lower cost."
"When SkyRiver launched an alternative to OCLC's bibliographic utility in October, part of the expectation was that libraries could continue with popular OCLC services aside from cataloging. But only recently has this expectation been tested, and the outcome is less clear than SkyRiver and a number of its potential customers had hoped. "
OCLC announces strategy to move library management services to Web scale
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 23 April 2009-OCLC is connecting the content, technology and expert capabilities of its member libraries worldwide to create the first Web-scale, cooperative library management service. Member libraries can take the first step to realizing this cooperative service model with a new, "quick start" version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service.
Some interesting statistics about how MARC usage has changed in recent OCLC cataloging--perhaps due to the influx of non-US cataloging
"The University of Michigan and OCLC today announced that they have successfully transitioned the OAIster database to OCLC to ensure continued public access to open-archive collections, and to expand the visibility of these collections to millions of information seekers through OCLC services.
OAIster records are now fully accessible through WorldCat.org, and will be included in WorldCat.org search results along with records from thousands of libraries worldwide that add their holdings to WorldCat. OCLC plans to release a freely accessible, discrete view of the OAIster records in January 2010 through a URL specific to OAIster."
SkyRiver -- a new competitor for OCLC cataloging services -- with ties to Innovative Interfaces
OCLC has appointed a new council to develop a new records use policy--hopefully this will be an open process unlike the last go-round.
Streamlining Book Metadata Workflow
by Judy Luther (Informed Strategies)
Abstract: The white paper was commissioned by NISO and OCLC as a follow-up to the Symposium for Publishers and Librarians held by OCLC on March 18-19, 2009 to discuss book metadata. This paper analyzes the current state of metadata creation, exchange, and use throughout the book supply chain. With the number of book formats multiplying and the amount of digital content growing rapidly, the metadata required to support the discovery, sale, and use of content by a global audience is increasing exponentially. At the same time economic pressures on all stakeholders in the supply chain from publishers, wholesalers, booksellers, metadata vendors, and librarians present greater challenges to providing quality and comprehensive metadata at every point in the cycle. Through interviews with over 30 industry representatives, Luther has created a book metadata exchange map illustrating the process and has identified opportunities for eliminating redundancies and making the entire process more efficient.
"ROCHESTER, N.Y., JUNE 16, 2009 - Kirtas Technologies, the worldwide leader in bound-book digitization, and OCLC, a global online library service and research organization; have signed an agreement that will enable streamlined access to the ever-increasing numbers of digitized books to users of OCLC's WorldCat and Kirtasbooks.com.
As part of the agreement, OCLC will now be able to provide its users with data indicating that a book is either available as digitized content or that it can be made available for digitization."
"Classify is a prototype service designed to support the assignment of classification numbers for books, DVDs, CDs, and many other types of materials.
Overview
The prototype provides access to more than 36 million WorldCat records that contain Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) numbers, Library of Congress Classification (LCC) numbers, or National Library of Medicine (NLM) Classification numbers.
The records are grouped using the OCLC FRBR Work-Set algorithm resulting in a work-level summary of the class numbers assigned a title. You can retrieve a classification summary by ISBN, ISSN, UPC, OCLC number, or author/title."
Instructions for using non-Roman scripts in the OCLC Cataloging client
"OCLC is connecting the content, technology and expert capabilities of its member libraries worldwide to create the first Web-scale, cooperative library management service. Member libraries can take the first step to realizing this cooperative service model with a new, "quick start" version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service."
The Review Board on the proposed OCLC Record Use Policy made an interim report to the Members' Council on Monday May 18, 2009.
Jennifer Younger, the Chair of the Board, gave our report and it has been recorded. The podcast and the accompanying PowerPoint slides are on the Review Board's web page: http://www.oclc.org/us/en/worldcat/catalog/policy/board/default.htm
Library and Archives Canada and OCLC announce that Canadian Subject Headings are now included as part of OCLC's Terminologies Service
"This new report summarizes the findings of research conducted by OCLC on what constitutes quality in library online catalogs from both end users' and librarians' points of view. Key findings:
* The end user's experience of the delivery of wanted items is as important, if not more important, than his or her discovery experience.
* End users rely on and expect enhanced content including summaries/abstracts and tables of contents.
* An advanced search option (supporting fielded searching) and facets help end users refine searches, navigate, browse and manage large result sets.
* Important differences exist between the catalog data quality priorities of end users and those who work in libraries.
* Librarians and library staff, like end users, approach catalogs and catalog data purposefully. End users generally want to find and obtain needed information; librarians and library staff generally have work responsibilities to carry out. The work roles of librarians and staff influence their data quality preferences.
* Librarians' choice of data quality enhancements reflects their understanding of the importance of accurate, structured data in the catalog."
Summary:
The WorldCat Special Collections and Archives Task Force final report includes an executive summary with four major recommendations. Specific issues identified by the task force are prioritized as high, medium, and lower significance. A separate group of problems with data was
also identified.
This response to the report begins with background on the task force and then treats each major and specific recommendation. OCLC provides a timeline for development or other activity for all the major recommendations and nine of the fourteen specific recommendations (numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 12). The timelines range from April 2009 into the future. Two recommendations (numbers 6 and 9) have been assigned problem reports to be investigated and resolved as part of monthly maintenance. Two recommendations (numbers 11 and 14) have no OCLC action, as the system is working as designed. Recommendation 13 has been fixed.
"The WorldCat Local (WCL) Special Collections Task Force was convened by OCLC to make recommendations to improve discovery of special collections and archival materials in local implementations of WCL."
"Scholarly Information Practices in the Online Environment: Themes from the Literature and Implications for Library Service Development" by Carole L. Palmer, Lauren C. Teffeau and Carrie M. Pirmann.
"This report provides an expert review of the burgeoning literature on disciplinary research behaviors, synthesizes findings from decades of research on scholarly information practices and identifies key implications for libraries.
It was commissioned by OCLC Research and the RLG Partnership to increase awareness of the diverse evidence base on this topic and to stimulate further reflection on its importance for the research library community."
"In response to requests from the cataloging community, OCLC is introducing the Expert Community Experiment, which enables cataloging members to make more changes to WorldCat records. During the Experiment, members with full-level cataloging authorizations have the ability to improve and upgrade WorldCat master records. The Experiment begins in February 2009 and lasts six months."
This is OCLC's response to the question 'what if WorldCat were more like Wikipedia'--I wonder how succesful this will be, considering the questions asked during the webinar. It was clear that many of the participants hadn't been making upgrades and doing enrichment as previously possible with the same authorization level. So, will this change people's behavior???
"In response to requests from the cataloging community, OCLC is introducing the Expert Community Experiment which enables cataloging members to make more changes to WorldCat records. During the Experiment, members with full level cataloging authorizations have the ability to improve and upgrade WorldCat master records. The Experiment begins in February 2009, and lasts six months."
The OCLC GovDoc service, available to regional and selective depository libraries, provides up-to-date, MARC-format cataloging records for U.S. government documents. As a GovDoc subscriber, your library regularly receives bibliographic records for only the government documents it holds. GovDoc is available to all federal depository libraries-institutional OCLC membership is not required to use the service.
"OCLC Members Council and the OCLC Board of Trustees will jointly convene a Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship to represent the membership and inform OCLC on the principles and best practices for sharing library data. The group will discuss the Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records with the OCLC membership and library community.
The purpose of this Review Board is to engage the membership and solicit feedback and questions before the new policy is implemented. In order to allow sufficient time for feedback and discussion, implementation of the Policy will be delayed until the third quarter of the 2009 calendar year."
More on the OCLC record-use policy
A 3-part blog on the OCLC record-use policy and what steps we could take
KAren Calhoun's blog on the new OCLC policy
More on the new OCLC policy restricting reuse of records.
Called Reference Extract, the project is being developed by the Online Computer Library Center and the information schools of Syracuse University and the University of Washington. OCLC is an international cooperative that shares resources among more than 69,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories. A $100,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is covering planning costs.
According to the project proposal, the search engine "will be built for maximum credibility by relying on the expertise and credibility judgments of librarians from around the globe."
Problem statement: Cultural heritage, bibliographic and archival communities use different controlled vocabularies for the resources that they manage. These controlled vocabularies may not be recognized by very diverse user communities, and ignored by large commercial information hubs and Internet search engines. Metadata needs to flow among diverse environments and reach users wherever they are. The semantic, hierarchical, and granular relationships in controlled vocabularies are often lost when retrieved outside the environment in which they were created.
Problem statement: Creating metadata that suits local needs, readily aggregates across communities, and is easily exposed to Internet search engines remains a costly enterprise. Metadata created by libraries, archives and museums is generally not available to the user communities that look first to Internet search engines. Although mapping data structures has become a commonplace solution to integrate descriptions, real interoperability across the libraries, archives and museums communities cannot be achieved without addressing differences of description at the data-content level.
Objective: Engage the RLG partnership in adapting descriptive practice to economic realities, user expectations, and the requirements of network-level services. Set new expectations for investing in metadata creation and maintenance, model attendant workflows, and facilitate the discovery of research institutions' resources by users wherever they are.
At a glance
* A new Web service that provides information about serial publications' history, variant editions, and current metadata
* Offers machine-ready XML service, for easy integration into library applications
* A human-ready demonstration interface known as Title History available at no charge
* Included at no extra charge in OCLC cataloging subscriptions
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 19 May 2008-OCLC and Google Inc. have signed an agreement to exchange data that will facilitate the discovery of library collections through Google search services.
Under terms of the agreement, OCLC member libraries participating in the Google Book SearchTM program, which makes the full text of more than one million books searchable, may share their WorldCat-derived MARC records with Google to better facilitate discovery of library collections through Google.
tagged future_of_catalogs gbs google oclc by walther ...and 1 other person ...on 12-AUG-08
The WorldCat Developer's Network is a community of developers collaborating in a "sandbox" environment in order to propose, discuss and test WorldCat Grid Services. This open source, code-sharing infrastructure improves the value of OCLC data for all users by encouraging new Grid Service uses.
WorldCat Affiliate Services
Let users of your Web site discover content and resources in WorldCat libraries worldwide
Make library-based resources part of your Web experience! WorldCat Affiliate Services integrate seamlessly into your application and let your users see complementary sources of information, look up physical items in WorldCat member libraries, and link to electronic resources such as full-text articles.
These tools provide benefits for any Web site or Web-enabled application, including search engines, online databases, e-commerce sites, e-learning environments as well as library systems and similar information services. Information is drawn from quality bibliographic and institutional metadata contributed and updated by thousands of librarians and other information professionals.
From Karen S-Y (RLG):
"Tracking serial title changes outside the MARC record. Serial title changes can be challenging, and it can be difficult to parse all of them from what's in MARC records. OCLC recently introduced a new xISSN Web service, and it includes a neat Title History tool. (Lorcan Dempsey blogged about it at http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001664.html - he includes one of the examples in the Title History visualization tool, the one for 0888-5885, the Industrial and engineering chemical research.) My favorite of the examples is the one for Journal of the Chemical Society, 0368-1769 which I thought demonstrates just how complicated title histories can be!"
"OCLC has launched a pilot project to explore upstream metadata capture and enhancement using publisher and vendor ONIX metadata. Pilot partners from the publishing, vendor and library communities are assisting us in this effort. We hope the pilotwill result in ongoing processes for the early addition of new title metadata to WorldCat and enhanced quality and consistency in upstream title metadata used by multiple channels."
"Terminology Services are web-based services for controlled vocabularies. More than 4.5 million terms, 2.4 million concept links, and 2 million contextual data elements are accessible to your applications.
Each vocabulary is fully indexed and searchable. Vocabulary data is retrievable in multiple representations including the MARC authority format, used by libraries, and the SKOS Core Vocabulary used in Semantic Web applications."
Classify is a prototype service designed to support the assignment of classification numbers for books, DVDs, CDs, and many other types of materials.
Overview
The prototype provides access to more than 36 million WorldCat records that contain Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) numbers, Library of Congress Classification (LCC) numbers, or National Library of Medicine (NLM) Classification numbers.
The records are grouped using the OCLC FRBR Work-Set algorithm resulting in a work-level summary of the class numbers assigned a title. You can retrieve a classification summary by ISBN, ISSN, UPC, OCLC number, or author/title.
Formerly Promptcat
From Glenn E. Patton:
"To get a sense of which MARC data elements are used in the various indexes for WorldCat, take a look at "Searching WorldCat Indexes" (http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/searching/searchworl
dcatindexes/). Click on "List of Fields and Subfields Indexed in Tag Order" in the navigation bar on the left of the screen to see a list of MARC elements and the indexes in which they are used."
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 19 May 2008-OCLC and Google Inc. have signed an agreement to exchange data that will facilitate the discovery of library collections through Google search services.
Under terms of the agreement, OCLC member libraries participating in the Google Book SearchTM program, which makes the full text of more than one million books searchable, may share their WorldCat-derived MARC records with Google to better facilitate discovery of library collections through Google.
Thom Hickey describes a project that is controlling millions of headings in OCLC by linking them to the NACO authority files
"Right now we are working our way through the a set of fairly easy 26 million headings, personal names that match an authority record on multiple subfields."
[I guess 'easy' is relative]
The WorldCat Identities project alongs users to search and browse over 25 million personal and corporate authors. Udsing data-maing techniques, OCLC Research has pulled information on authors from the WorldCat database, including alterantive forms of names, publication timelines (by & about), genres and subjects.
"A reference card (4 pp.) listing (1) cataloging activities authorized for each OCLC authorization level, including Search, Limited, Full, and higher, and (2) types of master record updates authorized for Full and higher authorizations. Covers both the Connexion browser and client."
Especially note the last page which notes types of record updates possible (Minimal level upgrade, database enrichment, and enhance)
- Basic Searching
- Steps in Copy Cataloging
- Modifying Records
- Original Cataloging in Connexion
- Deriving Records
- An Introduction to Constant Data
- Cataloging with Non-Latin Scripts in Connexion Client
- Inputting Diactitics
- Connexion Keyboard Shortcuts and a Word About Macros
- Importing Text Strings from RLIN21 Client
Overall, respondents have positive, if outdated, views of the “Library.” Younger respondents—teenagers and young adults—do not express positive associations as frequently. These findings, and more, are valuable insights for anyone seeking to know more about the library usage and perceptions of college students and young people.
OCLC has opened Worldcat for free searching on the web. You can search all formats (not just books as in Open Worldcat). The search results have a nice "Refine Your Search" feature. Editions are clustered (FRBRized). Also, you can type ina zip code to see which nearby libraries own what you are looking for. Also, you can download a search box to add to your webpage.
Streaming video presentation of the 2005 OCLC Symposium - requires IE (scroll to 2005)
Description from site:
Join Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, Wired Magazine; John Blossom, President and Senior Analyst, Shore Communications; Chuck Richard, Vice-President and Lead Analyst, Outsell; and Nancy Davenport, President, Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) for a frank discussion about the implications of Anderson’s noteworthy article on “The Long Tail” from a recent edition of Wired Magazine. This program will challenge your assumptions about libraries’ collections, their uses and future, and will encourage you to make as much library content as possible visible on the open Web.