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B.G. Sloan | 2 Jul 2009 23:01
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OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

"According to OCLC's announcement, 'a new group will soon be assembled to begin work to draft a new policy
with more input and participation from OCLC membership. Until then, the 'Guidelines for the Use and
Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records' will continue to govern WorldCat data exchange, as it has since 1987."

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6668022.html

Bernie Sloan
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Karen Coyle | 3 Jul 2009 05:29

Re: OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

B.G. Sloan wrote:
> "According to OCLC's announcement, 'a new group will soon be assembled to begin work to draft a new policy
with more input and participation from OCLC membership. Until then, the 'Guidelines for the Use and
Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records' will continue to govern WorldCat data exchange, as it has since 1987."
>
> http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6668022.html
>
>   
I recommend that folks take a look at the committee's report, which is at:
   http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/catalog/FinalReport_ReviewBoard.pdf

In particular look at some of the technical assumptions in that report 
(and presumably in the thinking of the committee). One in particular, on 
page 1, is the strong affirmation that the answer (question unclear 
here) is an international union catalog. And that union catalog is 
WorldCat. If you begin with *that* assumption about the technology, you 
don't then explore other models, such as distributed data systems or 
data "in the web." This is unfortunate, in my mind, because it seems to 
reject, a priori, the NextGen catalog ideas that are floating around. It 
would have been interesting to use the opportunity that the OCLC policy 
development provides to have a discussion in our profession about future 
directions. I don't see how that can happen if the discussion cannot 
question whether a centralized union catalog is what we see serving 
libraries in the future.

There also doesn't seem to be an awareness of the technical difficulty 
of controlling downstream use of data. It has always seemed to me that 
this is patently infeasible, and therefore not a good basis on which to 
create a policy. We have good examples of how this has played out in 
other sectors -- including the failure of DRM with materials that are
(Continue reading)

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Tim Spalding | 3 Jul 2009 05:45

Re: OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

Karen,

What's your prediction about what's next?

Is this effort basically toast or not? Will real consensus will be
hard to create, and will events move fast enough that what you and a
few others perceive about alternatives will be obvious to everyone by
the time anything is done? Or is this a strategic retreat and, with
some clever handling OCLC's power grab can be recast as a community
enterprise?

Tim

On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 11:29 PM, Karen Coyle<lists <at> kcoyle.net> wrote:
> B.G. Sloan wrote:
>>
>> "According to OCLC's announcement, 'a new group will soon be assembled to
>> begin work to draft a new policy with more input and participation from OCLC
>> membership. Until then, the 'Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of
>> OCLC-Derived Records' will continue to govern WorldCat data exchange, as it
>> has since 1987."
>>
>> http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6668022.html
>>
>>
>
> I recommend that folks take a look at the committee's report, which is at:
>  http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/catalog/FinalReport_ReviewBoard.pdf
>
> In particular look at some of the technical assumptions in that report (and
(Continue reading)

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Weinheimer Jim | 3 Jul 2009 10:22

Re: OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

Karen Coyle wrote:

> I recommend that folks take a look at the committee's report, which is at:
>  http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/catalog/FinalReport_ReviewBoard.pdf
> 
> In particular look at some of the technical assumptions in that report
> (and presumably in the thinking of the committee). One in particular, on
> page 1, is the strong affirmation that the answer (question unclear
> here) is an international union catalog. And that union catalog is
> WorldCat. If you begin with *that* assumption about the technology, you
> don't then explore other models, such as distributed data systems or
> data "in the web." 

I also have a feeling that the option of WorldCat Local (which is going to be *very attractive* to many
libraries in this current economic environment) is somehow central to it all. See: http://www.oclc.org/worldcatlocal/
For those libraries who opt into this "free" option, it will be almost irresistible. The basis of WorldCat
Local (as I understand it) is that each library will need only the item management parts of an ILS
(acquisitions, circulation, location) and that users will search WorldCat, which will then link into
your system to display the availability information to the users, and your library comes up No. 1 in the
list of libraries. 

Of course, in the architecture of a modern ILS, all functions (acq., circ, etc.) are linked to the central
*bibliographic* record, whose function would then be transferred to the *master record* held in OCLC's
database, and all local edits are lost. If my understanding is correct, and WorldCat Local libraries lose
the ability to make local edits to their bibliographic records, it naturally will have profound
implications for libraries everywhere, especially in the cataloging departments. (I am not discussing
here whether this is actually a good or bad development for users)

But again, if I am correct in my understanding, the master record held in OCLC, along with the OCLC control
number will become very valuable, indeed.
(Continue reading)

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Karen Coyle | 3 Jul 2009 16:02

Re: OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

Tim, I don't know if this answers your questions, but...

What strikes me particularly with this whole bruhaha is that OCLC has 
not been forthright about its reasons for the policy. The language it 
uses sounds false: "to protect the value of WorldCat" etc. Those are 
platitudes, not organizational directions. The document and the various 
statements around the document are full of contradictions. And OCLC's 
motivation has never been made clear. Had OCLC come forward and said: 
"You know, we're not going to be able to continue to provide our 
services if the market goes the direction of open access and distributed 
data storage," then it might be possible to have a debate. But the 
policy that they have provided isn't a basis for debate because it 
doesn't really say anything. And it reads like it was carefully crafted 
not to say anything, which tells me that OCLC sees itself in conflict 
with its members and therefore is trying to avoid a discussion on the issue.

The only way to resolve this is to have an honest and open discussion in 
the community (and including OCLC) about where we think we should be 
going. Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen. Certain statements 
in the committee report tell me that they have bought into some of the 
assumptions, like the need to "protect" WorldCat at all costs, and to 
control downstream use. If you start with those assumptions, then your 
direction is already set.

Even the ARL report does not question the basic assumptions.

"To the extent that any restraints are needed, they must focus on 
wholesale, deliberate redistributions of records...
a better approach would be to adapt the language in the definition of 
Reasonable Use, that is, to apply the policy to data extracts that
(Continue reading)

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Karen Coyle | 3 Jul 2009 16:35

Re: OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

Weinheimer Jim wrote:
> I also have a feeling that the option of WorldCat Local (which is going to be *very attractive* to many
libraries in this current economic environment) is somehow central to it all. See: http://www.oclc.org/worldcatlocal/
> For those libraries who opt into this "free" option, it will be almost irresistible. The basis of WorldCat
Local (as I understand it) is that each library will need only the item management parts of an ILS
(acquisitions, circulation, location) and that users will search WorldCat, which will then link into
your system to display the availability information to the users, and your library comes up No. 1 in the
list of libraries. 
>   

OCLC is already testing what it calls "web scale" library management 
services -- that is, circulation, acquisitions, etc. run off of 
Worldcat. (http://www.oclc.org/us/en/news/releases/200927.htm). In 
theory this could entirely replace local systems (although I imagine 
that libraries will want to keep some kind of local inventory.... or 
maybe not).

> But again, if I am correct in my understanding, the master record held in OCLC, along with the OCLC control
number will become very valuable, indeed. 
>
>
>   

I think it already is very valuable, although under-utilized due to 
restrictions (e.g. membership). This adds to my bewilderment about 
OCLC's apparent fear of competition. OCLC has an extremely valuable 
product, is used by over 60,000 libraries, and has 30 years of history 
with the library community. Why are they acting so defensively?

kc
(Continue reading)

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Jonathan Rochkind | 3 Jul 2009 19:15
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Re: OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

It's worth noting that the legality of re-using/sharing the OCLC number alone without any permission is
much more clear than the legality of sharing the record itself -- (I'm not a lawyer but) it's almost
certainly legal to share/re-use the OCLC number by itself without any permission at all. 

I agree with Jim that the value of the OCLC control number is quite high, even apart from the OCLC records.
And, fortunately, it's not only legal to use, but in my opinion (and hopefully OCLC will see it this way too)
actually in OCLC's business interest to promote (rather than restrict) free re-use of the OCLC control
number. 

I wrote more on this at: 
http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/oclc-numbers-as-manifestation-identifiers/

Jonathan
________________________________________
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [NGC4LIB <at> LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Karen Coyle [lists <at> KCOYLE.NET]
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 10:35 AM
To: NGC4LIB <at> LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] OCLC Formally Withdraws WorldCat Policy

Weinheimer Jim wrote:
> I also have a feeling that the option of WorldCat Local (which is going to be *very attractive* to many
libraries in this current economic environment) is somehow central to it all. See: http://www.oclc.org/worldcatlocal/
> For those libraries who opt into this "free" option, it will be almost irresistible. The basis of WorldCat
Local (as I understand it) is that each library will need only the item management parts of an ILS
(acquisitions, circulation, location) and that users will search WorldCat, which will then link into
your system to display the availability information to the users, and your library comes up No. 1 in the
list of libraries.
>

OCLC is already testing what it calls "web scale" library management
(Continue reading)

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Jennifer Bowen | 7 Jul 2009 14:44
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Serials Solutions joins eXtensible Catalog Project

Serials Solutions Joins eXtensible Catalog Project

The University of Rochester River Campus Libraries announce that Serials
Solutions, a leader in providing technology solutions for libraries, has
joined the eXtensible Catalog (XC) Project -- an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
funded project currently underway at the University’s River Campus
Libraries.  Serials Solutions’ involvement is both technical and financial.
 The additional funding for the eXtensible Catalog Project by Serials
Solutions reflects the company’s commitment to supporting the development of
a common open-source framework for enhancing and enriching metadata for
libraries and other cultural institutions.  Serials Solutions believes that
the XC software holds much potential for providing a standard platform for
metadata enrichment across a variety of products and applications, both
open-source and commercial. 

About Serials Solutions
Founded in 2000 by a librarian for librarians, Serials Solutions is the
global leader in E-Resource Access and Management Services (ERAMS) that
serves more than 2,000 libraries of all sizes and types. Serials Solutions®
KnowledgeWorks, the authoritative e-resource knowledgebase, is the
foundation for Serials Solutions® 360, the only complete and integrated
e-resource access and management solution. 

About the eXtensible Catalog
The XC system currently in development will provide libraries with
open-source tools and software that will allow libraries to expand their
current roles.  Library content, both traditional and digital, can easily be
integrated in other systems, including Content and Learning Management
Systems.  The XC system will empower libraries to create customized
discovery systems and solutions for their users needs.  XC is being created
(Continue reading)

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Adrienne A. Aluzzo | 7 Jul 2009 14:50
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ALCTS CCS Cataloging Norms Interest Group program ALA Conference

Please excuse duplication

ALA ALCTS Cataloging Norms Interest Group

ALA Annual Conference, Chicago

Saturday, July 11, 2009, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Chicago Hilton, Continental C

Title:  Beyond the OPAC: Creating Different Interfaces for Specialized
Collections in an ILS System (20 minutes)

Presenter:  Sai Deng, Metadata Catalog Librarian, Wichita State University
Libraries, Wichita Kansas.

Description:  

This presentation will discuss the speaker's experiment of creating
featured websites from specialized data in Voyager ILS such as faculty
author books, leisure reading, new book lists and local Art Museum
collection. These websites can be seamlessly integrated into public
programming events and library instruction sessions to introduce local
authors, featured collections and resources in a specific area.  The
websites of Faculty Research Publications and Women's Studies Video
Resources at Wichita State University will be showcased. 

The speaker will also discuss the model used to create the websites:

selecting data from Oracle database, presenting SQL query results, and
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Eric Lease Morgan | 7 Jul 2009 14:54
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Re: Serials Solutions joins eXtensible Catalog Project

On Jul 7, 2009, at 8:44 AM, Jennifer Bowen wrote:

> The University of Rochester River Campus Libraries announce that  
> Serials
> Solutions, a leader in providing technology solutions for libraries,  
> has
> joined the eXtensible Catalog (XC) Project -- an Andrew W. Mellon  
> Foundation
> funded project currently underway at the University’s River Campus
> Libraries.  Serials Solutions’ involvement is both technical and  
> financial...

In many ways, I see this sort of development as being a step in the  
right direction. I suspect Serials Solutions will be able to  
supplement the traditional content of a "next generation" library  
catalog with article level metadata using something like Summa. This  
has been a goal of XC from the beginning. It gets closer to the ideal  
we are all, more or less, striving for -- one stop shopping. Kudos.

To see how this can be done with medically-related open access  
content, visit the website of OpenPHI and learn about their  
HealthLibrarian. [1]

[1] http://www.openphi.org/

--

-- 
Eric Lease Morgan
University of Notre Dame
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