Letter to the OCLC Membership

              October 18, 2010
To the OCLC Membership:
WorldCat Rights and Responsibilities for the OCLC Cooperative went into effect August 1,
2010. The new policy was researched and drafted by the Record Use Policy Council, with much
input from the community. The OCLC Board of Trustees had established the Policy Council to
develop this new policy and provide a broad and inclusive set of perspectives and experiences,
determine the current and future needs of stakeholders, and gather feedback from the OCLC
membership.
The work of the Record Use Policy Council has now concluded. These global library leaders
spent many months grappling with complex issues and listening to community input from
librarians, technologists, and other interested parties. With its final report, the Council
conveyed several learnings and recommendations from their work that we want to share with
the membership:
 Understanding and nurturing the consultative process. Primary in the Council’s findings
was that the entire membership community— including OCLC management and the Board
of Trustees— share an interest in enhancing communication within the cooperative to
promote transparency whenever possible and to engage members in collaborative action
planning.
 WorldCat matters. OCLC members and non‐ members alike recognize the exceptional
nature of WorldCat as a shared asset. Continual stewardship of WorldCat is critical to
ensuring not only its widest possible use, but also its long‐ term viability. OCLC members,
governance participants and management, as well as OCLC partner organizations, all have
roles in stewarding the shared asset.
 Continual evolution. Finally, the Council heard that the OCLC record use policy, business
model and pricing strategies must continue to evolve in keeping with member needs and
partnership opportunities. In particular, the Council affirmed the need to initiate a policy
review at least every three years, ensure the participation of the cooperative, and welcome
public comment.