View as Web page | Manage e- mail subscriptions | Forward to a friend
October 2010 | Vol. 1, No. 12 | ISSN: 2152- 8993
Beverly Obert
Chair, OCLC
Americas
Regional Council
Communications
Committee;
OCLC Global
Council Member
Delegate
Where cooperation and
innovation meet
OCLC is your cooperative and the Americas
Regional Council ( ARC) helps you connect with
members, Global Council delegates and OCLC
staff and product developers. Through the ARC
and Global Council, your voice is heard. This
issue of the eNews is dedicated to how,
through cooperation, our members make
innovation happen.
As Chair of the ARC Communications
Committee, I am very excited to announce a
new innovative program. Now, you can help
increase the participation of members
throughout the Americas by becoming an ARC
Ambassador.
ARC Ambassadors are volunteers who are willing to give short
presentations, send e- mails or share important information about
the ARC with colleagues in your institution, or at a state or
regional conference or meeting. There are several tools that you
can use to help you be an ARC Ambassador. Among those tools
are:
The Ambassador Program brochure that details the program
and gives tips on how to spread the word
A PowerPoint presentation that explains the ARC
ARC brochures that introduces members to the ARC
ARC business cards with links to the official ARC Web site
and the ARC Member- to- Member site.
If you are considering becoming an ARC Ambassador, I
welcome you to contact me. Also, please review the resources
above, which are designed to help you start a conversation with
peers or colleagues. I recently attended our state conference and
tried these materials out, and with great success! I met some
fantastic people and exchanged interesting ideas. It just goes to
show that where collaboration and cooperation are, innovation is
sure to follow.
— Bev
Beverly is currently Executive Director
at Rolling Prairie Library System in
Decatur, Illinois. She presented during
In this issue:
The innovation game:
who’s playing?
Success story from the
back room
Register for a free
OCLC/ Library Journal
online symposium—“ The
Ethics of Innovation”
Concluding the work of the
Record Use Policy Council
Join us for our December 2
session of Good Practices
for Great Outcomes in
Washington, D. C.
New WebJunction report: A
Year With Project Compass
Save these dates for our
signature events at ALA
Midwinter
Upcoming training and free
webinars
OCLC and the Connecticut
Library Consortium
announce partnership
Upcoming events on
Moving Library Cooperation
to Web Scale
a poster session at the Illinois Library
Association Conference in
September.
Feature Stories
The innovation game: who’s playing?
A recent issue of Journal of Library Innovation included a paper on “ The Power of
Play: Fostering Creativity and Innovation in Libraries.” Lisa Kurt, Will Kurt and Ann
Medaille from the University of Nevada, Reno’s Mathewson- IGT Knowledge
Center collaborated to explore the role that play has in the workplace. The
distinction between work and play can depend heavily on the individual’s motives
and the methods of execution. And in today’s workplaces, both corporate and in
libraries, both concepts are becoming more intertwined— even blurred.
The authors argue that play is transformative, safe and motivating. It involves “ an
imagined reality that differs from ordinary life” and it “ energizes, engages and
motivates its participants.” Google allows its employees to work on their own
projects 20 percent of the time. The payoff? Some of their most innovative
products are born during employees’ 20 percent. This play ‘ policy’ is aimed at
reducing the bureaucracy that often stifles innovation in the workplace.
Innovation is certainly not a new concept. Take an example like Gaviotas, a
community that was founded in 1971 by Paolo Lugari in the Llanos ( vast tropical
grassland) in Colombia. The scientists and engineers who built Gaviotas have
converted an almost uninhabitable landscape into a sustainable ecovillage.
Countless inventions and innovations have originated from this community,
including a seesaw that leverages a renewable and seemingly inexhaustible
resource— kid- power— to pump water from a well. Alan Weisman’s book, Gaviotas:
A Village to Reinvent the World, follows the initial development of Gaviotas.
Another interesting trend is the rise of laptop orchestras on college campuses,
such as PLOrk, Princeton’s Laptop Orchestra. “ We started PLOrk… as a way to
explore new ways of making music together with technology,” said Dan Trueman,
Professor and PLOrk co- founder, along with Professor Perry Cook. Sound
familiar? Libraries have a long history when it comes to innovatively sharing
resources and finding creative solutions to serve their users, but innovation labs
are also popping up in academic and public arenas around the world.
Read more ››
Lisa Kurt, Head
of Electronic
Resources and
Serials,
University of
Nevada, Reno
Will Kurt,
Applications
Development
Librarian,
University of
Nevada, Reno
Ann Medaille,
Reference
Librarian,
University of
Nevada, Reno
John Kennerly,
Library Director,
McCain Library,
Erskine College &
Theological
Seminary
Edith Brawley,
Archivist &
Cataloger, with
McCain Library’s
copy of Herodotus
IV: Chapters 1–
144
Success story from the back room
By John Kennerly, Library Director, McCain Library, Erskine College & Theological
Seminary, Due West, South Carolina
They’re all around us. We pass them in the hall. We serve on committees with
them. We talk to them around the water cooler. We work right next to them. They
are our fellow library staff members— from administrators to volunteers. And they
have stories to tell— stories of times when they were diligent in their tasks and, as
a result, made a successful contribution to the greater purpose of the library.
Sometimes those success stories are high- profile tales that draw well- deserved
attention and accolades. Many of those stories, however, materialize in the most
unassuming ways and often go untold.
“ The moral of the story? Work diligently, and never
underestimate the value of your contributions— even if they
come from the unassuming back room. Look around. There are
more success stories just waiting to be told.”
Back in February I learned that one of our staff members had watched her own
quiet success story unfold. I wanted to take the opportunity to encourage and
recognize her. I also wished to highlight the fact that even the smallest “ ordinary”
staff contributions can make an impact. So I decided to share a blog post about
her experience. Little did I know that my post would resonate so deeply with so
many readers. The response helped to validate my belief that our libraries abound
with untold success stories. Libraries have a profound impact on society, and that
impact is fueled by the efforts of those who staff our libraries. Our communities
need to hear this. We need to be storytellers.
Read this member story ››
Reason # 16: Help catalogers at 9,000+
libraries worldwide improve everyone’s
records.
Few records in WorldCat are actually the work of one, single
cataloger. Rather, each record is the result of shared work,
improved over time and by many. With WorldCat, you join other
librarians to help improve a worldwide record of humanity’s
knowledge.
View all 25 Reasons to Choose WorldCat ››
News and Events
A discussion of ethics has been part of the professional landscape since 1903 when Mary Plummer,
ALA President, presented the first code of ethics for librarians. Since then, the information services
landscape has become only more challenging and complex. Join OCLC and Library Journal online for
our second “ Virtual Symposium” as we discuss the ways in which ethical considerations affect
innovation, privacy issues and how libraries deliver services.
In the last few decades, digital content has gone from being a highly technical luxury to the norm of
information storage, search, retrieval, sharing and sales. While many ethical considerations carry
through from previous eras, the digital landscape presents new questions about how to innovate and
succeed in a world that is saturated with data. Our panel will challenge the audience to think about
how these changes impact the role of libraries in the digital mediasphere, and how the traditional
values of the profession can help inform new opportunities.
Register now ››
Concluding the work of the Record Use Policy Council
A message 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.
Larry Alford
Chair, OCLC Board of
Trustees
Dean of University
Libraries, Temple
University
Jennifer Younger
Co- Chair, Record Use
Policy Council
President- Elect, OCLC
Global Council
Chair, Board of
Directors, Catholic
Research Resources
Alliance
Barbara Gubbin
Co- Chair, Record Use
Policy Council
Director, Jacksonville
( Florida) Public Library
The work of the Record Use Policy Council has now concluded. The members of the council 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.
Read more ››
Join us for our December 2
session of “ Good Practices for
Great Outcomes” in
Washington, D. C.
In October, the Member Services team presented the first of its new series, “ Good Practices for
Great Outcomes: Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York. We currently have seats available for our December 2 event in Washington, D. C. This
event will take place at D. C. Public’s new Watha T. Daniel- Shaw Neighborhood Library, our co- host.
Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian, D. C. Public Libraries, will give an introduction. Mary Alice Robinson,
Senior Training Coordinator, OCLC, will provide the latest tips and tricks for cataloging efficiently,
and Chris Cole, Associate Director for Technical Services at the National Agricultural Library, will
also present.
See the agenda, registration and directions for the D. C. event ››
View presentations from the event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ››
New report: A Year With Project Compass
Through a 2009 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services ( IMLS), WebJunction and the State Library of North Carolina
conducted Project Compass, a one- year initiative to work with state
libraries in support of public libraries’ efforts to meet the urgent and
growing needs of the unemployed. This work has resulted in a rich
collection of material on Workforce Resources hosted on
WebJunction. A new 18- page report summaries the key activities,
accomplishments and learning from the project, which has now
launched a second- year effort to deliver training to local library staff
on the essentials for serving unemployed patrons in their community.
Download the report ››
Save these dates for our signature events at ALA Midwinter
in addition to these events, visit us in the exhibits, where we’ll have OCLC staff on hand to discuss
and demonstrate services like WorldCat Local, CONTENTdm and Web- scale Management Services.
Our registration form will be available in early December.
Friday, January 7, 8: 00 am – 4: 30 pm
OCLC Member Link- Up: Americas Regional Council Members Meeting and OCLC Symposium
Saturday, January 8, 8: 00 – 10: 00 am
All about E: Management and Delivery of Electronic Content with WorldCat
Saturday, January 8, 1: 30 – 3: 30 pm
Context and Community: Perceptions of Libraries, 2010
Sunday, January 9, 7: 00 – 8: 00 am
OCLC Update Breakfast
Sunday, January 9, 4: 00 – 5: 30 pm
Library Management Services in the Cloud: More Reality than Dream
View all upcoming conferences and events ›���
Visit our Presentation Center to view past presentation slides and video recordings ››
Support and Training
Seats are still available for our Book
Blitz series in Washington and
Florida
This workshop will introduce you to the core skills of
good cataloging and MARC. Whether you are copy
cataloging or making original records, this workshop
will teach you the essential cataloging rules and
MARC standards. We will be offering Book Blitz I at
these two locations:
King County Library System, Issaquah, Washington
November 29 – December 2, 2010
9: 00 a. m. – 4: 00 p. m.
Credits and Grants for Washington Library Staff!
This workshop is a Washington State clock hour
offering for school personnel. Continuing education
grants may be available through Washington State
Library; for details, see the Washington State Library
Web site.
Register for RDA training via our
Training Portal
Many of our Partners— Amigos,
LYRASIS, MCLS, Minitex, MLNC and
OHIONET— are making their RDA
information and educational offerings
available to you. We have a new page
on our Training Portal to showcase
these offerings.
Register for RDA training ››
There is also a wide range of RDA
information available through the
OCLC RDA Resource page. There you
can find informational links to the
OCLC policy with respect to RDA,
training materials and the RDA Toolkit,
which was co- published by the
NEFLIN, Orange Park, Florida
December 6 – 9, 2010
9: 00 a. m. – 4: 00 p. m.
Learn more and register ››
which was co- published by the
American Library Association ( ALA),
Canadian Library Association ( CLA)
and Chartered Institute of Library and
Information Professionals ( CILIP).
OCLC Partner Updates
OCLC and the Connecticut Library
Consortium announce partnership
OCLC welcomes the Connecticut Library Consortium
as a new partner in the OCLC Partnership Program.
The Connecticut Library Consortium ( CLC) is a
statewide membership collaborative that serves all
types of Connecticut libraries by initiating and
facilitating cost- effective services, and creating and
supporting educational and professional development.
Read the news release ››
Libraries have been cooperating on cataloging, collection management
and resource sharing services for decades. In that time, we have
enjoyed the benefits of networked services— no local software or
hardware, elimination of maintenance and support costs, lower overall
expense and better scalability.
To help our members better understand how Web scale is changing
the face of cooperative library services, OCLC and LYRASIS are
presenting a series of free, regionally based events at these locations:
November 16, 2010: Durham Public Library, Durham, NC
December 3, 2010: Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA
Why did I receive this
message?
This message was sent to %%$ email%% because you have previously subscribed
to or expressed interest in news from OCLC or because your institution is an
OCLC member or participant.
Don't want to receive these
updates?
Unsubscribe %%$ email%% from this list.
Ensure delivery of future
messages to your inbox
Please add cooperativeenews@ oclc. org to your address book or list of " safe
senders."
Did a friend forward this
message to you?
Sign up to receive e- mail updates directly from OCLC.
OCLC respects your privacy Read our privacy policy or contact us at privacy@ oclc. org.
© %%$ builtin. year%% OCLC OCLC 6565 Kilgour Place, Dublin OH USA 43017- 3395
oclc@ oclc. org 1- 614- 764- 6000 1- 800- 848- 5878 ( USA)
