Members Council sets new course
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Rebuilding WorldCat for the web world
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July 2002 ISSN: 0163- 898X No. 257
OCLC
Newsletter July 2002, No. 257
The OCLC Newsletter ( ISSN: 0163- 898X) is published by OCLC Corporate Marketing and is distributed at no charge. Its contents may be reproduced in whole or part provided that credit is given. Send questions, subscription and address/ contact updates to:
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The OCLC Newsletter is also available on the OCLC web site at: < www. oclc. org/ news/ newsletter>. For more information on OCLC, including contact information for OCLC offices and affiliated partners, visit the OCLC web site at: < www. oclc. org>.
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OCLC, a nonprofit membership organization, is engaged in computer library service and research.
OCLC by the Numbers
The OCLC Cooperative
Participating libraries 42,396
Member libraries 9,230
Libraries outside the U. S. 7,997
Museum, associations, foundations 347
FirstSearch libraries 20,035
Countries & territories served 83
WorldCat Statistics
Highest OCLC record number 50,166,532
Languages in WorldCat 458
Total OCLC Interlibrary Loan 118,442,547
Format Number of Percentage Location of records of total items cataloged
Books 40,046,235 83.73% 779,726,887
Serials 2,389,178 5.00% 26,390,033
Visual materials 1,476,500 3.09% 13,466,001
Maps 671,496 1.40% 3,345,827
Mixedmaterials 318,772 0.67% 388,061
Sound recordings 1,630,986 3.41% 18,300,570
Scores 1,114,078 2.33% 8,694,093
Computer files 179,226 0.37% 895,198
Totals 47,826,471 100.00% 851,206,670
as of June 30, 2002 Features
Changes to OCLC governance structure set the stage for a global cooperative
At its May meeting, Members Council unanimously votes to expand the definition of membership and contribution, creating the opportunity for the OCLC cooperative to serve more institutions across the globe. Also, immediate past president Jerry Stephens explains the expanded role and new attitude of Members Council, while incoming president Kristin Senecal outlines her plans for the next year.
A new WorldCat is coming to serve libraries in a web- based world
Although it is one of the most used databases in the world, WorldCat is changing to remain a vital tool for libraries.
Departments
OCLC by the Numbers
From the President
Updates
OCLC Connexion debuts
Congratulations Western Illinois University Library
OCLC publishes white paper on information habits of college students
Books In Print links to WorldCat
OCLC to create interactive web site with Gates Foundation grant
Two initiatives share common metadata principles
Olive Software digitizing historic newspapers for OCLC libraries
QuestionPoint now taking questions
netLibrary eBooks link to WorldCat
FirstSearch connects with JSTOR
OCLC, RLG working group releases report on preservation metadata
Subscribe to PsycARTICLES on FirstSearch
OCLC CatME para windows edición español ready for download
To our readers:
After 15 years ( and some 90 issues) as a bimonthly publication— and six years after its last redesign— the OCLC Newsletter has undergone a major refocusing to better serve your library’s needs. Electronic developments during the past several years now enable you to receive timely news from OCLC in a broader variety of formats, lessening your dependence on the Newsletter as OCLC’s journal of record. So, it was time for a change.
Beginning with this issue, the OCLC Newsletter will be published quarterly. Each issue will provide in- depth stories on several topics. In this first quarterly edition, we look at the implications of recent changes to OCLC’s governance structure and the future of WorldCat on a new technological platform. We’ve also included brief summaries of other significant news stories with URLs you can visit for full details.
The OCLC Newsletter has been published continuously since 1967. Its first editor was OCLC founder Frederick G. Kilgour. Over the years, the Newsletter’s content, frequency and format have adapted to the changing needs of OCLC and its membership. Yet, the mission of the Newsletter remains the same— to provide news and information for and about the OCLC community, to keep users apprised of OCLC services, programs and strategies, and to promote OCLC’s public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing the rate of rise of library costs.
The OCLC Newsletter editorial team looks forward to continuing to serve you.
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OCLC Newsletter July 2002 1
Contents X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
www. oclc. org
2 From Jay Jordan
Making new connections
OCLC services and governance have been closely intertwined
since OCLC’s founding in 1967 as a nonprofit membership organization. Recent changes to our governance
structure and definition of membership complement
the new services that we are developing for libraries. Indeed, they are enabling the OCLC cooperative
to make new connections with libraries and other knowledge organizations.
First, we have broadened the definition of “ contribution,”
which since 1978 had included current cataloging
and holdings information. Contribution is now defined as “ intellectual resources provided and shared by libraries and other institutions through the products and services of OCLC and its affiliates for the benefit of the other members of the cooperative.” While this definition still includes current cataloging, it recognizes new opportunities to contribute new forms of information.
Second, there are now three levels of participation
in OCLC— Governing Members, Members and Participants. You can read more about these relationships
in this Newsletter.
Inclusion
Fundamental to the changes in governance is the notion of inclusion. The amendments to the code of regulations broaden the opportunities for participation in our global cooperative. For the first time, Members ( institutions that share information with the OCLC cooperative
but which do not contribute all of their current cataloging) can have representatives stand for election to Members Council and ultimately, to the Board of Trustees. Participants, those institutions that use OCLC services but are not obligated to contribute content to the cooperative, are encouraged to provide input to their networks, and service centers and to Members Council delegates. Indeed, it is the hope of the Board and Members Council that over time, more institutions will decide to move from their entry- level status as participants
to member status and then to governing member
status.
These changes are intended to help OCLC become more welcoming to libraries in the United States and around the world. We now have the governance structure
in place that would permit, for example, a museum to contribute some or all of its digital collections to WorldCat and to share resources with the cooperative, and thereby qualify as a member.
WorldCat Today
On Friday, June 14, the State Library of Pennsylvania input the 50 millionth bibliographic record into WorldCat. On Monday, June 17, Caryn Carr and Tom Duszak of the State Library were recognized before an audience of about 1,100 persons at the OCLC President’s Luncheon at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. And, on July 24, I formally presented a plaque to the State Library of Pennsylvania at a ceremony in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania attended by staff from neighboring
libraries and PALINET. As we all know, when we celebrate the addition of the 50 millionth record to WorldCat, we are celebrating our shared commitment to library cooperation. Each gold record plaque ( there are now 50 on the wall here at OCLC) pays tribute to the cooperative as a whole— to the thousands of catalogers
and librarians around the world who, keystroke by keystroke, record by record, have built WorldCat into www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 3 meet your needs. You will have access to WorldCat, linked authority control, automated classification and the ability to build subject guides or pathfinders.
We are building this web- based platform using the techniques of rapid application development and continuous
improvement based on user feedback. We will add new enhancements quarterly. We look forward to collaborating with you in building new tools to improve productivity in cataloging and metadata.
Going forward, our revised governance structure, the new WorldCat and the new OCLC Connexion service are indeed closely intertwined. They are helping libraries
work together to reduce costs and improve services. They are connecting people and information in new and exciting ways. They are creating a more open, inclusive cooperative to the benefit of all participating institutions.
the wonderful resource that it is today. Congratulations to the State Library of Pennsylvania, and to the 42,000 libraries in the OCLC cooperative who are connected to WorldCat!
WorldCat Tomorrow
It has been a year since we announced that we would use Oracle database technology to power the next gen��eration
of WorldCat. Once again, the notion of inclusion
is particularly apt. Our new platform will enable WorldCat to grow not only bigger, but to be substantially better. The presence of Unicode will allow OCLC to serve many new populations globally. WorldCat users will be able to access abstracts, full text, images and sound files as well as bibliographic and location information. The new WorldCat platform will permit other knowledge organizations in addition to libraries, to contribute their intellectual resources to the cooperative.
As you can read in this Newsletter, we are making substantial progress in this major endeavor.
OCLC Connexion
In July, we launched OCLC Connexion. This is the first phase of a new online cataloging service that combines functionality from existing OCLC services such as CORC, CatExpress, CatME, Passport, WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey. OCLC Connexion builds on the knowledge that OCLC has gained from working with users over the years. We will take the best features of these platforms and integrate them into the new cataloging service. It will support cataloging of all materials and formats from a single interface. You can customize the interface to
Jay Jordan
President and Chief Executive Officer
OCLC
“ These changes are intended to help OCLC become more welcoming to libraries in the United States and around the world.” X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
On May 20, 2002, OCLC Members Council unanimously
ratified amendments to the OCLC Code of Regulations proposed by the OCLC Board of Trustees. The changes redefine contribution to OCLC and OCLC membership, and revise the Members Council delegate allocation.
“ The changes in the governance structure establish new membership categories that recognize the contributions
members make to the cooperative,” says Jerry Stephens, Immediate Past President of the OCLC Members Council. “ The end result will be a stronger OCLC, with many more opportunities for contribution and with all contributors participating in and charting the cooperative’s future.”
Following extensive study of OCLC governance, the OCLC Board of Trustees created an Ad Hoc Membership Committee in March 2001. Its charge: ( 1) define membership in and contribution to OCLC; ( 2) develop a new algorithm for determining representation on Members Council; and ( 3) establish the Standing Joint Committee on Membership that will review membership issues on a regular basis.
The Ad Hoc committee’s final recommendations incorporated input and review from key groups, including boards and advisory committees of 10 OCLC- affiliated networks, librarians outside the United States and OCLC managers. Members Council representatives, RONDAC and OCLC board members also contributed to discussions that shaped the final resolutions put before the full Members Council for voting.
www. oclc. org
Members Council sets new course
New governance structure redefines contribution
4 Governing Member
Contributes current cataloging
Member
Contributes to cooperative services
Participant
Uses OCLC services New definitions of contribution and membership
The definition of contribution, upon which the allocation
of Members Council delegates is based, has been expanded. It is now defined as “ intellectual resources provided and shared by libraries and other institutions through the products and services of OCLC and its affiliates for the benefit of the other members of the cooperative.”
There are now three levels of participation in OCLC:
• Governing Members are institutions that contractually agree to contribute metadata to WorldCat, including all current cataloging and holdings as described in the “ OCLC WorldCat Principles of Cooperation,” to make the information available for the benefit of all participants in the OCLC cooperative. Governing Members receive credits from OCLC for their contributions to WorldCat and receive a discount on OCLC services. Governing members elect representatives to the Members Council, which in turn elects six members of the OCLC Board of Trustees.
• Members, like Governing Members, embrace the OCLC values of commitment to collaboration by contributing intellectual content and by sharing resources. While they are not contractually bound to contribute all of their current cataloging to WorldCat, they do contract to contribute to cooperative products or services provided by OCLC and its affiliates. They also receive a discount on OCLC services. Representatives from member institutions are eligible
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OCLC Newsletter July 2002 5
Members Council delegates share ideas and suggest direction for OCLC in a variety of forums, including interest group meetings, plenary sessions and informal
conversations. Top right: Tom Kirk ( INCOLSA); bottom right: Willie Hardin ( Amigos), Frank Hermes ( OCLC), Barbara Kriigel ( MLC), Charlene Hurt ( SOLINET) and Brad Baker ( OCLC Trustee); bottom left: Francoise Lemelle ( transitional delegate from France), Christine Deschamps ( OCLC Trustee) and Bernard Dumouchel ( OCLC Canada); top left: Kristin Senecal ( PALINET) and Wim van Drimmelen ( transitional delegate from the Netherlands). X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
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6 for election to Members Council and the Board of Trustees.
• Participants contract to use OCLC products and services without any obligation to return any intellectual content to the cooperative. While participants do not have a direct vote in the affairs of the cooperative, they are encouraged to provide input to their networks, service centers and Member Council delegates.
While Governing Member libraries
and Member libraries may both serve as Members Council delegates, only Governing Members vote in elections to Members Council. All elected delegates, whether Governing Members or Members, become full voting members of the Members Council itself and may elect any of its delegates to the OCLC Board of Trustees. The first Members Council delegates elected under the new governance structure
will take their seats in October 2004.
These new definitions are intended to encourage
a broader range of institutions, including museums, historical societies and archives, to contribute to the OCLC cooperative while maintaining
OCLC’s strong foundation with libraries. The new definitions also recognize the unique contributions— and new forms of contributions— to the cooperative, strengthening the voice of institutions
that have been precluded from OCLC membership in the past.
Consultant, facilitator and mentor are a few of the roles that delegates play during Members Council sessions. Top: Bob Seal, Members Council Vice- president/ President- elect ( Amigos), Rich Doyle ( BCR) and Doug Anderson ( SOLINET); at middle right: Kimihiro Niimoto ( representing OCLC distributor Kinokuniya) and Michitaro Urakawa ( transitional delegate from Japan); bottom right: Bruce Newell ( OCLC Western) and Carol Bursik ( FEDLINK); above: Jennifer Cargill ( SOLINET). www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 7
Delegate allocation
The number of delegates each network or service center may elect is based on a new formula that takes into account service revenues in cataloging and resource sharing. The formula used to apportion delegates seeks to:
• Ensure the continued presence of the OCLC- affiliated networks and individual institutions whose contributions have developed the OCLC cooperative to its current level; and
• Encourage institutions outside the U. S. to participate in and contribute to the shared activity of the OCLC cooperative.
The number of Members Council delegates will increase from 60 to 66. In 2001, Members Council added six transitional delegates from outside the U. S., whose terms run through the May 2004 Members Council meeting. At the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Membership, Members Council will continue to include transitional, international delegates through 2007, during which time a standing joint committee will determine how to allocate these six delegates to the countries and regions outside the U. S. that contribute to the OCLC cooperative. Presentations, minutes and a webcast of a portion of the meeting are available on the OCLC Web site: < www. oclc. org/ uc/ meet. htm>.
Candid discussions enable delegates to consider important issues carefully and thoughtfully. Above: Shirley Leung ( OCLC Asia Pacific) makes a point at a discussion on OCLC pricing directions. At left, William Sannwald ( OCLC Western) listens to colleague Vickey Johnson ( OCLC Western) during an interest group session. X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
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8 Kristin Senecal, an Assistant Director at the Waidner- Spahr Library of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is busy making plans with the Members Council Executive Committee for her term as president of the OCLC Members Council for the 2002– 2003 year. Following a year in which significant steps of change in the definition of OCLC membership took place, Members Council will concentrate on issues facing libraries in the local, regional and national environments.
With nearly 10 years of OCLC Users Council and Members Council experience, Ms. Senecal feels ready to lead Members Council for the upcoming year. In 1993, she first put her experience in public and technical
services in Pennsylvania libraries to work for the OCLC cooperative as a Users Council alternate representing
PALINET. “ I had a broad perspective on how important OCLC products and services were to our patrons, and I thought it would be worthwhile to be involved with the development of OCLC products and services for the future,” she says.
In recent years, Ms. Senecal has served on the Members Council Executive Committee twice, more recently as its vice- president; chaired its Collections and Technical Services Interest Group; and served on two of its ad- hoc task forces. Encouraged two separate times by recently- elected OCLC Board of Trustees Member, Ian Mowat, Ms. Senecal decided to pursue the Members Council presidency.
“ It sounds corny, but I felt if the delegates had enough confidence in me to first nominate me and then elect me as president, how could I refuse the responsibility? It has always been a great group to work with, not only the delegates but the OCLC staff involved as well, and all that hard work does achieve noticeable results. I can see things OCLC is doing now that are the direct result of collective advice given during my early years on the council,” says Ms. Senecal.
Looking ahead to the 2002– 2003 session, Ms. Senecal said that the Executive Committee is developing an agenda on the theme, “ Libraries, Their Present and Future Environment: National, Regional and Local.” She says that Members Council is working to position itself as a source of feedback to OCLC in support of OCLC’s global strategy. Delegates will do this by examining opportunities and constraints under which libraries function at the national, regional and local levels.
Other agenda items for the upcoming session include continuing the work begun in 2001 advising OCLC senior leadership on OCLC’s business plans; developing recommendations
on library staff development initiatives for OCLC to pursue; and gathering information from library- type groups on how they perceive their respective environments.
Beyond her role as Members Council President, Ms. Senecal expressed concern that libraries not become marginalized as information providers.
“ I think OCLC has a great deal to offer to many libraries around the world, and with that expansion
the possibilities of linking information globally between libraries are very exciting!” she says. “ One of the reasons behind choosing the theme [ for the 2002– 2003 Members Council session] is that we want to better understand the challenges that libraries in different areas of the world face, and not assume that everyone shares the U. S. viewpoint. Given the direction OCLC is going, it should be very useful information for the staff and management as well as the delegates.”
Incoming president outlines plans
“... we want to better understand the challenges that libraries in different areas of the world face...”
Incoming Members Council President, Kristin Senecal ( PALINET) accepts the ceremonial gavel from outgoing President, Jerry Stephens ( SOLINET). www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 9
Highlights of Members Council Meeting
In addition to ratifying two amendments to the OCLC Code of Regulations ( see “ Members Council sets new course” on page 4), OCLC Members Council delegates elected leaders for the 2002– 2003 session and received strategic updates from OCLC senior managers. Portions of the meeting were webcast to the library community on May 20.
Delegates elected Bob Seal, University Librarian at the Mary Couts Barnett Library, Texas Christian University, as Vice- president/ President- elect for the 2002– 2003 session. He will serve with Members Council President, Kristin Senecal, an Assistant Director at the Waidner- Spahr Library at Dickinson College.
Elected as Delegates- at- Large to the Members Council Executive Committee for 2002– 2003 were:
• Maggie Farrell, Dean of Libraries, University of Wyoming
• Charles Kratz, Director of the Weinberg Memorial Library at the University of Scranton
• Vickey Johnson, Director of Libraries, Sunnyvale ( California) Public Library
Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO, updated delegates on OCLC’s plans and activities. “ We are moving into one of the most exciting periods in OCLC’s history, he says. “ With new membership alternatives, new database technology and capabilities for WorldCat, and new services in digital preservation and access, our cooperative is poised to add even more value for more libraries around the world.”
Phyllis Spies, OCLC Vice President, Library Services for the Americas, led a discussion on future OCLC pricing directions. “ OCLC is a nonprofit cooperative, not a commercial vendor,” states Ms. Spies. “ We are not driven to maximize profit, but rather to focus on our public purposes and mission.” Delegates agreed that OCLC must price its services to remain financially viable while continuing to focus on reducing the rate at which library costs rise.
Rich Rosy, President of netLibrary, reviewed progress that has been made since its acquisition by OCLC in January. “ We want to get a steady flow of content and work with you to get integrated into library workflows,” says Mr. Rosy. “ We also intend not only to listen more to libraries, but to hear what they are saying.”
netLibrary has added some 4,300 titles in the past 10 months and now provides more than 42,000 copyrighted
titles from 315 publishers, 88 percent of which have been published since 1990. About 7,300 libraries currently use netLibrary eBook content and tools.
Rein van Charldorp, Managing Director of OCLC PICA, and Janet Lees, Director, Northern Europe, OCLC PICA, briefed Members Council on activities in Europe. OCLC PICA serves libraries in northern, southern and western Europe.
“ OCLC PICA wants to participate in the global cooperative
and give our members the opportunity to participate,”
says Dr. Charldorp.
Ms. Lees notes that “ European libraries face the same challenges in today’s increasingly digital age as libraries around the world, with the added challenge that Europe has some of the oldest cultural print collections
in the world and faces enormous preservation and access issues.”
“ We are not driven to maximize profit, but rather to focus on our public purposes and mission.” X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
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10 OCLC Newsletter July 2002
Jerry W. Stephens is Librarian and Director, Mervyn H. Sterne Library, University of Alabama at Birmingham, a position he has held since 1985. He was president of Members Council in 2001– 2002.
Why did you get involved with OCLC Members Council?
I was on the SOLINET Board of Directors and had served on OCLC��s Advisory Committee on College and University Libraries. I was asked to be a candidate for Council and was elected in 1997 and reelected in 2000. I became involved with Council because I wanted to make our profession stronger and contribute to OCLC’s success.
How effective is Members Council as an advisory body?
I think a quote from noted anthropologist Margaret Mead best describes the effectiveness of Members Council: “ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that has.” Council is a rich resource that is greater than the sum of the individuals. There is a synergism that makes it a very positive agent for change while keeping the reality of the present in focus.
As Members Council president, you have presided over a lot of change. What are the biggest changes?
The biggest change is a change in perspective, a change in attitude. Delegates replaced in their minds, and in the culture of OCLC, the word may— a timid request for permission to participate— with the word can— a proactive willingness to contribute. Council is working more proactively with the OCLC Board of Trustees and with OCLC management in tracking the library and information environment and identifying trends to which OCLC must respond.
And we are playing an expanded role in shaping future directions for the cooperative by reviewing OCLC plans earlier in the business cycle. The goal is to move Members Council more upstream in the strategic decision making process at OCLC. This positioning
and increased dialogue will provide OCLC with more input into future planning, sustain our common values as members of the cooperative and strengthen the OCLC cooperative. We appreciate the open and candid dialogue that we enjoy with the Board of Trustees and OCLC senior management.
What do you see as members’ council’s major accomplishments this year?
First and foremost, Council moved the agenda for change forward and began the process of building a new future. We helped change the organization�����s governance structure— the way OCLC representation is viewed and instituted worldwide— by helping create and approve new levels of membership and contribution.
We became more global and less U. S.- centric by seating six transitional delegates, which brings international
representation to 15%, and listening to them on how to improve our cooperative. We fulfilled our governance responsibility by electing two visionary
librarians to six- year terms on the OCLC Board of Trustees.
We helped shape product development by suggesting new services and “ Google- like” functionality, such as relevancy ranking, grouping of search results and group analysis of holdings. And we have provided input on the reality of our environment, an environment
which is dynamic and which requires quick reaction and careful planning.
Interview: Jerry W. Stephens
Moving more upstream in the strategic process at OCLC www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 11
Given the recent changes in governance and the changes adopted to OCLC’s code of regulations, what is Members Council saying about OCLC membership?
Members Council is helping to make OCLC more inclusive and affirming the values shared by libraries. Membership is about creating value for ourselves. What members do and what they contribute to the cooperative accrues to their libraries, their users and their communities, as well as to the community at large. Membership and contribution make OCLC unique and create both short- term value and enduring value.
Ian Mowat, Librarian at the Edinburgh University Library since 1997, began his first term as a Members Council delegate in 1996 as a representative of the former OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa ( now OCLC PICA). During his six years on Members Council, Mr. Mowat served two terms on the executive
committee and participated on the Ad Hoc Committee on Membership with Mr. Alford.
A profilic author, Mr. Mowat has published dozens of articles in international library journals, as well as books and reports on a variety of issues facing the international library community. His career in librarianship
began in 1968 at Glasgow University Library, and has included leadership positions at many libraries in the United Kingdom, including St. Andrews University Library, the National Library of Scotland, the University of Hull and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Looking forward to his term as an OCLC trustee, Mr. Mowat says, “ I should like to play a part in ensuring that OCLC truly becomes a global cooperative, delivering
useful information required by the individual in a format, at a price and in a context that is appropriate.”
Larry Alford, Deputy University Librarian at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, began his first term as a Members Council delegate in 1996, representing SOLINET. He served as president of Members Council during the 2000– 2001 session. He also served on several committees and task forces, including the Ad Hoc Committee on Membership, which played a critical role in the process that developed recommendations to change OCLC’s governance structure that were adopted this past May.
Mr. Alford has held numerous management and leadership posts in libraries at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill since 1974, leading to his current appointment in 2000. An active participant in boards, advisory committees and associations that support librarianship and cooperative activities among libraries, Mr. Alford has also made many presentations on a wide variety of library issues.
In his board nominee statement, Mr. Alford says, “ Ultimately, for OCLC to be successful, it must be driven by the underlying values of the members that make up the collaborative. I am deeply committed to an OCLC that is a global, member- driven collaborative. I will work to ensure that a strong, creative, energetic OCLC is a vital force for libraries everywhere.”
Meet your new OCLC Trustees
The OCLC Members Council elected Larry Alford and Ian Mowat to the OCLC Board of Trustees at the May 19- 21 Members Council meeting. Their six- year terms will begin in November 2002. X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
Fifty million records, 79 million searches, 117 million interlibrary loans, 5 billion transactions…
Since 1971, WorldCat ( the OCLC Online Union Catalog) has been a fact of life in many libraries. Built cooperatively with little fanfare by librarians, this electronic catalog of library collections is a gateway to 4,000 years of knowledge that streamlines library services and helps users find information they need. Today, WorldCat is among the most comprehensive and the most used databases in the world.
Nonetheless, WorldCat must change to remain a vital tool for the library community. To support libraries in an increasingly networked, digital world, it must describe and link not only the holdings of libraries but also the resources of other organizations, as well as the vast amount of quality information available electronically.
“ An enriched WorldCat is crucial for meeting the demands of libraries and library users in a web- based world,�� says Glenn E. Patton, OCLC Director of Metadata Quality and Standards. “ OCLC must enhance the breadth and depth of content for both electronic and print resources to serve a broader community of institutions
and a wider variety of information needs.”
Currently, the vast majority of records in WorldCat are for books, serials, audiovisual materials, manuscripts, music scores and other physical items held in library collections; less than one percent is for e- books, e- journals, web sites and other digital resources. Some 91 percent of library holdings information is for books.
OCLC’s global strategy calls for transforming WorldCat into the preeminent source of metadata for the global body of physical resources and digital materials important to librarians, archivists, curators, scholars, researchers and other information seekers.
Market trends and user needs support the transformation
of WorldCat. Information delivered electronically by libraries is growing at a faster rate than physical materials. Gate counts and circulation rates are falling
in many libraries. The ability to bring together diverse content— library catalogs, reference databases of text and images and related web content— is critical to users, who expect using the library to be as easy as using an Internet search engine. As a source of records for libraries and a discovery tool for users, WorldCat must reflect these trends.
OCLC is using Oracle database technology as the new platform for WorldCat, replacing proprietary systems that OCLC has developed and updated over the past 30 years with open systems architecture and international standards. Four copies of WorldCat, which currently
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A progress report
Rebuilding WorldCat for the web world
12 OCLC Newsletter July 2002
links
Unicode
MARC
full text www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 13
support OCLC’s online services, will be reduced to one, helping control operating costs and speed development time.
Robert Wolven, Director of Library Systems and Bibliographic Control at Columbia University in New York City, says that OCLC is on target with its plan and timing
to create a new WorldCat. “ After 30 years, WorldCat is ingrained and essential to most everything libraries do,” he said. “ But the old model, which worked well for many years, particularly for U. S. academic libraries, is strained. OCLC is showing a lot of forward thinking with the new WorldCat project.”
A graduate of Columbia’s School of Library Service, Mr. Wolven has worked at Columbia University since 1972 in positions of increasing responsibility within the Science Division, the Law Library, and technical services.
He is a frequent speaker on cataloging issues at professional meetings and has served on committees and task forces of the Association of Library Collections and Technical Services, the Research Libraries Group and the Digital Library Federation. He is currently Chair- Elect of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.
The division that Mr. Wolven directs provides cataloging
for most campus libraries, and coordinates cataloging
policy and activities for all cataloging units. It handles more than 130,000 titles annually. Last year, Columbia University was one of the top 20 OCLC cataloging
libraries, setting holdings for nearly 200,000 titles.
Mr. Wolven says that the redesign of the database using relational database management software is key to bringing new applications to WorldCat. Among the new capabilities he identifies as essential for WorldCat are:
Additional information types. As the OCLC cooperative
looks to collaborate with a more diverse, international
community, WorldCat must accommodate a wider range of information and material types previously not supported.
Multiple record displays. Serving a larger group of users requires that WorldCat package data for different contexts and multiple views. Relational database technology
offers an opportunity for users to see information
customized to their perspective.
Links to content. WorldCat must link to evaluative content, digital documents and objects in other knowledge
repositories, such as museums, archives, reference
databases, private collections and professional societies.
“ Scholars at Columbia University who use WorldCat would like to see links to European and East Asian materials to support their research,” Mr. Wolven says.
Mr. Patton says the new WorldCat will assist libraries in strengthening their position as critical information providers to their user populations, as well as increase the visibility of materials they hold and to which they provide access. In addition, the new WorldCat will be the foundation to further increase librarians’ productivity as new automated cataloging, resource sharing and reference applications are built.
“ The new WorldCat will interweave the World Wide Web with the physical and electronic media of the world’s libraries,” says Mr. Patton. “ It will help information
professionals better manage their collections and services.”
new contributors
graphics,
sound,
motion
IFLA FRBR
Dublin Core X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
When the new WorldCat platform
is developed, work will begin on applications that more fully integrate OCLC services and programs. By accepting a wider range of languages, record sizes, and metadata formats, the new WorldCat will foster new forms of content that are key to serving library users in the digital era. It also will be the foundation for increasing librarians’ productivity through new automated, web- based cataloging, resource sharing and reference services. In addition, the new WorldCat will bring more libraries and organizations into the OCLC cooperative by supporting
a wider range of contributions. Finally, the new WorldCat will be a node in a 21st century knowledge map that links knowledge hubs in countries around the world.
www. oclc. org
14 OCLC Newsletter July 2002
The new WorldCat integrates OCLC services, programs
more content
more services
more members
more countries www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 15
Who will build the new WorldCat?
Using OCLC���s web- based services, librarians will be the primary contributors to the new WorldCat, sharing
both their library materials and digital collections. In addition, museums, archives, publishers, authors and professional societies will be able to contribute their intellectual resources.
What new features will the new WorldCat have?
It will support multiple metadata formats, such as Dublin Core, TEI and EAD, in addition to MARC. It also will incorporate the relational models laid out in IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records. To accommodate a host of languages, it will use Unicode. The new WorldCat also will have links to authority files and thesauri. Hypertext links will connect the new WorldCat to web sites and web pages, e- books and e- journals, tables of contents and cover art, and digitized objects in the special collections of libraries, museums, archives and professional societies.
How will the new WorldCat better serve libraries and users?
It will further increase the productivity and efficiency of library staff in operations such as cataloging, resource sharing, reference and preservation operations.
It will be a gateway to the world’s knowledge that will improve discovery services for library users. It will build an enriched flow of knowledge by encouraging interaction among libraries, museums,
archives, societies and other organizations and by encompassing high quality print and electronic resources.
What is the new WorldCat?
It is the next generation of WorldCat ( the OCLC Online Union Catalog), a 21st century knowledge map that builds on new technology and includes new forms of information and contributors. It links to other knowledge hubs and nodes around the world.
Is the new WorldCat a database?
The new WorldCat will evolve from the current bibliographic
database of library holdings with cataloging, resource sharing and reference tools to an openly accessible, globally networked learning community supported by an integrated set of web- based services for contribution, discovery, exchange, delivery and preservation.
What does a learning community mean?
OCLC views the new WorldCat as an interactive place of continuous online collaboration and learning for libraries and other nonprofit organizations whose missions include open access to authoritative knowledge
resources. To serve the ongoing needs of the community, it will host a range of services and knowledge
organization tools to bring the world’s physical
and digital information together in a coherent resource.
What services will the new WorldCat support?
It will support cataloging and metadata creation services
for contributing and exchanging records of physical
items and electronic materials. In discovery and delivery, it will offer reference services that provide customized searching and display, online reference support, borrow or buy capabilities, and links to documents,
graphics, audio and video. For preservation, it will support digital asset creation and management, as well as reformatting and archiving services.
Some questions and answers about the new WorldCat www. oclc. org
X OCLC Newsletter July 2002
Progress
16 OCLC Newsletter July 2002
Restructuring and rebuilding a database the size of WorldCat is a major undertaking. Lynn Kellar, OCLC Director of Enterprise Database Technology and Project Manager for the new WorldCat, expects that the database will be completely deployed on the Oracle platform by the end of 2003. Once this is done, WorldCat can support numerous applications that will improve the functionality of cataloging, resource sharing and reference services. Here is the progress to date.
��� A 9 million record WorldCat database with 300 million holdings is fully indexed and running in test mode using Oracle database management software.
• A new XML common data format is in use with the test database that will accept any metadata standard, including MARC21, DC, EAD and TEI.
• Unicode, a character coding system that supports the processing and display of the written texts of the diverse languages of the modern world, has been stored and indexed.
• Several scoped subsets of WorldCat for library groups and consortium are up and running in test mode.
• An Application Program Interface, a suite of tools for building programs for online services, and Z39.50 functionality have been designed using Oracle software and are being tested with all internal applications.
A few things the new WorldCat will do for you
Once WorldCat is rebuilt using Oracle database technology,
it will be able to support numerous applications
that will improve its functionality for users.
��� Multilingual Support. Input, processing and display of the written texts for the world’s languages. A few new scripts supported could include Hebrew and Cyrillic, as well as other scripts such as Thai, Hindi and Tamil. New features include stop words by language, record sorting by language, and authority control schemes for different languages.
• Groups of records. Bringing all versions of a given work together using a high- level record that links to numerous records. For example, a high- level record for Show Boat would describe this intellectual creation of Edna Ferber with links to foreign language translations, large print editions, sound recordings, music scores, videocassettes, DVDs, journal articles, Internet resources and archival materials.
• More metadata formats. A flexible database architecture and structure to support many different and evolving metadata standards, including changes to established standards. In addition to Dublin Core ( DC), which is already supported, other new metadata formats under consideration include Text Encoding Initiative ( TEI), Encoded Archival Description ( EAD) and Committee on Scientific and Technical Information ( COSATI).
• No record limits. There will be no limits on format and record sizes. Currently, WorldCat records must be no longer than 4,096 characters and in MARC format.
• Subsets of WorldCat. Record views by group holdings, type of material and subject. Gold Record Hall of Fame
WorldCat became operational on August 26, 1971. It took libraries three years to enter the first million bibliographic records ( OCLC Control Numbers). The OCLC cooperative celebrates the entry of each millionth record into WorldCat with a “ Gold Record” plaque, sending one to the contributing library and placing the other on display in the Gold Record Hall of Fame at OCLC in Dublin, Ohio.
www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 17
Network Date Library
# 1 NELINET September 6, 1974 Northeastern University
# 2 NELINET February 18, 1976 Boston University School of Theology
# 3 Nylink May 27, 1977 State University of New York at Potsdam
# 4 SOLINET June 24, 1978 University of North Carolina,
Greensboro
# 5 SOLINET May 24, 1979 University of Louisville
# 6 Nylink February 19, 1980 State University of New York at Syracuse, Health Sciences Library
# 7 ILLINET December 4, 1980 Northeastern Illinois University
# 8 ILLINET December 16, 1981 Southern Illinois University
# 9 BCR November 29, 1982 University of Denver
# 10 OCLC October 11, 1983 California State College,
Western San Bernardino
# 11 INCOLSA July 28, 1984 Indiana University School of Music Library, Bloomington
# 12 ILLINET May 6, 1985 University of Illinois,
Urbana– Champaign
# 13 ILLINET January 10, 1986 University of Illinois, Chicago
# 14 BCR August 1, 1986 Colorado College
# 15 OCLC December 22, 1986 University of California,
Western Berkeley
# 16 NELINET June 19, 1987 Wellesley College
# 17 SOLINET November 18, 1987 Duke University
# 18 OCLC May 25, 1988 University of Washington
Western
# 19 NELINET January 10, 1989 University of Massachusetts at Amherst
# 20 Amigos July 12, 1989 Dallas County Community College District, Mesquite
# 21 INCOLSA February 3, 1990 Indiana University School of Music Library, Bloomington
# 22 NELINET July 13, 1990 Boston Public Library
# 23 ILLINET January 23, 1991 University of Illinois,
Urbana– Champaign
# 24 PALINET June 27, 1991 University of Pennsylvania
# 25 NELINET December 19, 1991 Brandeis University
Network Date Library
# 26 ILLINET June 12, 1992 University of Illinois,
Urbana– Champaign
# 27 NELINET November 19, 1992 Brandeis University
# 28 Nylink April 28, 1993 Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
# 29 OHIONET October 13, 1993 Ohio University
# 30 ILLINET March 22, 1994 Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
# 31 INCOLSA August 24, 1994 Indiana University, Bloomington
# 32 OCLC February 16, 1995 University of Strathclyde
PICA
# 33 MLNC August 17, 1995 Kansas City Public Library
# 34 Amigos January 6, 1996 Phoenix Public Library
# 35 MLNC June 27, 1996 Eden- Webster Library,
Webster University and
Eden Theological Seminary
# 36 Nylink November 26, 1996 Cornell University
# 37 Nylink June 2, 1997 State University of New York at Buffalo
# 38 ILLINET November 24, 1997 University of Illinois,
Urbana– Champaign
# 39 MLNC April 23, 1998 Mid- Continent Public Library
# 40 SOLINET October 4, 1998 Harid Conservatory Music Library
# 41 ILLINET March 19, 1999 University of Illinois at Chicago
# 42 SOLINET August 3, 1999 Albert Pick Music Library,
University of Miami
# 43 FEDLINK December 14, 1999 Government Printing Office
# 44 OCLC May 8, 2000 Wellcome Institute
PICA
# 45 BCR September 12, 2000 University of Colorado at Boulder
# 46 NELINET February 21, 2001 Boston Public Library
# 47 PALINET May 23, 2001 Allegheny College
# 48 ILLINET September 20, 2001 Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
# 49 OCLC February 14, 2002 Seattle Public Library
Western
# 50 PALINET June 14, 2002 State Library of Pennsylvania
MillionthRecord
MillionthRecord www. oclc. org
18 OCLC Newsletter July 2002
http:// www. bowker. com/ bowkerweb/ Press_ Releases/ oclc. htm
Books In Print links to WorldCat
A new link from Bowker’s booksinprint. com to WorldCat on the OCLC FirstSearch service will give libraries greater web visibility and users greater search access to local library collections. lege and university students look to campus libraries and library web sites for their information needs. As confident and savvy users of electronic information resources, they value access to accurate, up- to- date information with easily identifiable authors. They are aware of the shortcomings of information
available from the web and of their needs for assistance in finding information in electronic or paper format.
http:// www. oclc. org/ firstsearch/ announcements/ netlibrary_ 20020523. htm
netLibrary eBooks link to WorldCat
eBooks in the netLibrary collection are now viewable
from WorldCat on the OCLC FirstSearch service via icons in brief and full record displays .
http:// www. wiu. edu/ library/ index. phphttp:// www. wplc. org/ wplcindex. cfmhttp:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ menu/ ill. htm
Congratulations Western Illinois University Library
On June 21, the Western Illinois University Library, Macomb, Illinois, USA, entered the 118 millionth request into the OCLC Interlibrary Loan service. The request was for the book Building Your Child’s Self Esteem and was filled June 26 by the Ruth Brady Wickes Memorial Library, Saginaw, Michigan, USA, of the White Pine Library Cooperative.
http:// www2. oclc. org/ oclc/ pdf/ printondemand/ informationhabits. pdf
OCLC publishes white paper on information habits
of college students
This study concentrates on the web- based information habits of college students and their use of campus library web sites, finding that colUpdate
http:// www. oclc. org/ connexion/
OCLC Connexion debuts
In June, OCLC launched the first phase of the OCLC Connexion service. Connexion is the new face of OCLC cataloging, providing one- stop access to integrated cataloging tools and to WorldCat, the world’s largest online union catalog and bibliographic
http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ press/ 20020502. shtm
OCLC to create interactive
web site with Gates Foundation grant
A $ 9.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping OCLC build a public access computing portal for public libraries that will host a range of services and tools, such as online tutorials, training modules and expert assistance, and help libraries manage and enhance their programs. The new portal will include content serving five critical areas: continuing
education, technical support,
purchasing, capacity building
and community building.
“ This award is indeed a great honor and we at OCLC, along with our grant partners, understand the significant responsibility it entails,”
— Jay Jordan http:// www. dlib. org/ dlib/ april02/ weibel/ 04weibel. html
Two initiatives share common metadata principles
OCLC Research Scientist Stuart Weibel, along with co- authors Erik Duval, Wayne Hodgins and Stuart Sutton, explain the foundations of agreement between the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Learning Object Metadata Working Group in the article “ Metadata Principles and Practicalities.”
http:// www. questionpoint. org
QuestionPoint now taking questions
Developed by the Library of Congress and OCLC, QuestionPoint connects libraries with a growing network of reference librarians in the United States and around the world. The new online service will use Convey System OnDemand software
to let librarians and users collaborate
on desktop content, share proprietary database information, text- chat, and see and talk to each other over the Internet.
http:// www. oclc. info/ firstsearch/ announcements/ psycarticles. htm
Subscribe to PsycARTICLES on FirstSearch
PsycARTICLES, the American Psychological Association’s full- text electronic journal article database,
is now available on the OCLC FirstSearch service. PsycARTICLES is the only means of electronic access to the full text of articles from the APA’s authoritative, peer- reviewed scholarly journals.
http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ menu/ suite/
OCLC Access Suite updated
Version 5.00 of the OCLC Access Suite compact disc is now available
for order at no charge. All of the software on this disc was previously
released for download from the OCLC web site. The disc can be ordered from the OCLC web site.
http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ press/ 20020611. shtm
FirstSearch connects with JSTOR
OCLC and JSTOR, a not- for- profit organization whose mission is to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in information technologies, are working together to provide electronic
access to full- text articles in the JSTOR Archive from the OCLC FirstSearch service.
http:// www. oclc. org/ research/ software/ scorpion/ index. shtm
Scorpion software now available as Open Source
The Scorpion Open Source project offers software that implements a system for automatically classifying
web- accessible text documents. Scorpion is intended for use by investigators who have a machine- readable subject classification scheme or thesaurus and wish to incorporate it into an automatic classification system.
www. oclc. org
OCLC Newsletter July 2002 19
Update
http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ press/ 20020514. shtm
Olive Software digitizing historic newspapers for OCLC libraries
The OCLC Historic Newspaper Digitization service will use Olive Software to help libraries
provide full, online searchable access to their historic newspapers
so that these valuable
resources can be preserved and made accessible over the World Wide Web. http:// cweb. oclc. org/ catme/ news/
OCLC CatME para windows edición español ready for download
A Spanish version of the OCLC Cataloging Micro Enhancer for Windows software is now available for electronic download from the OCLC web site. The new software provides the same functionality as the English version and will be included in version 5.00 of the OCLC Access Suite compact disc. Documentation will be translated into Spanish and available online in the coming months.
http:// www. oclc. org/ research/ pmwg/ pm_ framework. pdf
OCLC, RLG working group releases report on preservation metadata
The Working Group on Preservation Metadata, an initiative jointly sponsored
by OCLC and the Research Libraries Group, has released “ A Metadata Framework to Support the Preservation of Digital Objects,” a new report on preservation metadata that is applicable to a broad range of digital preservation activities.
www. oclc. org
20 OCLC Newsletter July 2002
Update
Reference Services Advisory Committee Meeting
Throughout the year, the OCLC Reference Services Advisory Committee offers OCLC input on the functionality and content of its reference services. The Committee met at OCLC April 24– 26 to discuss current OCLC reference initiatives with OCLC staff, including the redesign of the FirstSearch administrative module and specific ways OCLC can help libraries keep up with the pace of enhancements to WorldCat on FirstSearch. One change they suggested, that was implemented shortly after the meeting, was a redesign of the FirstSearch- L list, which is used to update libraries on changes and enhancements to the service. Readers can subscribe to FirstSearch- L at: http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ forms/ listserv. htm
Committee members who attended included ( left to right): Constance Scofield, University of Wisconsin– Marinette ( WiLS); Janine Golden, University of Pittsburgh ( library school representative); Stewart Bodner, New York Public Library ( Nylink); Mary Nash, Creighton University ( NEBASE); Paul Ulrich, Zentral und Landesbibliothek Berlin ( OCLC PICA); Martin Jenkins, Wright State University ( OHIONET); Barbara Berg, Juneau ( Alaska) Public Library ( OCLC Western); Bruce Whitham, Drexel University ( PALINET); and Barbara Rosen, University of New Mexico ( Amigos).
Apply now for OCLC/ ALISE program grants
OCLC seeks applicants for research grants. The OCLC/ ALISE Library and Information Science Research Grant program awards up to $ 15,000 to foster quality research by faculty in schools of library and information science. Projects generally are completed within one year, and findings are published in the public domain. Application materials are available
on the OCLC web site, at http:// www. oclc. org/ research/ grants/. Submissions must be postmarked by September 16, 2002. For more information, contact the Office of Research by telephone at + 1- 614- 764- 6487 or by e- mail to diane_ morris@ oclc. org. OCLC by the Numbers 3
From Jay Jordan 5
Members Council sets new course 7
New governance structure redefines contribution 7
Incoming president outlines plans 11
Highlights of Members Council Meeting 12
Interview: Jerry W. Stephens: Moving more upstream in the strategic process at OCLC 13
Meet your new OCLC Trustees 14
Rebuilding WorldCat for the web world 15
The new WorldCat integrates OCLC services, programs 17
Some questions and answers about the new WorldCat 18
A few things the new WorldCat will do for you 19
Progress 19
Gold Record Hall of Fame 20
Congratulations Western Illinois University Library 21
OCLC publishes white paper on information habits of college students 21
Update 21
OCLC Connexion debuts 21
netLibrary eBooks link to WorldCat 21
Books In Print links to WorldCat 21
OCLC to create interactive web site with Gates Foundation grant 21
Two initiatives share common metadata principles 22
QuestionPoint now taking questions 22
FirstSearch connects with JSTOR 22
Scorpion software now available as Open Source 22
Olive Software digitizing historic newspapers for OCLC libraries 22
Subscribe to PsycARTICLES on FirstSearch 22
OCLC Access Suite updated 22
OCLC CatME para windows edición español ready for download 23
OCLC, RLG working group releases report on preservation metadata 23
Reference Services Advisory Committee Meeting 23
Apply now for OCLC/ ALISE program grants 23
