11 Reaching diverse clientele
13 Built to specifications: OCLC Group Services
OCLC
Newsletter
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004
Personalizing
the Web experience
No. 266 ISSN: 0163- 898X
Order your DDC 22 and Abridged 14 in print
and online with WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey at
www. oclc. org/ dewey/
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New edition
Dewey Decimal Classification 22
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It’s a big world. We’ve organized it.
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 2
C OV E R S TO R Y
07 Personalizing the Web experience
In the quest to serve the information consumer, libraries
face competition with the sophisticated profiling and cus-tomization
technologies of search engines, e- tailers and
Internet service providers. How can they make the search
experience at the digital library as exciting and as personal
as the experience at Web bookstores and search engines?
I N T E RV I EW
11 Reaching diverse clientele
Gary Strong, University Librarian, UCLA, is credited with
starting many library partnerships and programs that go
beyond traditional library service and address the specific
needs of the community.
S E RV I C E S
13 Built to specifications
OCLC Group Services lets consortia package any combi-nation
of OCLC services to create custom solutions for
their libraries. The latest offering: group catalogs.
DEPARTMENTS
04 FROM JAY JORDAN
05 UPDATES
11 ADVOCACY
13 OCLC PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
17 TIPS AND TRICKS
18 OCLC LABS
19 OCLC RESEARCH
21 BY THE NUMBERS
CONTENTS
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004
7
11
13
18
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As an information community, where do we go next?
Visit www. oclc. org to read our latest research,
learn about member events— you can even
view the latest record added to WorldCat
( it updates every 12 seconds!).
It’s your window to OCLC
and our commitment
to libraries around the world.
Where do we go next?
Join us at booth 2526
at ALA Midwinter 2005
in Boston and find out.
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OCLC
Newsletter
No. 266
ISSN: 0163- 898X
Editor
Tom Storey
Managing Editor
Wendy McGinnis
Contributing Writers
Carrie Benseler, Brad Gauder,
Bob Murphy, Phil Schieber,
Alice Sneary
Layout and Design
Mark Uskavitch
Photography
All photos by Rich Skopin
unless otherwise noted.
In early 2005, Open WorldCat will move from a
pilot program to an ongoing feature on the OCLC
FirstSearch service. It’s been an interesting and excit-ing
18 months since we started this pilot to study the
feasibility of making abbreviated WorldCat records
and library holdings available to the general public
on the Web.
In the first part of the pilot, users could access links to
Open WorldCat through selected Web sites, including
Abebooks, Alibris, Antiquarian Booksellers Association
of America, BookPage, EBSCOhost, HCI Bibliography
and ProQuest.
Later in 2003, we notified member libraries that we
were making a subset of 2 million abbreviated records
from WorldCat available on the Google search service
and, subsequently, on Yahoo! Search, with links to the
Web- based catalogs and sites of some 12,000 academic,
public and school libraries participating in OCLC.
In November 2004, the general public did more than
5 million click- throughs from the Web to the Open
WorldCat page, which directs them to library catalogs,
Web sites and other resources. Library users have
responded enthusiastically to the Open WorldCat capa-bility.
“ Thanks to your Web site popping up in a search,”
one user wrote, “ I found the book right on our campus
and have it in my hands now!”
In November 2004, Yahoo! Search and OCLC
released a cobranded Internet toolbar that enables peo-ple
to use Yahoo! Search to
explore both the Web and a
subset of 2 million abbrevi-ated
records from WorldCat.
With the toolbar, Yahoo!
users can now choose to limit
their search results to items held in OCLC libraries.
Also in November 2004, Open WorldCat began
appearing prominently in Google Scholar ( Beta), which
enables Internet users to search scholarly literature. Users
have the option of clicking from records in Google
Scholar to the OCLC “ Find in a Library” feature, which
links them into the catalogs of nearby OCLC member
libraries for service.
Meanwhile, WorldCat keeps growing. On
November 19, Baltimore Hebrew University added the
57 millionth record to WorldCat. This is the fourth Gold
Record entered in 2004, which is itself a new record for
WorldCat growth. It is also an indicator of augmented
interest by member libraries and increased processing
capabilities at OCLC.
WorldCat is growing in new ways, too. Last April, the
Indiana Historical Society became the first
CONTENTdm institution to have its special collection
metadata harvested by OCLC for subsequent loading
into WorldCat. Since then,
16 CONTENTdm institu-tions
have had 26 digital col-lections
harvested and
loaded. Thanks to Open
WorldCat, these harvested
special collections are more
visible on the Web.
As we continue to extend
Open WorldCat to more
partners and more venues, it
becomes even more impor-tant
that you continue to
update your holdings in
WorldCat in order to maxi-mize
the benefit that your
library will reap from the Open WorldCat program.
Clearly, the Open WorldCat program is consistent
with OCLC’s chartered objective of increasing the
availability of library resources. It is meeting our goal of
weaving libraries into the Web and the Web into
libraries. It is also demon-strating
the power and
potential of our new techno-logical
platform, which will
enable WorldCat to move
beyond bibliography into a
globally networked, Web- based information resource
that provides links to digital objects in other knowledge
repositories. In short, we are making WorldCat more
open and more available for research, scholarship and
education than ever before.
Jay Jordan
OCLC President and Chief Executive Officer
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 4
FROM JAY JORDAN
Opening up Open WorldCat
5 OCLC Newsletter
OCLC recently converted its Open WorldCat pilot into an ongoing OCLC program through which Web
searchers can continue linking from popular Web search engines to resources available in libraries. Through June 30,
2005, all libraries that contribute ownership information to WorldCat are included in the program, unless they request
removal. Beginning July 1, 2005, OCLC will offer the program at no charge to libraries that contribute holdings infor-mation
to WorldCat and maintain a subscription to the WorldCat database on the OCLC FirstSearch service. For more
information, see www. oclc. org/ worldcat/ open/.
UPDATES Online Service Center
opens for FirstSearch
libraries with expansion
to other services
OCLC’s new Online Service Center
opened November 15, enabling libraries
to manage their accounts more efficiently
with self- serve ordering and other user
account management tools on a secure,
online site. Currently, the Service Center
makes it easy to subscribe to FirstSearch
databases, order search blocks and
speed fulfillment time. OCLC will expand
the Service Center capabilities to other
products and services in the future, begin-ning
with CatExpress and NetLibrary. For
a guided tour, see www. oclc. org/ service-center/
guidedtour/.
Open WorldCat becomes an OCLC program
NetLibrary, the leading provider of eBooks to libraries
worldwide, has teamed up with Recorded Books, the pre-mier
provider of unabridged audiobooks to libraries, to
create an innovative new program for delivering audio-books
to libraries through the Web.
Library users are now able to search for, preview, check
out and listen to audiobooks via the Internet and the
familiar NetLibrary platform, and can focus their searches
on audio titles only, or take advantage of search function-ality
that integrates audio titles with all electronic content
their library may have in its NetLibrary collection.
Key elements to this unique program include: an inno-vative
pricing structure, unlimited access, the ability for
users to download to a range of portable devices, and a
technology solution that supports download via broad-band
or dial- up capabilities, ensuring reach to a wide
range of library users.
NetLibrary, Recorded
Books to launch Web-based
audiobook
program for libraries
National Library of
Australia to use OCLC
PICA Library System
The National Library of Australia has selected the OCLC PICA Central
Library System to support the Australian National Bibliographic
Database and Kinetica, the Internet- based service for Australian libraries
and their users.
The OCLC PICA Central Library System will provide the infrastructure
for creation and management of the shared Australian union catalog, and
tools for nationwide interlibrary loan. The system will be implemented over
the next year and will be operational in December 2005.
Library workstations throughout the country will be connected to the
system that will support a national catalog of 13 million records and will
enable researchers, librarians and students to use one system to search
the collections of more than 1,000 Australian libraries.
OCLC Members Council met Oct. 24– 26 in Dublin, Ohio, to explore
the social landscape of the information world. Delegates discussed implica-tions
of online gaming, e- learning and extending services to more libraries in
more countries worldwide as part of its overall theme of “ Moving Libraries
Beyond Their Comfort Zones.”
It was the first of three meetings for the 2004/ 2005 Members Council
that will consider questions and findings from The 2003 OCLC
Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition, a report that was produced for
the OCLC worldwide membership to examine significant issues and trends
impacting OCLC, libraries, museums, archives and other allied organizations,
now and in the future.
“ The social, technology, learning and library landscapes from the
Environmental Scan will frame this year’s Members Council discus-sions,
programs and activities, as delegates explore implications
of these landscapes and how best to move beyond their com-fort
zones,” said Charles Kratz ( right, PALINET), Members
Council President and Director, Library and Information
Resources, Weinberg Memorial Library, University of Scranton.
OCLC Members Council explores social
landscape of infosphere
Delegates discuss
online gaming,
e- learning and
extension of
library services
worldwide
7 OCLC Newsletter When Joan Smith logs on to Amazon, she is greeted
with, “ Hello Joan Smith. We have recommendations for
you.” When she clicks the text, she goes to a screen with
recommendations for new releases, bargains and items
coming soon— all of which are specific to her interests and
based on her buying history.
As she browses the site, items similar to those she is
viewing are brought to her attention. If she wants, she can
create a personal description online and a wish list of
things she would like to own. She also can build a per-sonal
network of favorite people to receive opinions and
recommendations from those she trusts.
There’s a tab that’s labeled “ Joan��s Store” and a flash-ing
treasure chest that blinks “ Joan’s Gold Box.” There’s a
wizard that lets her fine- tune or expand her personal pro-file.
And there’s a feature that helps her track the items
she recently viewed, the searches she recently made and
the product categories she recently visited.
When Joe Martin logs on to the Web, he uses a ver-sion
of Google customized to his needs. He sets a fil-tering
option, an interface language, a search lan-guage,
a record display option and a host of other
preferences. He selects a Google service— search the
Web, look for images, browse Google Groups or
search for products with Froogle.
He subscribes to Google News and Google Web
alerts and he uses some of the emerging services, such as
Google Answers, a reference service, or Google Desktop,
a search service that scans the e- mail, files, Web history
and chats on his computer. He also uses Google
Personalized for search results based on his interests.
Joan and Joe represent a growing number of today’s
information consumers who demand a highly personal-ized
search experience. Search engines and Internet sites
define their information horizon, and they use these serv-ices
with advanced features and functions as their
launching points for information gathering.
In the quest to serve the information consumer,
libraries face competition from the sophisticated profiling
and personalization technologies of search engines, e-tailers
and Internet service providers. How can they
make the search experience at the digital library as
exciting and as personal as the experience at Web
bookstores and search engines? Do they need to?
Should they adopt information profiling techniques?
What about the confidentiality of library records?
Personalizing
the Web experience
Libraries look to balance technology, cost and usefulness
BY TOM STOREY
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 8
9 OCLC Newsletter What is personalization?
Personalization can be defined as the design,
management and delivery of content based on known,
observed and predictive information. Personalization
techniques match an individual, his/ her preferences and
Web page click stream habits with tailored content based
on a user profile.
In today’s world of information overload, many users
rely on personalization and similar technologies as a way
to filter and organize the data most important to them.
Eric Lease Morgan, Head of the Digital Access and
Information Architecture Department, University
Libraries at Notre Dame, has helped develop
MyLibrary, an open- source, Internet- based library serv-ice,
over the past seven years. Mr. Morgan believes
that the move toward a service economy has changed
the way people use, gather and disseminate data,
information and knowledge.
“ Now, more than ever, libraries must compete for
people’s attention,” he says. “ Expectations have
changed, and people are bringing these expectations
to the library. As I listen to students and faculty on the
Notre Dame campus, I increasingly hear, ‘ I want a por-tal.
I want a service like Amazon. com.’ MyLibrary makes
that possible.”
Used by about 25 libraries, MyLibrary is a customized
portal that allows library users to control what and how
much information is displayed to them. Users create an
account and fill out a detailed profile that includes
name, e- mail address and primary academic interests. If
a user identifies psychology as an interest, for example,
MyLibrary highlights psychology- related books, data-bases,
electronic journals and Internet sites, as well as
the librarian in charge of psychology resources.
Librarians who have tested and used the system at
the University of Notre Dame think MyLibrary should
become a part of the way most libraries provide Web-based
services. The system solves more problems than
it creates, they say, reduces information overload and
saves time for the reader as well as the librarian.
“ Library resources need to reflect the different ways
patrons approach information gathering and use,” Mr.
Morgan says. “ They need to be organized from the
patron’s point of view.”
Daniel Mattes, Library Director for the Federal District
of Mexico City, agrees with Mr. Morgan.
“ Users now expect this type of service, and one of
the reasons why libraries are sometimes viewed as ‘ out
of date’ is because we fail to offer this type of automat-ed,
proactive service,” he says. “ It’s also especially
important at my library, since our students don’t really
have a history of library use. This is in part cultural—
Mexicans in general aren’t big readers— and in part gen-erational—
our students tend to get information from
Google and other electronic sources.”
Mr. Mattes believes that “ my library” type services,
where one can have a digital space for information of
personal and/ or professional interest, is quite interest-ing
from a user’s perspective. “ I also like the idea of
sending alert type information on new acquisitions to
users, providing that they are in agreement. One
should always avoid sending unwanted information to
patrons— we are not trying to sell them things that they
don’t want or need.”
What’s involved with personalization?
As a technologist, Anne Candreva, Director of
Information Technology, would love to implement some
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 10
“ cool personalization technologies” like My Yahoo or
My Netscape at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
“ Our Web team could do it all, but, realistically, it
would be a significant investment in time and energy
and we have to ask ourselves if it is a proper use of our
limited resources, and what the lost opportunities
would be,” she says.
Ms. Candreva and her Web team explore the issues
of personalization almost daily. Some of the questions
they ask themselves: Do we have what it takes to cost-effectively
compete? Should we compete? What
advantages would the library receive by using the
technology? What can the library offer that no one else
can? What is the return the library would want— more
Web site hits, more circulation, more “ buzz”? She has
often thought about trying, in the library catalog, a
“ people who have checked out this book have also
checked out these books” recommendation.
Surveying customers, determining requirements and
studying nonprofit Web sites that use personalization
techniques would help libraries, including hers, determine
what personalized functionality to pursue, she says.
Among the features she believes would be easy and
inexpensive to implement, as well as used by users, in
a MyLibrary Home Page are:
n Quick links to favorite electronic databases
n Quick links to favorite searches in the catalog
n Quick links to a list of RSS feeds vetted by
librarians
n Quick links to a list of pertinent library events
organized by branch
Shirley K. Baker is Vice Chancellor for Information
Technology and Dean of University Libraries at
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She
leads the University’s libraries and its information
technology planning and has more than 30 years of
experience with technology at Washington University,
Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and AT& T. She
also is a delegate to OCLC Members Council and
serves on the OCLC Research Advisory Committee.
Ms. Baker recommends finding a balance between
technology, cost and usefulness. She says that libraries
need to choose the personalization technologies that
best suit the needs of their users. “ We should be ask-ing,
‘ What problems do users have that the technology
can solve?’���
After talking to and watching how students and fac-ulty
were using the library Web site, Washington
University Libraries implemented My Library Accounts
to let users renew items, place holds, search my cata-log,
receive e- mail alerts for library items of interest,
save favorite searches and create personal reading his-tories.
My Library Accounts is available on the opening
library Web page and can be bookmarked by the user.
Extending the personal touch
For many librarians, relationships with users are
created when they physically visit the library. Librarians
remember users, their interests and how they had
worked and helped them in the past. All of the “ profiling”
data and library activity is stored in their heads. What
MyLibrary is trying to do, says Mr. Morgan, is supplement
the physical library experience.
“ People know the information they desire is in libraries
but our systems are too difficult to use, too difficult to
relate to,” he says. “ By designing our library Web sites
from the patron’s point of view, we are more likely to
meet our patrons’ needs and retain them as users.” n
ADVOCACY
Library innovators and advocates
Reaching
diverse
clientele
An interview with Gary Strong,
University Librarian, UCLA
BY CARRIE BENSELER
Gary Strong is credited with starting many library
partnerships and programs that go beyond traditional
library service and address the specific needs of the
community. Currently the University Librarian at UCLA in
Los Angeles, he served as State Librarian of California
from 1980– 1994 and Director of the Queens Borough
( New York) Public Library from 1994– 2003.
Under Strong’s leadership, the Queens Library— the
busiest and most diverse public library in the United
States— won the IMLS National Award for Library Service
in 2000 for “ keeping a close watch on neighborhood
changes, and suggesting ways the library’s resources
can fill emerging needs.” The Queens Library has the
largest circulation among public libraries in the United
States and serves more than 2.3 million people— half of
whom speak languages other than English.
At Queens, Strong also started the Page Fellows
Program, Summer Reading Clubs with Newsday, Open
Mic Nights for Young Adults, adult learning centers, cop-ing
skills programs for new Americans and the
Connecting Libraries and Schools project.
Strong has also been instrumental in establishing lit-eracy
programs throughout California. He created the
California Literacy Campaign, the Families for Literacy
Program and the California Research Bureau.
As a librarian and library administrator for the past 30
years, Strong has a unique perspective on social chal-lenges
facing the public library sector.
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 12
Age: 60
Undergraduate degree: B. S. Education, University of
Idaho
Graduate degree: AMLS University of Michigan
Why you love libraries: Libraries are the one institution
left in our society that allow an individual to direct their
experience; to seek out and explore whatever one wants.
Libraries are fundamental to our democracy and way of
life in that they collect our heritage and history, allowing
it to be used and accessed for individual good. The infor-mation
and knowledge held in libraries empower people
to take charge of their lives, their governments and their
communities.
Working style: I like working with people to pull their
potential out and let it flourish. There are times when
one has to be firm and focused, but most of the time
there is great opportunity for creativity and differing
points of view.
Tips for librarians to think “ outside the box”:
Librarians need to think in terms of how their services will
make a difference in someone’s life, how their services
impact the community in which they work, and the new
knowledge that can be created if one thinks beyond the
norms of the past. Focus on the future; understand and
believe in the global context of life.
What motivates you: Seeing people achieve the great-est
potential possible. Exploring new aspects of the pro-fession
as University Librarian at UCLA. Thinking about
new avenues of scholarly communication.
What you are passionate about: Books, reading and
children. Children get only one chance to be children.
As a society, we must embrace their potential to build
our future.
Best thing about libraries: Too many bests to enumer-ate—
they work best when they treat patrons like individu-als
whose needs are the most important thing on their
agenda.
Worst thing about libraries: Making them hard to use!
Too many rules standing between patrons and what they
want.
Top three issues facing libraries today: ( 1) Adequate
financial resources��� money, money, money. ( 2) Narrow
view of the library’s potential in the global view. ( 3)
Enough qualified staff who believe in customer- centered
services.
The future of libraries: The future is rich with oppor-tunity.
Academic libraries must adjust to serve the
needs within higher education to remain the core of
the academy.
Favorite authors: Bill Pronzini, Marcia Muller, Michael
Connelly, Robert Parker. ( I collect and read California
mystery writers and mysteries set in California, with
some notable exceptions.)
Last nonfiction book read: Coast of Dreams:
California on the Edge, 1990- 2000, by Kevin Starr
Last fiction book read: When Red is Black, by
Qiu Xiaolong
Library hero/ heroine: Lawrence Clark Powell
Favorite food: A really good porterhouse steak.
Favorite television show: Smallville ( I do love the
comics!)
Last movie seen: Ray— fantastic!
Favorite Web site: www. library. ucla. edu ( Come on,
what else could I say!)
Type of music: Classical, pop, rock
Significant life experience: Standing on the Great
Wall of China and walking in Red Square— all in one
summer.
Favorite pastimes: Reading, working on my book col-lection
( fine printing and artists�� books), the beach, good
food and wine.
Best three library programs/ partnerships you initi-ated:
The California Literacy Campaign ( California State
Library), the California Research Bureau and the Page
Fellows Program at Queens.
How libraries can cater to diverse clientele: Don’t
bother to “ cater” at all. Develop collections services
that embrace who lives in the community and offer
them on a universal access platter. Celebrate the cul-tures
and traditions of those who live near the library.
We are all people with information needs. We should
not have to sort out what is ��� special” for us. Libraries
should anticipate what we want and need and offer it
without any particular note that makes anyone feel
uncomfortable.
Tips for library advocacy: Know your constituency and
relate to it. If an elected official has a spouse who is an
avid library user, get to know them well. Be honest and
tell the story the way it is— even if it is not what someone
wants to hear.
Memorable library experience: Listening to adult
learners tell the story of what reading means to them and
how learning to read has changed their lives. Watching a
father read to his child. Seeing the light in a child’s eyes
who has discovered something new.
A great idea for libraries: Be creative, take a risk, do
something someone has told you can’t be done. n
OCLC PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Built to specifications
OCLC Group Services
lets consortia package
any combination of
OCLC services to create
a custom solution for
their libraries. The latest
offering: group catalogs
BY BOB MURPHY
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 14
In 2003, OCLC launched a new initiative to help
library groups control costs and serve users more effec-tively
by getting the most efficient use of OCLC cata-loging
and resource sharing services. The group catalogs
initiative requires no new investment in hardware or soft-ware
by libraries and features unlimited use and fixed,
subscription pricing of OCLC services. It also builds on
the 30- year investment libraries have made in WorldCat
and OCLC online services.
Using a modular approach, each group selects and tai-lors
the most appropriate build, search and share compo-nents
to design a custom solution that best meets the
needs of their libraries.
To date, nine groups are using group catalogs.
Illinois: A comprehensive solution for the
state’s libraries
About 1,800 Illinois libraries of all types have unlim-ited
use of OCLC cataloging and resource sharing serv-ices—
as well as FirstSearch reference services— as part of
a new, three- year group services agreement between
OCLC and the State Library of Illinois.
The agreement includes unlimited searching of the
Statewide Illinois Library Catalog ( SILC), a customized
group catalog created from bibliographic records and
holdings information in WorldCat from Illinois libraries
that gives Illinois residents access to the more than 66
million items held in libraries throughout the state.
Jean Wilkins, Director of the Illinois State Library,
said that the group services agreement represents the cul-mination
of much hard work, persistence and determina-tion
on the part of many individuals. Its fixed annual
subscription, she said, allows libraries to budget and plan
for the next three years.
“ Our patrons will benefit enormously because they
will have access to more information available through
the rich resources of Illinois libraries,” said Wilkins.
Users of the SILC can use a single interface to search
the holdings of all Illinois libraries, or they can search one
of several regional catalogs based on geographic location.
They also have the option to search by subject through
eight other views, giving them access to health science,
law and theological libraries, among others. If library
users cannot find what they need in Illinois libraries, they
can seamlessly expand their searches to libraries world-wide
through the entire WorldCat database.
Illinois libraries can link from WorldCat holdings to
the OPACs of thousands of libraries for location, call
number and shelf status. Authenticated users can place
holds in the local systems.
The centralized, shared union catalog of all the
library holdings in the state facilitates resource sharing
and takes full advantage of Illinois libraries’ long- stand-ing
commitment to shared cataloging through the
OCLC cataloging system.
Illinois libraries that have not always cataloged with
OCLC in the past can batchload records into WorldCat.
With unlimited cataloging, Illinois libraries can continue
to feed the statewide group catalog, as well as support
OCLC cooperative efforts worldwide.
Another part of the Group Services agreement
includes plans to replace the Illinois Digital Archives,
the state’s proprietary digital collections system, with
CONTENTdm, OCLC’s solution for digital collection
management. Fifty CONTENTdm acquisition sta-tions
will rotate throughout the state to help libraries
create metadata for and provide access to unique
Illinois digital collections.
Transportation: Custom catalog brings life
to a collection
A new library catalog, formed by bringing together
resources from leading U. S. transportation libraries,
offers a single, subject- focused group of records for find-ing
information related to transportation.
The Transportation Libraries Catalog, coordinated by
the National Transportation Library through a Group
Services agreement, was created from catalog records and
holdings information in WorldCat contributed by 15
original participating transportation libraries with special
collections. The customized union catalog of biblio-graphic
records is searchable through the OCLC
FirstSearch service and features special collections of rare
and often unique items.
The OCLC group catalog provided a simple solu-tion
to a long- standing challenge faced by the trans-portation
libraries.
Participants in the Transportation Libraries Catalog
are libraries widely dispersed across the United States,
with specialized, sometimes noncirculating collections
that hold important, rare items of interest. The libraries
have, for some time, shared a desire to create a union cat-alog
to increase their visibility.
By bringing together holdings records already set in
WorldCat, records added to WorldCat through OCLC
Contract Cataloging Services, and batchloaded records
from participating libraries that may not have cataloged
with WorldCat in the past, the OCLC group catalog makes
it possible for users to search the collections of all these spe-cial
libraries at one time, through a single interface.
“ The idea of creating a transportation resource like
this has been discussed for many, many years,” said Nelda
Bravo, Director, National Transportation Library. “ We’re
delighted with the way this project has come together.
The Transportation Libraries Catalog has exceeded the
expectations of our participating libraries, and we’re very
pleased with the exposure this resource has brought to
our libraries.”
Users of the catalog can limit searches to a specific
group of transportation libraries, they can expand their
searches to a larger group of transportation libraries, or
they can seamlessly expand their searches even further,
using the entire WorldCat database, to all types of
libraries around the world.
The Transportation Libraries Catalog offers informa-tion
related to a very broad topic. Transportation issues
cover a variety of subjects and disciplines including engi-neering,
geography, geology, safety, wildlife, the environ-ment
and others.
“ Transportation is a field that involves so many areas
of interest,” said Ms. Bravo. “ These transportation
libraries have come together to provide a rich and robust
resource to ensure that researchers and professionals have
access to the best information possible.”
Missouri: Show me Missouri and the world
A group catalog for Missouri libraries became available
in December 2003. It is an extension of Missouri’s
“ Show- Me The World” project, a virtual library program
that uses WorldCat to connect users with information in
the state’s libraries— and beyond.
The goal is to create an online statewide union catalog
so that every resident will have access to all of Missouri’s
public library resources, regardless of the size of the
library or geographic location. At the same time, librari-ans
bring the world to Missouri libraries and Missouri
libraries to the world.
“ Missouri libraries have a long history of cooperation
and a commitment to equal access to information across
the state,” said Sara Parker, Missouri State Librarian.
“ The Missouri group catalog will help us to build on the
progress we have already made.”
OCLC services included in the group agreement
include record loading, OCLC CatExpress, conversion,
interlibrary loan and FirstSearch. Libraries participating
in OCLC Group Services do not have to invest in train-ing
because staff members are already quite familiar with
OCLC services. Ms. Parker said the ease of adoption and
use of OCLC Group Services will inspire Missouri
libraries to be even more innovative.
MERLN: Military topics made easy
The Military Education and Research Library
Network ( MERLN) was the first to implement the
OCLC group catalog model. The MERLN group cat-alog
provides access to more than 1.5 million items in
the collections of 13 MERLN libraries through a sin-gle
database for easy identification of the materials
group members need from any of the participating
MERLN libraries.
The MERLN group catalog provides easy access to the
holdings of a variety of military libraries, based nation-ally
and internationally, on a variety of military topics.
Florida: Making an investment work
Library users in Florida can search the collections of all
public, community college and state university libraries
through the Florida group catalog, a new addition to the
Florida Electronic Library.
Florida libraries have been contributing holdings to
WorldCat for 30 years, so the creation of a Florida union
catalog was the next logical step in making the most of
their work— and their investment.
Montana: Library Network Catalog
The Montana Library Network Catalog is a cus-tomized,
statewide union catalog that combines all the
state’s bibliographic records into a single database.
Library users can request items from their home library,
another Montana library, or any OCLC library, and each
15 OCLC Newsletter library has unlimited access to cataloging and resource
sharing services at an annual fixed price. Resource shar-ing
options include mediated and unmediated requests,
and cataloging services include online cataloging and
some batch processes.
ATLA: Delivering religious materials
OCLC and the American Theological Library
Association ( ATLA) member libraries are building a
group catalog to give librarians and users ready access to
ATLA member libraries’ resources. An ATLA group cat-alog
provides a customized, union catalog that merges
bibliographic records from participating ATLA members
into a single, easy- to- search database.
The ATLA group catalog makes it possible for users
to search at one time the collections of ATLA libraries
using a single interface— the FirstSearch interface.
Users also can limit searching to a regional group of
ATLA libraries or seamlessly expand searching to all
of WorldCat.
Prior to implementing a group catalog, ATLA libraries
had added more than 8.7 million holdings to WorldCat
using OCLC cataloging services. The group catalog was
created using these records.
North Carolina: Community Colleges
come together
Searchable through the OCLC FirstSearch service, the
North Carolina Community Colleges library holdings
catalog provides an easy way for users to see and search
the collections of the North Carolina Community
College libraries all at once.
Air Force: Into the blue yonder
The Air Force Libraries Catalog gives librarians and
users access to the resources of base and branch
libraries participating in the Air Force Library
Information System, including those in the United
States and Europe. With more than 4 million hold-ings,
the catalog makes it easy for librarians and users
to identify and borrow materials at Air Force libraries.
A special feature lets libraries add a link from the
group catalog to their library’s Web or Z39.50 catalog
to provide library users with item location and check-out
status. n
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 16
Other OCLC services for groups
In addition to group catalogs, OCLC can build a range of
customized, digital services for library groups that reduce
duplication, streamline user service and leverage cooper-ation
and resource sharing.
Among services that OCLC tailors for groups:
QuestionPoint Twenty- one groups with about 280
libraries are locally branding a customized version of
QuestionPoint, a virtual reference desk that serves users
via the Web 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each
group can field and answer questions among their mem-ber
libraries or seamlessly refer them to the
QuestionPoint network of librarians. Groups also can
build their own Q& A knowledge base as well as con-tribute
to the global QuestionPoint database.
NetLibrary eBooks A number of library groups, con-sortia
and regional networks are pooling their resources
to purchase shared collections of eBooks. Shared collec-tions
are affordable and quickly and easily build quality
collections of eBook titles for library users.
CONTENTdm Eleven groups are collaborating to build
digital image libraries of special collections using
CONTENTdm, an easy- to- use software solution that
helps institutions organize a variety of digital materials,
including photographs, maps and historic documents.
Group members create their own independent digital
collections, and a central server harvests metadata
from geographically dispersed collections to enable vir-tual,
seamless searching of all the collections from a
single Web site.
FirstSearch About 140 consortia are customizing the
OCLC FirstSearch service for their member libraries.
Groups select the features and content they want based
on the needs of their users.
TIPS AND TRICKS 17 OCLC Newsletter
ACRONYM SOUP
When your search results in multiple lists, such as a browse
list, group list and/ or search list, all of the lists associated with your
search remain open in the client. You can move back to the previous
list by either closing the current window or toggling back through
open windows to select the previous list.
To close the current window, use the menu item Window, Close
Window or the keystroke < Ctrl> < F4>. The current window closes,
returning you to the previous list. When you select another entry
from the list, a new window opens with the results.
To toggle through all open windows to select a previous list, use
the keystroke < Ctrl> < F6> or < Ctrl> < Tab>. When you select
another entry from the list, a new window opens with the results and
your previous results window automatically closes.
Find more tips at www. oclc. org/ support/ tips/ connexion/.
OAI and OAI- PMH The Open Archives
Initiative ( OAI) develops and promotes
interoperability standards that facili-tate
the efficient dissemination of con-tent.
Originally formed as an approach
to providing access to diverse e- print
archives, OAI worked with the digital
library community to develop the Open
Archives Protocol for Metadata
Harvesting ( OAI- PMH), a framework
built on common standards that facili-tates
interoperability among disparate
and diverse collections of data. The
protocol has demonstrated potential
usefulness to a variety of communities
as a simple way to share valuable infor-mation
and keep it up to date.
OAIS ( Open Archival Information
System) is a conceptual framework for
a generic digital archiving system that
provides common terminology and
concepts for describing and comparing
data models and archival architectures.
OAIS introduces an extensive vocabu-lary
of concepts useful for sustaining
cross- institution collaboration on
shared digital preservation issues.
Many current digital archiving systems
are based on or informed by OAIS.
RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification)
uses tags with data- storage capability
to store manufacturing and product
details for libraries. Many libraries
have implemented RFID systems as a
tool to help track materials, stop theft
and check out and return books faster.
RSS ( Really Simple Syndication) is an
XML- based format for content distribu-tion.
RSS feeds automatically e- mail
subscribers with the latest information
posted on a Web site. Many Web sites
have already implemented RSS. OCLC
Research offers an RSS feed with
headlines, descriptions and links to full
articles on the OCLC Research site.
< www. oclc. org/ research/>.
Moving to previous lists in
the Connexion Client
Suggestions for funding
a digitization project
Susan Salem and John Herbert, both of the University of
Utah’s Marriott Library Digital Technologies division, know first-hand
that successful digitization projects require plenty of plan-ning.
Their library has undertaken several such projects, includ-ing
the nationally recognized Utah Digital Newspapers Project.
Salem and Herbert offer these suggestions for institutions seek-ing
funding for digitization projects.
Plan ahead ( plan ahead, plan ahead).
Form a grant application team with clearly designated
responsibilities and deadlines.
Think strategically about funding requirements for the life of
a project.
Get to know the program officers at the various funding
agencies, whether local or federal.
Network everywhere you can. Make sure people know what
you’re doing.
Include an evaluation and sustainability component in a
funding proposal ( funding agencies want to know about the
value/ impact of a project and that it will continue beyond the
grant period).
Align the project goals with the mission and aims of the fund-ing
agency ( an obvious, but often overlooked tactic).
Form an advisory board. It’s always helpful to have other per-spectives
on the issues you face, plus the board can help find
and influence funding sources.
33
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3
3
3
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WorldCat
harvesting and
library ranking
OCLC and leading Internet search provider Yahoo! have
released a cobranded Internet toolbar pilot that enables Yahoo!
Search users to explore both the Web and a subset of the OCLC
WorldCat database.
With the toolbar, Yahoo! Search users can now choose to limit their
search results to items held in OCLC member libraries. With one
click, users of the Yahoo!/ OCLC toolbar have access to 2 million of
the most popular records found in WorldCat.
The Yahoo!/ OCLC toolbar is a pilot project associated with Open
WorldCat, a new OCLC program designed to increase the online vis-ibility
of libraries and their collections. As part of the Open WorldCat
program, OCLC plans to make all 57 million WorldCat records avail-able
to OCLC’s search partners for harvesting.
Left Brain or Right Brain?
OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2004 18
OCLC LABS
OCLC and Yahoo!
launch cobranded
toolbar
OCLC is launching a pilot to evaluate library users’ experiences
with searching and display of search results using a visual interface
developed by Antarctica Systems, Inc. ( www. antarctica. net/). The pilot
will run from January through April 2005 and will be implemented on a
database of electronic books that will be available to all users of the
OCLC Base Package and the OCLC Collection on the OCLC
FirstSearch service. Antarctica Systems, Inc. will use its VisualNet data
visualization software to create a visual interface to the electronic books
database. When users select the electronic books database on
FirstSearch, they will be given the option to use the visual interface for
searching and viewing results. OCLC will conduct a user survey to
gauge feedback during this pilot and will also collect usage statistics
that will be evaluated for future applications.
OCLC and Antarctica Systems, Inc. to test
library users’ search preferences
Content from WorldCat subset
now easily accessible on the
open Web through pilot project
with Yahoo! Search
A new prototype from OCLC’s
Collection Management Division could
drastically simplify “ dark Web” search-ing.
The single keyword search box
searches against an index of the entire
FirstSearch collection and uses library
ranking to bring the
most popular results
to the top of the list.
“ After doing this
with all FirstSearch content, we would
like to explore this same function
across member library catalogs,
licensed content and special collec-tions.
This new prototype could even-tually
become a view on FirstSearch,
and also a search box at
www. oclc. org,” said Mike Teets,
Executive Director, OCLC Product
Architecture and Development.
Search
19 OCLC Newsletter
Which of the following most closely defines the
term ‘ vog’?
a. the latest in Japanese street fashion
b. not expressing one’s thoughts clearly
c. volcanic smog
d. a young fjord horse
According to the 2004 version of the Library of
Congress Subject Headings ( LCSH), the correct
answer is c. Vog is volcanic smog. Concepts like this
are constantly being added to knowledge organization
schemes, such as thesauri, subject heading systems and
classification schemes.
The goal of OCLC’s terminology services project is to
make the concepts in knowledge organization schemes
and the relationships within and between schemes more
accessible to people and computer applications. For
example, if a hypothetical Web service provided access to
the equivalent and related terms for concepts in LC
Subject Heading records, it would be possible for soft-ware
developers to create tools to improve Web searching.
To test this hypothesis, go to your favorite search engine
and search for the word ‘ vog.’ Then modify your search
to include the words ‘ vog volcanic smog volcanic gases.’
The latter search, which includes variant and related
terms from LCSH, will likely produce higher quality
search results for materials about volcanic smog.
Before a Web service can be developed for a given
knowledge organization scheme, it’s often necessary to
preprocess the concept data. For some schemes, it���s nec-essary
to convert the data from word processing docu-ments
or html pages to structured data formats, such as
the MARC 21 formats for authority or classification
data, or the SKOS core, an RDF schema for thesauri
and related knowledge organization schemes. Once a
scheme is in a structured format, it can be enhanced in
several ways. Typical enhancements include mappings
to other schemes, the addition of persistent identifiers,
and the addition of coding to track the origin of records
and the sources of changes. The end products of these
processes are XML files that can be used as the basis for
terminology Web services.
Terminology services are Web services that involve
various types of knowledge organization resources,
including authority files, subject heading systems, the-sauri,
Web taxonomies and classification schemes.
OCLC researchers have prototyped several experimental
terminology services. One Web service that uses the
Dewey Decimal Classification ( DDC) provides access
to the DDC summaries. The service returns captions, in
four languages, for DDC numbers at the top three lev-els
of the classification. For example, when DDC class
number 798 is submitted to this service, the service
returns the following information:
< skos: Concept rdf: ID=” S22.798”>
< skos: inScheme rdf: resource=”# S22”/>
< skos: prefLabel> 798
