O C L C
N E W S L E T T E R
M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 1 I S S N : 0 1 6 3 - 8 9 8 X N O . 2 5 0
March/ April 2001 No. 250
Editor in chief:
Nita Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nita_ dean@ oclc. org
Editor:
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Art Production: Tammy Miller
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All photos taken by Rich Skopin unless
otherwise noted.
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service and research.
Correspondents:
Kathy Fryer
Amy Lytle
Collette Mak
Tony Melvyn
Susan Olson
George Ouyang
Lisa Plymale
Susan Walker
Jay Weitz
David Whitehair
C O N T E N T S
Membership News
OCLC Users Council addresses strategic directions, governance
and the library as community portal
OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa celebrates its 20th anniversary
OCLC statistics
Library of Congress and OCLC to collaborate on digital reference project
Two library systems to serve as test sites for OCLC development project
OCLC to expand institution symbols
OCLC, libraries and vendors implementing international standard for ILL
Tacoma Public Library enters 105 millionth ILL request
From pilot to production: OCLC Arabic Cataloging software
OCLC Arabic Cataloging participants
ASERL launches “ Kudzu” to link 13 research libraries
708 libraries in China to use Electronic Collections Online through CNPIEC
OCLC Canada hosts workshop at ASTED
Libraries convert from Wade- Giles to pinyin
GEM of a meeting at OCLC
OCLC Institute announces upcoming curriculum
OCLC partners with BioOne
Rick Bean promoted to director, OCLC User Support
Consortium of academic libraries of Catalonia becomes OCLC member
Top 12 titles most- requested through OCLC ILL
Top 12 monographs most- requested through OCLC ILL
Research
ALISE and OCLC announce grant awards
Group meets to refine metadata standards
E- Services
Why e- service?
E- services evolving to change business …
OCLC web site redesigned
Online course covers cataloging of Internet resources
Interview
Interview with Mary- Alice Lynch, RONDAC chair
Product News
Enhanced PAIS International database now available on FirstSearch
CSA adds full- text links to OCLC
News briefs and links
DDC summaries available
OCLC continues to enhance CORC service
Library Scene
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SHRINKING VAST
DISTANCES THROUGH
COOPERATION
F R O M J A Y J O R D A N
A s the office of OCLC Europe, the Middle
East & Africa in Birmingham, England,
observes its 20th anniversary in 2001,
congratulations and thanks are in order!
First, let me express my gratitude and
appreciation to the libraries and librarians
participating in the OCLC global cooperative
through OCLC Europe, the Middle East &
Africa. Through cooperation, you have
shrunk vast distances between continents and
linked libraries in a global digital network
that provides information to users when and
where they need it.
I would also like to congratulate the staff
of OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa
on providing 20 years of service to libraries.
Managing Director Janet Lees and her
dedicated team have seen the number of
participating libraries in the region grow
to over 2,000. Today, they provide a
comprehensive range of services to libraries
throughout Europe, the Middle East and
Africa. They are dedicated professionals
committed to the advancement of libraries
and librarianship.
The most recent example of their
commitment may be seen in the OCLC Arabic
Cataloging software, which was released in
February after being tested by libraries in
France, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates and the United States. Since
June 2000, OCLC staff in Dublin and in
Birmingham, England, worked closely with
Edutech Middle East to design and test this
new service and introduce it to the library
community. I am pleased to note that this
software was designed and implemented as
a global service with a regional focus in
the context of “ think globally, act locally.”
This new service benefits libraries around
the world.
The recent establishment of Pica B. V. in
the Netherlands by Pica Foundation and
OCLC will lead to even more opportunities
for collaboration in the future. This jointly
owned organization will complement the
activities of OCLC Europe, the Middle East
& Africa. As the two organizations become
an integrated European operation, the
realization of their synergies will benefit
libraries in the region and lead to increased
global cooperation.
OCLC and libraries have built a proud tradition
of library cooperation in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa since 1981 through the
Birmingham office. The future looks even
more exciting!
Jay Jordan
President and Chief Executive Officer
OCLC
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
4 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
OCLC Users Council delegates discussed
OCLC strategic directions and governance
recommendations on Feb. 11– 13 at OCLC in
Dublin, Ohio, during the second of three regularly
scheduled meetings for the 2000/ 2001 session.
Larry Alford, OCLC Users Council president
and deputy university librarian, Davis Library,
University of North Carolina– Chapel Hill,
presided at the meeting, with the theme,“ The
Library as Portal Today.”
Featured speaker Glen Holt, director, St. Louis
Public Library, spoke about libraries becoming
community portals on the web. Award- winning
mystery author Marcia Talley discussed the impact
of digital information on publishing.
Dr. Holt spoke about the public library as
tomorrow’s community portal in his presentation,
“ New Site Design Coming: Directions for
Constructing Library Portals.” He showed
examples of some of the best portals he has seen,
including business sites. “ The marketplace is
always ahead of us,” he said.
Dr. Holt said the St. Louis Public Library
recently conducted research using some business
models on library services valuation. From the
findings, the library will continue to improve
procedures, service and add value to the library—
and to the library portal.
“ We have to adopt new approaches in the
library’s role in the marketplace,” said Barbara
Gubbin, director, Houston Public Library and
member of the OCLC Board of Trustees, in
response to Glen Holt���s presentation. “ We have
to figure out ways to keep up as the horizon
continues to move further and further away.”
Ms. Talley, a librarian and former Users Council
delegate, recently completed her third novel,
Occasion for Revenge, to be released in August.
In her presentation,“ The Author and the Library
in the Electronic Age,” she described the
publishing world as “ unsettled.”
She said recent high- profile partnerships
announced between publishers and computer
companies are evidence of a future of electronic
books. Despite the emergence of electronic
books and other alternative forms of the novel,
she said,“ I really believe that if regular, old-fashioned
books were not around, someone
would have to invent them.”
Ms. Talley said mid- list authors like her might
be the most vulnerable in the current publishing
environment because publishers will always invest
in best- selling authors, and struggling authors
might find their best shot at getting published is in
a digital form. “ For a struggling author, the light at
the end of the tunnel may just turn out to be the
glow of a computer screen,” she said.
Mr. Alford, and Jerry Stephens, Users
Council vice president/ president- elect and
librarian and director, Mervyn H. Sterne Library,
University of Alabama– Birmingham, served as
moderators during discussion of proposals from
the OCLC Strategic Directions and Governance
Advisory Council.
In January 2000, the OCLC Board of Trustees
retained the consulting firm of Arthur D. Little to
conduct an independent study of OCLC’s
strategic directions and related issues of
governance, especially as OCLC functions more
and more in a global environment. The board also
appointed an advisory council of distinguished
librarians and other leaders in the information
professions and academe, chaired by Nancy
Eaton, OCLC Board of Trustees member and dean
of University Libraries, Penn State University, to
interact with the consultant and prepare
recommendations for the board to consider.
Ms. Eaton and William J. Crowe, chair, OCLC
Board of Trustees, and Spencer Librarian, Kenneth
Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas,
answered questions and added to the discussion
of governance. Following the discussion, council
authorized the formation of a committee to
examine more closely principles of OCLC
membership. Users Council is scheduled to
discuss further and possibly act on OCLC
governance issues during its May meeting.
In a related move, council passed a resolution
authorizing its Bylaws Committee to prepare
proposed amendments to the Council Bylaws to
incorporate amendments to the OCLC Articles of
Incorporation and Code of Regulations if the
amendments are ratified by council.
In other matters, OCLC staff members met
with delegates and discussed OCLC’s three- year
strategy in extending the cooperative.
Gary Houk, vice president, OCLC Metadata and
Content Management Services, discussed plans to
help libraries create and maintain access to all
information formats.
“ Within three years, services provided under
OCLC’s Metadata program will transform OCLC’s
OCLC Users Council addresses strategic directions,
governance and the library as community portal
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 5
traditional cataloging service to a comprehensive
metadata creation and management service for
librarians, library
users and information partners,” said
Mr. Houk. “ Expanding the contributors and users
of the Metadata program will drive
the growth of WorldCat and support OCLC’s
content management, discovery and
fulfillment programs.”
Delegates heard an update of OCLC
Discovery and Fulfillment Services from
its division director, Chip Nilges. Pat Stevens,
director, Product Planning and Strategy,
provided demonstrations on extending the OCLC
cooperative < http:// www. oclc. org/ strategy/>.
Jay Jordan, OCLC president and chief
executive officer, presented an update on new
releases of a number of existing OCLC services,
and other work recently completed.
“ We have already started work on extending
WorldCat,” said Mr. Jordan. “ The Peninsula Library
System in California and the North Suburban
Library System in Illinois have agreed to serve as
test sites for enhancements to WorldCat. The
planned enhancements include new content,
interface features and database functionality.
They represent the first phase of our three- year
strategy for evolving WorldCat from a database of
library materials and holdings into a global
information exchange connecting libraries,
librarians and library users.”
“ Even though this is a time of great
technological change and upheaval, we are
committed to the public purpose of furthering
access to the world’s information and reducing
library costs,” said Mr. Jordan. “ We are starting to
turn our plans into real products and services that
will help libraries grapple with the challenges of
the web and seize its opportunities.”
Rick Schwieterman, vice president, OCLC
Finance and Human Resources, reported on
OCLC’s finances.
Delegates broke into small groups for
discussions, first in interest groups, then in type-of-
library groups. Discussion leaders then met
with Bob Seal, member of the Users Council
Executive Committee, and university librarian,
Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian
University. Mr. Seal summarized the group
discussions for the full council.
“ In general, discussion leaders said they really
think OCLC is headed in the right direction,��� said
Mr. Seal. He said group leaders like the idea of
extending the WorldCat collaborative model.
But, he said, leaders were aware that there
are still “ many unknowns.” “ The group leaders
described the concept as ‘ partly cloudy, but skies
are clearing.’”
Mr. Seal listed several recommendations from
group leaders for OCLC to consider in extending
the cooperative. For example, the group leaders
recommended that an extended WorldCat should
be easily customizable; user friendly; flexible and
integrated with local systems; include “ smart
holdings” ( supplier or non- supplier, own or
access); include reviews; exhaust local resources
first; and remember users ( recognize previous
activity online).
During the Members’ Forum portion of the
meeting, facilitated by George Needham, vice
president, OCLC Member Services, interest group
leaders reported discussion topics to council.
“ We have had great discussions and summaries
from our small groups,” said Mr. Alford. “ I think
our small- group discussions are becoming the
engine driving change in OCLC Users Council.”
Minutes from the February 2001 meeting are
available on the OCLC Users Council web site
< http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ uc/>. The next
regularly scheduled Users Council meeting is
May 20– 22, 2001.
The Users Council supports OCLC’s mission by
serving as a key discussion forum and
communications link between member libraries,
regional networks and other partners, and OCLC
management. By providing a channel for
recommendations and questions from Users
Council delegates, approving changes in the Code
of Regulations, and electing six members of the
Board of Trustees, Users Council helps shape the
future direction of OCLC.
• • •
OCLC Statistics
( as of March 1, 2001)
Current statistics are at
< http:// www. oclc. org/ news/
product/ statistics. shtm>.
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
6 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by Kathy Fryer
In 1967, Frederick G. Kilgour, a well- respected,
innovative and globally minded academic, started
to develop a computerized system in which the
libraries of 54 Ohio academic institutions could
share resources and reduce costs. Even then,
OCLC’s founder and first president
dreamed of it growing into a global
network with member libraries from
around the world.
First Steps
Mr. Kilgour traveled widely, visiting
libraries, and concluded that because
of the common language and similar
library traditions and culture, he
should begin turning his dream into
reality by opening a branch office of
OCLC in Europe. The OCLC office in
the United Kingdom was opened in
January 1981 in Birmingham under
the direction of David Buckle and
two other staff members.
First European Libraries
In 1982, OCLC began to offer
services to the first European
member libraries: VTT Information
Services, Finland; and the University
of Essex and the University of
Newcastle in the UK, which
continue to use OCLC services. The
number of libraries served by the
European office has expanded to
more than 2,000. A number of
national consortia and companies
authorized to
distribute OCLC
products and
services partner
with the
Birmingham
office, including:
Akateeminen
Kirjakauppa;
AUROC; DOC &
Co.; BTJ; Danish
Library Center;
DOC 6, SA;
Edutech Middle
East; Franklins;
IFNET srl; SABINET; CHEST; ITS and ILIAC.
Continued Expansion
OCLC’s European library membership grew
through the 1980s, primarily in the United
Kingdom and France. The foundation service of
current cataloging was extended to include a
range of retrospective conversion services as
libraries moved to install local library systems and
develop OPACs for their users. OCLC also added
a centralized interlibrary loan service to its
product range.
As the development of national library
networks, leading to Internet access, accelerated
through the early 1990s, OCLC entered a period
of rapid expansion, serving libraries in an ever-increasing
number of countries and adding
reference services, first on CD- ROM and later
online. In 1996 Mr. Buckle was succeeded by
Janet Mitchell Lees, as managing director. Her goal
of extending the number of countries and services
OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa
celebrates its 20th anniversary
Participating
libraries
39,517
New member libraries
( Jan. 1– Feb. 28, 2001)
37
Total interlibrary
loan requests
106,292,790
At the 20th anniversary celebration, ( left to
right) Kathy Fryer, manager, Marketing
Communications, OCLC Europe, the Middle
East & Africa; Christine Deschamps,
president of the International Federation of
Library Associations and Institutions and
member of the OCLC Board of Trustees;
Phyllis Spies, vice president; OCLC
Worldwide Library Services; David Buckle,
OCLC Europe’s first director; and Janet
Lees, managing director, OCLC Europe, the
Middle East & Africa, gather to observe the
festivities.
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 7
Highest OCLC
record number
46,365,479
Location listings
( holdings)
789,679,133
FirstSearch libraries
18,405
OCLC offered libraries took the Birmingham-based
staff to Eastern Europe, South Africa and
the Middle East, and in March 1999 the office
name was changed to reflect the expanded scope.
Helping Libraries Adapt to Rapid
Technological Change
OCLC and libraries have faced rapid technological
change in the past 20 years and will continue to
do so in the future. For example, in 1981 OCLC
laid a private dedicated telecommunications
network using proprietary protocols, then
migrated through X. 25 to TCP/ IP. The first
European libraries were equipped with Beehive
terminals, later with modified PCs, and finally
with off- the- shelf machines that can access OCLC
services from within the library and outside it.
And we’ve gone from dumb terminals to DOS to
Microsoft 2000 to support Arabic and other non-roman
character sets.
The Internet Helps Realize the Dream
In December 1994, during its first two months
of availability, the OCLC World Wide Web
server had 40,657 text files accessed from
some 6,520 sites around the globe. The fact
that 20 percent of those sites were in Europe
and Asia was very significant. OCLC was
realizing Fred Kilgour’s dream.
Continuing the Dream into the Future
“ OCLC’s vision is to be the leading global library
cooperative, helping libraries serve people by
creating economical access to knowledge through
information and cooperation,” said Ms. Lees.
“ OCLC will achieve this through partnership with
other organizations to help libraries move into an
increasingly digital age. It is an exciting time for
libraries, particularly for the region served by this
office. The recent investment in Pica B. V. and the
forthcoming integration of OCLC and PICA B. V.
will create a strong regional library organization
that will add value for OCLC members globally, as
well as enhance services for European libraries.”
In Celebration of 20 Successful Years
To celebrate its success within the library
communities it serves, the OCLC Europe, Middle
East & Africa office will host an anniversary
seminar on April 23 at the British Library, St.
Pancras, jointly sponsored by the British Library,
National Preservation Office and the OCLC
Institute, titled,“ Issues in Digital Librarianship—
Accessing the Future.”— Kathy Fryer is manager,
Marketing Communications, OCLC Europe, the
Middle East & Africa, and the remaining founding
member of the office.
• • •
OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa staff take a moment to mark the occasion.
photos provided by OCLC Europe
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
8 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
The Library of Congress and OCLC have signed a
cooperative agreement to develop a prototype for
a new reference service based on the
Collaborative Digital Reference Service ( CDRS)
pilot, begun in early 2000 by the Library of
Congress and 16 participating libraries. Now in
its third phase, the pilot project has expanded
to include more than 60 libraries and other
institutions internationally.
The goal of CDRS is to provide professional
reference service to researchers anytime
anywhere, through an international, digital
network of libraries and related institutions. The
24/ 7 service will deliver the direct benefits of
quality reference service to a broad spectrum of
users: a reliable and authoritative knowledge
navigation service, a large searchable archive of
authoritative answers, and increased visibility and
support for libraries everywhere. The service will
use new technologies to provide the best answers
in the best context by using Internet resources, as
well as other resources held by libraries. CDRS
supports libraries by providing additional choices
for the services they offer their end users.
Libraries will assist their users by connecting to
the CDRS to send questions that are best
answered by the expert staff and collections of
CDRS institutions from around the world.
According to the agreement, OCLC will
provide technical and development support to
the CDRS pilot by:
• Building and maintaining a database of profiles
of participating institutions that will provide
answers through CDRS
• Building and maintaining a question- and-answer
database system that will enable CDRS
participants to catalog answers and store them
in a searchable/ browsable database
• Providing administrative support for CDRS,
including marketing, registration, training and
user support
Together, the Library of Congress and OCLC
expect to develop a viable model for a self-sustaining
digital reference service and promote
CDRS in the library community.
OCLC and the Library of Congress co- sponsored
a symposium on “ Building the Virtual Reference
Desk in a 24/ 7 World” at the Library of Congress on
Jan. 12 that was attended by more than 600
librarians. Speakers at the symposium described
their experiences with virtual reference services in
academic and public libraries in the United States.
Library of Congress and OCLC
to collaborate on digital reference project
Jay Jordan, OCLC president and CEO, addresses attendees at a reception held
in the Great Hall at the Library of Congress.
Fred Kilgour, OCLC’s founder and first president, is welcomed
to the podium by Mr. Jordan.
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 9
Chip Nilges, director of New Product Planning
at OCLC, informed the audience that OCLC was
exploring several possible roles in the cooperative
reference services environment that could include
supporting emerging networks, delivering a low-cost
alternative for local use and supporting
cooperative efforts to deliver reference services
through the Internet. In his concluding remarks,
Frank Hermes, vice president for Planning and
Marketing at OCLC, said that “ cooperative
reference services are central to the OCLC strategy
and to the future of libraries and librarianship.”
Diane Nester Kresh, director for Public Service
Collections at the Library of Congress, provided an
overview of the Collaborative Digital Reference
Service during the symposium. “ By linking
libraries for reference services,” Ms. Kresh
said,“ the CDRS would combine the
power of local collections and staff
strengths with the diversity and
availability of libraries and librarians
everywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. There would always be a librarian
available to provide to users located
anywhere the interchange and
experience of trained assistance in
providing access to collections and
resources both analog and digital.”
A videotape ( OCLC # 45969569) of
the program is available from the OCLC
Information Center ( OCC) through the
OCLC Interlibrary Loan service. The
program may also be accessed online
through the Library of Congress web
site < http:// www. loc. gov/ rr/ digiref/
webcasts/>. RealPlayer version 7.0 or
higher is required. RealPlayer Basic is
available free of charge from the Real. com
web site.
The Library of Congress, with more than
120 million items, is the largest in the world.
Its collections are in all formats on which
information is recorded— books, manuscripts,
films, audio tape, maps, prints, photographs,
musical scores and digital disk. Its web site
< http:// www. loc. gov/> is one of the most
popular in the federal government, handling more
than 115 million hits per month. The library’s
newest web site, America’s Library < http://
www. americaslibrary. gov/> has recently been
named by USA Today as one of the “ hot sites” of
2000.
• • •
The “ Building the Virtual Reference Desk in a 24/ 7 World” symposium at the Library of Congress drew a
standing- room- only crowd on Jan. 12. A videotape ( OCLC # 45969569) of the program is available from
the OCLC Information Center ( OCC) through the OCLC Interlibrary Loan service. The program may also be
accessed online through the Library of Congress web site < http:// www. loc. gov/ rr/ digiref/ webcasts/>.
Winston Tabb, associate librarian for library services, Library of
Congress, welcomes guests to the reception.
Fred Kilgour speaks at the reception.
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
10 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
The Peninsula Library System in California and
the North Suburban Library System in Illinois
have agreed to serve as test sites for
enhancements to the WorldCat database, a shared
catalog of more than 46 million books and other
materials held by more than 8,000 libraries
worldwide. The planned enhancements��
including new content, interface features and
database functionality— represent the first phase
of OCLC’s three- year strategy for evolving
WorldCat from a database of library materials and
holdings into a global information exchange
connecting libraries, librarians and library users.
The library systems participating in the pilot
will provide input on the direction, features and
usability of new database and interface
capabilities that represent phase one of the
WorldCat project.
“ The North Suburban Library System is
interested in helping its members explore the
latest technologies and in encouraging vendors to
bring library catalogs into the 21st century,” said
Sarah Ann Long, system director, NSLS. “ This
project offers new and exciting opportunities to
those of our members who are participating.”
“ We believe this is a unique opportunity to
create a brand new library service for users in our
community,” said Gail McPartland, assistant
director for technology, PLS. “ We’re excited to be
working with OCLC in developing this innovative
service and believe that our work will change the
face of library services for years to come.”
Over the past 30 years, libraries have used
OCLC shared cataloging to create WorldCat,
which today is the world’s foremost bibliographic
database. In the next three years as part of its
global strategy, OCLC, with the help of libraries,
will extend this cooperative framework to include
new participants, new types of content, and
automated tools to capture, organize and deliver
metadata. Each participating institution will use
and share metadata that includes descriptions,
holdings, reviews and previews as well as links to
content.
“ WorldCat epitomizes the value of library
collaboration,” said Chip Nilges, director, New
Product Planning, OCLC Discovery and
Fulfillment. “ By working together, libraries,
through WorldCat, are able to dramatically
reduce the cost of cataloging their collections
and offer their users access to resources that no
single library could possess. The pilot project
will build on library collaboration, demonstrating
how WorldCat content can be expanded and how
WorldCat can become a much more sophisticated
discovery tool for librarians and library users.”
OCLC’s global strategy,“ Extending the OCLC
Cooperative— a three- year strategy,” calls for the
evolution of WorldCat into a globally networked
information resource providing public access to
the content and expertise of the world’s libraries,
museums, archives and other repositories of
scientific, literary and educational information.
More information on the global strategy is
available from the OCLC web site
< http:// www. oclc. org/ strategy/>.
As development progresses, additional content
will be linked to bibliographic records in
WorldCat. Planned content includes more than
10 million article records from ArticleFirst and
Electronic Collections Online, tables of contents
from books and serials, book reviews, book and
Two library systems to serve as test sites
for OCLC development project
http:// www. pls. lib. ca. us/ pls/
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 11
serial cover art, and links to full text licensed
through FirstSearch.
Institutions participating in the project will
access the new WorldCat features through either
the OCLC WebExpress service or OCLC
FirstSearch service interface. As the project
progresses additional service options may be
added, including integration of Z39.50- accessible
resources under a single interface; scoping
capabilities to limit searches by library group;
collaborative recommendations that will present
“ recommended items” based on input from users
(“ frequently requested items,” etc.); and
fulfillment options that allow the user to link to
full- text or web resources, view library OPAC
holdings, initiate interlibrary loan requests or
purchase items from an online media vendor.
The Peninsula Library System is a consortium
of 32 city, county and community college libraries
in San Mateo County, California.
The North Suburban Library System is a
consortium of over 650 academic, public, school
and special libraries in north suburban Cook,
Kane, Lake and McHenry counties in Illinois.
WorldCat, available to libraries online since
1971, is a merged, electronic catalog of the
bibliographic and holding information of OCLC
member libraries. The more than 45 million
records in WorldCat represent more than 750
million items held in libraries around the world.
• • •
by Susan Walker
More than 38,000 OCLC
institution symbols have
been assigned for use
across the OCLC systems.
Since all possible
combinations of three-character
symbols will
soon be exhausted, OCLC
will expand its institution
symbols to five characters. Libraries will be
notified of the date of this expansion via logon
Messages- of- the- Day, a Bits and Pieces article,
OCLC System News and the OCLC Newsletter.
There will be no change to the symbols that
have already been assigned to libraries. Once
changes are installed for symbol expansion, any
new symbols assigned will be five characters.
No new three- character symbols will be
assigned following installation of these changes.
The four- character holding library code,
which is used in field 049, is currently a unique
code. Following symbol expansion, the
holding library code will no longer be unique.
In 1999, OCLC implemented field 994 to
preserve the unique relations between the
holding library code and the institution symbol
after symbol expansion. Technical Bulletin 232
< http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ tb/ tb232/ tb232.
htm> contains additional information about
field 994.— Susan Walker is product support
specialist, OCLC Metadata Services Division.
• • •
OCLC to expand institution symbols
http:// www. nslsilus. org
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
12 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by Collette Mak
ISO ILL 10160/ 10161 is the
international standard for
interlibrary loan— the
technical definition of a
series of messages used to
communicate some aspects
of ILL requests between
systems. ISO ILL messaging
replicates the old ( pre-
OCLC), paper- based workforms and workflow.
The borrower ( requestor in ISO ILL terms) sends
a request to the lender ( responder). The
responder sends a reply that the material is on its
way or says no. Because the workflow is familiar,
most of the ISO ILL messages— called Application
Protocol Data Units ( APDUs)— are also familiar,
such as “ renewal request” or “ conditional.”
However, since this is automated messaging
between systems, there are other APDUs that are
new to ILL such as “ status or error report.” The
primary difference between OCLC ILL’s central
system method and the “ peer- to- peer” method
used by other ISO ILL systems is that OCLC ILL
users share a single copy of the request. Just as
with the old paper forms, with ISO ILL, the
borrower and lender each receive a copy.
Standards typically define what to do but not
how to do it. The ISO ILL standard dates back to a
time when telecommunications were very
expensive and, as a result, offers many options but
requires very little. For systems to truly
interoperate, there needs to be agreement on
how the standard should be implemented.
Fortunately ISO ILL has an active implementers
group called the ILL Protocol Implementers
Group ( IPIG). This group, chaired by Mary
Jackson, is composed of technical representatives
from various systems and vendors. IPIG meets
three times a year, at least once outside of the
United States, and maintains a lively listserv. As
with most library- related standards, such as
Z39.50, there is no single “ right” way to
implement ISO ILL. Because there are many
correct ways to implement ISO ILL, every system
is required to make a Protocol Implementation
Compliance Statement ( PICS) available. The PICS
is a technical document that details each system’s
implementation. OCLC’s PICS is available at:
< http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ vendor/ automation/
index. htm# ILL>. The work of the IPIG is critical
because even though the ISO ILL standard itself is
not new, we have just recently tried to use the
standard on a truly global scale. OCLC is both an
active and a charter member of the IPIG.
OCLC’s ILL system became ISO ILL compliant
in April 1999 and supports the full range of
required messages. To help vendors prepare for
ISO ILL- based communication with us, we
established an ISO ILL test bed that was made
available to vendors in March 1999.
OCLC thoroughly tests each version of the ISO
ILL system both for technical interoperability and
for smooth workflows. Libraries that purchase an
ISO ILL system that has completed testing with us
will need to go through a second short test to
ensure that both OCLC and the institution have
the right connection information and are able to
exchange messages. OCLC’s web site will soon
have a new section devoted to ISO ILL and will
include which systems we are testing with, which
version and where they are in the testing. This is
important because as long as systems continue to
grow and change, testing can never be considered
done. The vendor community needs to be
committed to continual testing to ensure ongoing
interoperability.
As with many technical standards, it is often
difficult to know what any standards- based system
will provide and what features may be offered by
different vendors. While the ISO ILL protocol can
support interaction between systems, the protocol
itself does not manage everything that ILL staff do.
For example, electronic payment systems such as
OCLC ILL Fee Management ( IFM) are system-specific
and are available only to OCLC member
libraries. Other ILL functions such as searching
bibliographic databases, book straps, cutting
checks and tracking copyright and end- user
request forms are not addressed by the protocol.
Those functions may or may not be included in an
ISO ILL- compliant system, but they are not part of
the standard itself. ISO ILL can, however, allow all
of a library’s requests to be maintained in a single
database so that the system can provide those
features through its own application.
Libraries that use several ILL systems such as
both OCLC ILL and DOCLINE, and libraries that
prefer a different staff interface may want an ISO
ILL- compliant system to manage all their requests
through a single interface. If a library uses one
OCLC works with libraries and vendors
to implement international standard for ILL
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 13
ILL system, such as OCLC ILL or DOCLINE, and is
satisfied with that system, then the ISO ILL
protocol itself may not benefit the library. If a
library uses multiple systems or prefers to use a
different interface than the one supplied by its
favorite system, then the ISO ILL protocol may be
very important.
As we experienced with Z39.50, the next few
years are likely to bring changes to both the
standard and to the focus of the implementers
group. Vendors and utilities, with help from the
library community, will improve the standard and
smooth the inevitable initial bumps in
interoperability. OCLC is committed to support of
standards and to ongoing testing both in support
of our member libraries that wish to use an ISO
ILL system and in support of the members who
prefer to use OCLC ILL without ISO. Because, as
Bill Potter, director of Libraries, University of
Georgia, said,“ We owe it to our users to meet this
demand, and to meet it graciously and with
devices that emphasize our willingness to
serve.”— Collette Mak is section manager, OCLC
Resource Sharing Product Management.
• • •
Tacoma Public Library, in Tacoma, Washington,
entered the 105 millionth request on the OCLC
Interlibrary Loan ( ILL) service Jan. 17.
The request was for the book, The New
Museum Registration Methods, by Rebecca A.
Buck and Jean Allman Gilmore. The University of
Central Oklahoma in Edmond ( OCLC symbol:
OKX) filled the request.
“ When I noticed the number on the request I
was really impressed,” said Caren Gorman, library
associate at the Tacoma Public Library ( TAW),
who entered the milestone request. “ The news
was passed on at the library through our monthly
report, and other libraries that borrow from us or
lend us materials have contacted us with
congratulations. That’s been especially gratifying.”
Ms. Gorman shares interlibrary loan duties
with other staff members who also work at the
library’s popular Quick Information office.
“ I enjoy working on questions in Quick
Information, and working with OCLC on
interlibrary loan is fun,” said Ms. Gorman. “ It
makes for very interesting and pleasant days.”
In addition to Ms. Gorman, the Tacoma Public
Library’s interlibrary loan tasks are shared by Ruth
Keller, Candace Hanes, Judy Wilkins, Susan
Ginoza, Marie Vachon and Georgia Conway.
Robin Clausen is the department supervisor.
The mission of the Tacoma Public Library is “ to
provide the highest quality library services to
fulfill the informational, educational, recreational
and cultural needs of the citizens in the dynamic
and changing community of Tacoma’”
Tacoma’s 90,000- square- foot downtown main
library, renovated and enlarged in 1991, includes
the first Carnegie library built in the state
( opening in 1903). Nine branch libraries— eight
of which were renovated and enlarged through a
$ 15.8 million library construction bond passed in
1984— are scattered throughout the city’s thriving
neighborhoods and include two large regional
branch libraries.
Over 1.2 million people visited the Tacoma
Public Library in 2000 ( the most recent year for
which statistics are available). The library has a
collection of 1.22 million items ( not including
government documents); and in 2000 had a
circulation of 1.9 million items. Library staff
answered 404,988 reference question ( 87,500
through the Quick Information service).
The 104 millionth request on the OCLC
Interlibrary Loan system was produced Nov. 20
by Eastern Washington University located in
Cheney, Washington.
• • •
Tacoma Public Library enters 105 millionth ILL request
The Tacoma Public Library entered the 105 millionth OCLC
Interlibrary Loan service request on Jan. 17. TPL staff include:
( left to right, seated) Ruth Keller, Robin Clausen ( departmental
supervisor), ( standing) Candace Hanes, Judy Wilkins, Caren
Gorman and Susan Ginoza. Not pictured: Marie Vachon and
Georgia Conway.
photo provided by Tacoma Public Library
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
14 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by David Whitehair
On Feb. 12, OCLC released
the production version of
the OCLC Arabic Cataloging
software, bringing the
OCLC Arabic Cataloging
Pilot to closure. The
production software is now
available to all OCLC
Cataloging service members
via electronic download from the OCLC web site.
Visit the Arabic home page at < http:// www. oclc.
org/ oclc/ arabic/> to download the software and
for more information.
In July 2000, OCLC initiated the OCLC Arabic
Cataloging Pilot. With assistance from OCLC staff
in Birmingham, England, and staff at Edutech
Middle East, an OCLC service partner, six libraries
were selected in the Arabian Gulf to be charter
members in the pilot study. In the Gulf region,
limiting the pilot to this group of libraries allowed
us to work more closely with them to be sure that
this new software meets the needs of libraries
throughout the Middle East. This group included
libraries that were new to OCLC services and
libraries with experience using OCLC to catalog
English language materials.
In other parts of the world, the pilot was open
to all current OCLC Cataloging members. One
library in France and several libraries in the
United States joined the pilot and provided input.
Pilot participants tested the Windows- based
software functionality, including searching for
bibliographic records using both Arabic and
roman indexes, editing records, setting holdings
on records, and exporting records to their local
systems. Participants added new bibliographic
records to WorldCat ( the OCLC Online Union
Catalog) that were not already in the database.
In addition, they enhanced existing records
that previously included only the romanized
data to add Arabic script, thus making these
records more complete and available to other
pilot participants.
As of January, there were 245,636
bibliographic records in WorldCat for materials
in Arabic language, and 20,219 of the records
included Arabic script. The remainder of the
records include the romanized data only.
Currently, the number of records in WorldCat
that include Arabic script is low. However, this
number will grow as new records from the
Library of Congress are loaded and as OCLC
Arabic users add new records and enhance
existing records. As the database grows, libraries
will begin to find that others have already created
some of the records that they need. This will
allow them to do more and more copy cataloging
and less and less original cataloging. In the 15
years since OCLC implemented support for
Chinese, Japanese and Korean script, OCLC CJK
software users have built a database of over 1.6
million records.
The software includes a transliteration tool,
which helps with the process of adding Arabic
script data to the many roman records. If a
romanized record is found, roman fields can be
selected in the record, and the software will
automatically transliterate the roman data to add
the Arabic script. Of course no machine can do
this perfectly, so users should review the Arabic
script data, edit if necessary and then replace the
record in WorldCat to make the new Arabic script
data available to other users.
With OCLC Arabic Cataloging software, OCLC
has taken steps to provide a worldwide solution
for cataloging Arabic language materials. The
software supports such options as displaying
records as right align or left align, displaying
records with both Arabic and romanized data or
suppressing the romanized data, and selecting the
primary sort to be based on Arabic data or
romanized data. For moving records from OCLC
to the library local system, the software provides
MARC 21 format records. Options include
exporting both Arabic and romanized data in
records or including only the Arabic data. And,
the software allows the creation of records with
only Arabic data; inclusion of the romanized data
is optional.
Although OCLC’s Arabic solution has moved
from the pilot stage to production, we are not
done. We look forward to receiving more input
from users of the software and incorporating
additional enhancements.— David Whitehair is
consulting product support specialist and
product manager for OCLC Arabic, OCLC
Metadata Services.
• • •
From pilot to production:
OCLC Arabic Cataloging software
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 15
From July 2000 through February 2001, OCLC
conducted a pilot study of the OCLC Arabic
Cataloging software.
“ The input provided by these institutions
during the testing phase was very valuable,” said
David Whitehair, consulting product support
specialist and product manager for OCLC
Arabic, OCLC Metadata Services. “ OCLC is most
grateful for their comments and suggestions.”
• Bibliothe` que des Langues Orientales
Paris, France
OCLC Symbol: FLD
• Dubai Municipality/ Public Libraries
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
OCLC Symbol: DPB
• Emory University Woodruff Library
Atlanta, Georgia
OCLC Symbol: EMU
• Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
OCLC Symbol: IUL
• King Faisal University
Hofuf, Saudi Arabia
OCLC Symbol: K8F
• Kuwait University
Kuwait
OCLC Symbol: H@@
• Niles Public Library District
Niles, Illinois
OCLC Symbol: JED
• OCLC TechPro service staff
Dublin, Ohio
• Ohio State University Libraries
Columbus, Ohio
OCLC Symbol: OSU
• Queens Borough Public Library
Jamaica, New York
OCLC Symbol: ZQP
• Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary
Wake Forest, North Carolina
OCLC Symbol: NVS
• Sultan Qaboos University
Muscat, Oman
OCLC Symbol: AUQ
• SUNY at Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
OCLC Symbol: BNG
• United Arab Emirates University
Al- Ain, United Arab Emirates
OCLC Symbol: UAE
• University of Arizona Library
Tucson, Arizona
OCLC Symbol: AZU
• University of Utah Marriott Library
Salt Lake City, Utah
OCLC Symbol: UUM
• University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
OCLC Symbol: WAU
• University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
School of Library and Information Science
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
OCLC Symbol: GZJ
• Zayed University
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
OCLC Symbol: ZAQ
• • •
Arabic script record displayed with both Arabic and romanized data with the Right Align option. This record
was added to WorldCat by Ohio State University during the OCLC Arabic Cataloging Pilot.
OCLC Arabic Cataloging participants
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
16 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
The Association of Southeastern Research
Libraries ( ASERL) has launched “ Kudzu,” a system
of linked online catalogs at 13 research libraries
across the Southeast, connecting more than
180,000 students and faculty to more than 23
million volumes. Built on OCLC’s SiteSearch
software, the system allows users to browse the
participating catalogs using a single search
interface and to submit interlibrary loan requests
directly to the source library. Using existing
systems at each participating site, most
documents can be delivered within two days.
Visitors can preview the system on the web
< http:// www. aserl. org/>.
“ We are thrilled to see this vision become a
reality,” said Paul Gherman, board president,
ASERL, and university librarian, Vanderbilt
University. “ This is one of the largest shared
catalog systems in the region, and something for
which we are truly proud.” Additional ASERL
member libraries are expected to join the system
in the future.
The initial system utilizes OCLC’s SiteSearch
suite, running on a server based at Vanderbilt’s
Heard Library; related systems and services are
being considered for future phases of the system.
Marshall Breeding, chief technology officer for
Vanderbilt’s library system, is leading the
technical development. John Burger, ASERL
project manager at SOLINET, is coordinating
project logistics.
The participating institutions in this phase of
the Kudzu project are Wake Forest University,
North Carolina; Tulane University, Louisiana;
University of South Carolina; Clemson University,
South Carolina; Auburn University, Alabama;
University of Mississippi; Virginia Commonwealth
University; Mississippi State University; University
of Kentucky; University of Tennessee– Knoxville;
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee; University of
Alabama at Birmingham; and University of
Louisville, Kentucky.
ASERL, founded in 1956, is the largest regional
academic library cooperative in the country, with
35 research libraries and seven state libraries.
ASERL was a founding member of SOLINET and
established SOLINET’s licensing program.
The OCLC SiteSearch software suite provides a
comprehensive solution for managing distributed
library information resources in a World Wide Web
environment. The software offers a toolkit that
lets libraries integrate their electronic resources
under one web interface, provide flexible access
to those resources, and build unique local
databases. More information on SiteSearch
software is at < http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ menu/
site. htm>.
• • •
ASERL launches “ Kudzu” to link 13 research libraries
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 17
by George Ouyang
China National Publications
Import and Export
Corporation ( CNPIEC) is
providing 708 institutions of
education and research with
access to OCLC FirstSearch
Electronic Collections
Online. CNPIEC, the largest
book trading company in
China, will make 770 journals available through
the Electronic Collections Online Print Subscriber
Program ( PSP), in which 30 publishers are making
1,500 journals available at no additional
subscription cost if the library subscribes to the
print journals.
“ CNPIEC and OCLC have started a good
cooperation in providing the print subscribers
with full- text access over the Internet,” said Yuan
Shuixian, vice general director, CNPIEC. “ This
service will no doubt give the Chinese users fast
and easy access to what they want to search, read
and study.”
“ This is a significant alliance between OCLC and
CNPIEC in providing information services to
Chinese libraries,” said Andrew H. Wang, executive
director of OCLC Asia Pacific. “ China values
education and libraries highly, and OCLC is pleased
to be part of this Chinese cultural heritage.”
“ We are pleased to be associated with OCLC to
enhance our services to our patrons,” said Lin
Jiahong, manager, Order Division, CNPIEC
Periodical Department. “ This is merely an initial
step in providing a new e- service to our patrons
through OCLC. If successful, we hope to expand
this service to more of our patrons and beyond PSP
journal titles. We are looking forward to wider
cooperation with OCLC to better serve information
users throughout China in years ahead.”
CNPIEC is a state- owned enterprise under the
administration of the Central Enterprise Working
Committee of China. For 50 years, CNPIEC has
engaged in information collecting and processing
among other operations. It is a leader in the
information industry in China, having established
36 branch offices around the world and having an
enormous clientele composed of thousands of
scientific research institutes, universities, colleges,
enterprises and government agencies in China.
The Periodical Department of CNPIEC imports
more than 30,000 titles of journals and
newspapers from publishers all over the world.
Its share of the China market of imported
periodicals is over 90 percent.
OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections
Online provides online more than 3,100 journal
titles in a wide variety of subjects from 55
publishers. It allows users to search across the
whole collection of journals through a single web
interface at a single access point. In addition,
Electronic Collections Online provides a
permanent online archive for the journal volumes
in a library’s collection.— George Ouyang is
library services executive, OCLC Asia Pacific.
• • •
708 libraries in China to use
Electronic Collections Online through CNPIEC
photo provided by CNPIEC
OCLC Canada hosts workshop at ASTED
OCLC Canada participated in the 27th Congre` s de l’ASTED, held
last November in Montreal, Canada, and hosted a workshop on the
OCLC Cooperative Online Resource Catalog ( CORC). Manon
Barbeau ( left), training and implementation specialist, and Daniel
Boivin, director, OCLC Canada, attended.
photo provided by OCLC Canada
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
18 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by Jay Weitz
For the romanization of
Chinese, most North
American libraries have been
using the Wade- Giles system,
especially since its adoption
by the Library of Congress
( LC) in 1957. Wade- Giles has
numerous limitations in
terms of structure,
standardization and accuracy. The pinyin
romanization system, adopted by the People’s
Republic of China in 1958, has in the meantime
become the standard for the rest of the world,
including recognition by the International Standards
Organization ( ISO) and the United Nations.
Conversion from the Wade- Giles system to
pinyin was first proposed by the Library of
Congress in 1980 to coincide with its introduction
of computerized cataloging of Chinese material.
The East Asian library community did not support
the change at that time. Since then, however,
most librarians have come to realize that
conversion to pinyin will be necessary if North
American libraries are to provide adequate service
to their users. A 1997 survey conducted by the
Council on East Asian Libraries found strong
support for conversion to pinyin.
North American library users are familiar with
the pinyin romanization of Chinese names and
places. Providing access to Chinese language
materials through pinyin will make it easier for
users throughout the world to locate materials
and will facilitate the exchange of data with
libraries internationally. The Library of Congress
has been discussing its plans to convert to pinyin
romanization widely with the American Library
Association, OCLC, the Research Libraries Group
( RLG), the Council on East Asian Libraries and the
National Library of Australia, which converted
more than 500,000 Chinese records to pinyin
during the 1990s.
Conversion of Authority and
Bibliographic Records
Oct. 1, 2000 was declared “ Pinyin Day One,” at
which time all LC Chinese current cataloging
began to reflect pinyin romanization. On the
same day, catalogers in the United States began to
use pinyin romanization for all Chinese language
cataloging.
LC, RLG and OCLC consulted regularly,
especially since June 1999, in the planning,
coding, testing and implementation of the
conversion project. OCLC converted 156,000
records in the LC Authority File, mostly during
September 2000. OCLC had worked closely with
LC and RLG to identify authority records that
represent headings used in Chinese bibliographic
records. Converted authority records are marked
with appropriate codes in the 008/ 07
( Romanization Scheme) fixed field. Specifications
for the field may be found on the LC web site
< http:// lcweb. loc. gov/ catdir/ pinyin/ authorities.
html>. In the meantime, RLG converted roughly
170,000 LC Chinese language bibliographic
records during late 2000 and early 2001.
OCLC began conversion of the WorldCat
bibliographic file in February 2001, starting with
the Chinese language CONSER serial records,
estimated to number about 7,000. When that was
complete, OCLC continued with the bibliographic
conversion, working backwards from the most
recent records. This conversion process is
expected to be completed by mid- year.
OCLC is converting Chinese language records
in all bibliographic formats. Conversion of these
records is based on the specifications developed
by the Library of Congress for use in the
conversion of LC bibliographic data. With the
cooperation of the Library of Congress and the
Research Libraries Group, OCLC has also
developed means of identifying records not
coded as Chinese but containing Wade- Giles data.
Converted bibliographic records are marked with
a locally defined MARC 987 field ( Local
Romanization/ Conversion History) to eliminate
the risk of double conversion. Specifications for
the 987 field may be found on the LC web site
< http:// lcweb. loc. gov/ marc/ pinyin. html>.
Libraries convert from Wade- Giles to pinyin
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 19
Conversion of Libraries’ Local Data
In addition to converting both the LC authority
file and the WorldCat bibliographic database,
OCLC is offering an array of local data conversion
options to both members and nonmembers, in
line with the requests of the OCLC CJK Users’
Group Pinyin Conversion Task Force and the
recommendations that emerged from the October
1999 pinyin “ summit meeting” at LC. That
meeting involved LC, RLG, OCLC and
representatives of many of the major Chinese
language collections in the United States. Local
conversion options include:
• Local Catalog Option, where a library may
either send OCLC a file of preselected MARC
records from the local database or provide a
copy of the entire database.
• Archival Record Option, where OCLC extracts
all of an institution’s records from the OCLC
archives, then sorts through these records to
find those that contain Wade- Giles text. Any
local information or vernacular data contained
in the records at the time the library’s symbol
was set will be retained. Associated authority
records are also available at no charge.
• Vernacular Option, where OCLC pulls all
master records from WorldCat with the
library’s symbol attached and that contain
Wade- Giles text that’s been converted to
pinyin. All vernacular data present in the
master records will be retained. Associated
authority records are also available for an
additional charge.
• Vernacular With Local Data Option allows for
local information to be mapped to the OCLC
master record during the conversion process.
• Authority Records Only Option, for local
database records that have already been
converted from Wade- Giles to pinyin but lack
the associated authority records.
• Authority Control Options in addition to the
pinyin conversion are also available.
• Custom Options may also be designed for an
individual institution’s special needs.
More detailed information about each of these
local conversion options can be found on the
OCLC web site < http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/
pinyin/ index. htm>. For further inquiries about
these options and for the scheduling of
conversion services, libraries should call
1- 800- 848- 5878 and ask for extension 6476, or
1- 614- 764- 6476.— Jay Weitz is consulting
database specialist, OCLC Metadata Standards and
Quality, and the product manager for the OCLC
Pinyin Conversion Project.
• • •
GEM of a meeting at OCLC
The Gateway to Educational Materials ( GEM) Project held its fifth annual consortium meeting on Dec. 14– 16 at OCLC in Dublin,
Ohio. GEM is a Dublin Core metadata project that consists of a consortium of over 300 member organizations, a set of metadata
standards and tools, and a searchable metadata catalog of education resources. GEM is sponsored by the U. S. Department of
Education and is part of the Information Institute of Syracuse ( IIS), which is affiliated with Syracuse University’s School of
Information Studies.
Thirty- one representatives from 19 organizations attended the annual meeting to report on the current status of the project,
and to set goals, prioritize and plan for the upcoming year.
More information about the GEM Project < http:// www. geminfo. org/> and a search of the catalog of education resources
< http:// www. thegateway. org/> are available on the web.
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
20 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by Amy Lytle
The OCLC Institute is
offering a full schedule of
seminars on emerging
topics and trends in
librarianship.
Seminars are offered at
OCLC’s Dublin, Ohio,
conference center and at
various sites provided by
OCLC regional networks and library co- sponsors
throughout the United States and Canada. All
seminars include plenary sessions, small group
discussions and hands- on lab experiences or case
studies. Where appropriate, lab exercises and
case studies are drawn from projects contributed
in advance by participants. Seminars include time
for action planning to help convert the learning
experience into actions.
Institute seminars are loosely organized into
two tracks. The first set of seminars focuses on
the critical library function of providing access to
knowledge and how issues in the digital age
impact this function.
• “ Knowledge Access Management” and
“ Using Metadata for Knowledge
Management” explore methods of cataloging
Internet resources using web- based resource
description systems and use Dublin Core
metadata for record creation in a practice
CORC database.
• “ Knowledge Management” looks at the
emerging knowledge management trend and
what threats and opportunities present
themselves to libraries. Discussion includes
the roles libraries can and should play in
providing access to knowledge in new ways
that build on and extend traditional library
standards and practices.
• “ Creating a New Reference Librarianship”
addresses the challenges and opportunities
reference librarians face today. This seminar
examines how the digital age and the web
affect reference librarianship as a whole.
Participants leave with hands- on experience
with new technology applications and an
action plan for change.
The second seminar
series includes two
seminars developed
and presented by
W. David Penniman,
Ph. D., which focus
on planning and
management in a
library setting.
• “ Planning in a Time
of Rapid
Technological
Change” helps
library directors,
senior managers and
planning coordinators
determine how to
plan for long- term
resource allocation of
both people and
systems in a rapidly
changing
technological
environment. The
seminar offers a
planning approach
that combines both top- down development
and bottom- up assessment.
• “ Library Management in the Knowledge
Age” is intended for first- time and aspiring
managers and addresses the special situations
library managers face. Participants gain
leadership skills and useful tools for managing
workflow, other people and the work of a unit
or section. This management program also
addresses issues and topics related to library
missions, standards, practices and operations.
Complete seminar descriptions, locations and
dates, along with registration, is available online at
the OCLC Institute’s web site < http:// www. oclc. org/
institute/>. Libraries interested in bringing an
OCLC Institute seminar to their staff through the
institute’s Onsite Seminar Program should contact
Erik Jul—< jul@ oclc. org> or 1- 800- 848- 5878.
— Amy Lytle is event coordinator, OCLC Institute.
• • •
OCLC Institute announces upcoming curriculum
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 21
On March 5, OCLC announced its partnership
with BioOne, the new web- based aggregation of
research in the biological, ecological and
environmental sciences. Under the terms of the
agreement, OCLC contributes funds for the
development of BioOne’s database and becomes
the exclusive distributor of BioOne journals
outside the United States and Canada. OCLC will
make BioOne accessible internationally beginning
in June. Amigos Library Services distributes
BioOne in the United States and Canada.
The BioOne journals will be available outside
the United States and Canada in the OCLC
FirstSearch Electronic
Collections Online
service. OCLC will
also serve as one of
the archive sites for
BioOne content.
“ In May 1999, the
OCLC Users Council
passed a resolution
encour-aging
OCLC to support the
development of initiatives, such as BioOne,
that create alternatives to the current costly
systems of publishing peer- reviewed scientific,
technical, medical and other information,” said
Phyllis B. Spies, vice president of OCLC Worldwide
Library Services. “ Through OCLC’s partnership
with BioOne, societies in the biological, ecological
and environmental sciences will be able to
introduce their journals to a broader international
library market and take the important step of
moving to the web. Libraries will gain long- term
access to high- quality, peer- reviewed journals at
reasonable prices.”
“ OCLC’s proven track record makes it our
first choice to distribute BioOne outside of the
United States and Canada,” said Heather Joseph,
president and COO of BioOne. “ We are
confident that OCLC can quickly reach a broad
range of institutions overseas, and its
contribution to the development effort is an
important factor in ensuring BioOne maximizes
its readership, benefitting researchers and
libraries alike.”
BioOne is an electronic aggregation of
information resources in the biological, ecological
and environmental sciences. It is being
developed by SPARC ( the Scholarly Publishing
and Academic Resources Coalition),
the American Institute of
Biological Sciences ( AIBS),
the University of Kansas,
the Big 12 Plus Libraries
Consortium, and Allen
Press. Currently, BioOne
offers a broad selection of
40 highly cited, peer- reviewed journals. These
journals include American Midland Naturalist
( University of Notre Dame), Annals of the ESA
( Entomological Society of America), Ambio
( Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), BioScience
( American Institute of Biological Sciences),
American Zoologist ( Society for Integrative and
Comparative Biology), Photochemistry and
Photobiology ( American Society for
Photobiology), and Wetlands, among many
others. BioOne increases functionality of
participating journals and enhances services to
scientific society members, especially with its
reference linking, broad distribution and library-friendly
pricing < http:// www. BioOne. org/>.
OCLC partners with BioOne
Strategic Partnership Brings BioOne
to International Markets
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
22 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
Rick Bean has been promoted to director, OCLC
User Support Division, by Fred Lauber, vice
president, OCLC Information Technology.
“ Rick Bean managed the OCLC User Support
Department for over 15 years, and during that
time we have received many compliments from
networks and from end users testifying to the high
degree of professionalism and the competent and
courteous help they receive from support staff,”
said Mr. Lauber.��� His effective leadership is one of
the reasons OCLC continually receives high marks
on its customer service surveys.”
In his new role as director of User Support,
Mr. Bean will retain responsibility for User Support,
but also take on additional responsibilities in the
ordering, distribution and fulfillment processes that
are critical to the primary goal of the Business
Process Improvement Program ( BPIP), which is
being implemented to make it easier to do
business with OCLC.
“ BPIP is one of the more noteworthy and
constructive programs OCLC has begun in my
tenure,” said Mr. Bean. “ The change in technology,
processes and organization resulting from the
program will challenge us all to rethink how we
work. These are very promising and exciting
times for OCLC, the regional service providers
and the end- user community.”
Mr. Bean joined OCLC in 1976 as a network
technician and was responsible for support of
OCLC’s private telecommunications network. He
was named manager of User & Network Support
in 1985. In November, he assumed co- project
leadership of the Relationship Management
System Implementation project, leading a cross-functional
team through requirement definition
and implementation of a computer system and
processes used by OCLC and regional service
providers.
Mr. Bean earned a bachelor of science degree
in human resource management and a bachelor of
science degree in business management from
Franklin University. His master’s of business
administration degree is also from Franklin
University.
• • •
Rick Bean promoted to director, OCLC User Support
Rick Bean
The Consorci de Biblioteques Universita` ries de Catalunya
( CBUC), a consortium of Catalan libraries centered in
Barcelona, Spain, has joined OCLC as a partial cataloging
member. Consortium members will use WorldCat ( the
OCLC Online Union Catalog) and the Cooperative Online
Resource Catalog ( CORC) to manage their traditional and
Internet resources.
According to Lluis Anglada i de Ferrer, director, CBUC,
“ Using CORC from OCLC, the nine libraries from the
Consorci de Biblioteques Universita` ries de Catalunya hope to
find a more easy way to get into the electronic resources
cataloguing new world ... and in good company!”
“ We are very pleased that an important group of libraries
will gain access to WorldCat and CORC,” said Nicholas
Rawson, director of Library Services, OCLC Europe, the
Middle East & Africa. “ CORC furthers the collaborative
librarianship embodied in WorldCat, the world’s largest
bibliographic database, by providing librarians with a service
to identify, select, describe and maintain web- based
electronic resources.”
Established in 1996, the Consorci de Biblioteques
Universita` ries de Catalunya is a consortium of nine libraries
in Spain whose mission is to improve library services
through cooperation. The libraries are: Universitat de
Barcelona, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat Rovira
i Virgili, Universitat Auto` noma de Barcelona, Universitat
de Girona, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Universitat
Polite` cnica de Catalunya, Universitat de Lleida and Biblioteca
de Catalunya.
The CBUC has become a vital link in the Catalan library
community. The group’s contributions include the creation
of the Collective Catalogue of the Universities of Catalonia
( CCUC) and the Digital Library of Catalonia. The CBUC has
primarily focused on the CCUC and interlibrary loans but is
currently working to create a doctoral thesis library in
electronic format, establish standards for digitization
documents and index electronic resources cooperatively.
More information is at < http:// www. cbuc. es/> ( an English
version is available from this home page).
DOC6, based in Madrid and Barcelona, certified in ISO
9002, is the OCLC distributor for Spain.
• • •
Consortium of academic libraries
of Catalonia becomes OCLC member
M E M B E R S H I P N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 23
Top 12 journal titles most requested through OCLC ILL
OCLC# Title Requests Holdings
1. 14404226 Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 5,705 871
2. 4965018 Personality and Individual Differences 5,640 252
3. 7667666 Social Science & Medicine 5,248 499
4. 7343037 International Journal of Eating Disorders 5,199 424
5. 1772625 Early Child Development and Care: ECDC 4,024 273
6. 1318827 Psychological Reports 3,510 1,231
7. 3475531 Child Abuse & Neglect 3,491 732
8. 19716359 Development and Psychopathology 3,362 208
9. 1536986 Brain Research 3,320 391
10. 855449 Biological Psychiatry 3,306 408
11. 3661773 Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 3,297 821
12. 1537306 British Journal of Psychiatry 3,287 721
• • •
The top 100 journals and monographs most requested through the OCLC Interlibrary Loan service are available on
the OCLC web site < http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ ill/ statistics/>. Compiled by Tony Melvyn, senior consulting product
support specialist, OCLC Product Marketing.
• • •
Top 12 monographs most requested through OCLC ILL
OCLC# Title Requests Holdings
1. 1089552 The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender To # 4547 4,137 303
2. 40391916 Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids That 937 391
the Poor and Middle Class Do Not
3. 37509800 Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom 896 470
4. 9963382 Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Source Book 769 85
5. 43208495 Inc. & Grow Rich 711 81
6. 38304395 Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, 653 188
Brilliance and Dreams
7. 42061039 Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment 561 229
8. 39478040 Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcome Assessment 509 149
9. 38752984 Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change 478 1,772
in Your Work and in Your Life
10. 9198532 The Eighteenth Century 464 62
11. 38936768 Take Time for Your Life: A Personal Coach’s Seven- Step Program 447 390
For Creating the Life You Want
12. 37966192 Free Money to Change Your Life 443 302
R E S E A R C H
24 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
The Association for Library and Information
Science Education ( ALISE) and the OCLC Office
of Research have awarded three grants to
university researchers for 2001. Recipients of the
OCLC/ ALISE Library and Information Science
Research Grants were recognized in January at
the awards luncheon held during the ALISE 2001
Annual Conference in Washington, D. C.
“ University- based research is important to the
advancement of librarianship and information
science,” said Thom Hickey, acting vice president,
OCLC Office of Research. “ The findings of these
projects will contribute to a better understanding
of the library environment.”
Grant recipients and their projects are:
• Anna Perrault, associate professor, University of
South Florida, for her project titled,“ Global
Collective Resources: WorldCat as the
Foundation for International Library
Cooperation.” Dr. Perrault’s research is a
bibliometric study to profile the monographic
contents of WorldCat ( the OCLC Online Union
Catalog) by subject and language parameters
using the OCLC/ WLN iCAS software. The
profile will detail the contents of global
publication made accessible through the
OCLC international network. The results of
the research can foster international resource
sharing and cooperative collection
development.
��� Hong Xie, assistant professor, University of
Wisconsin- Milwaukee, for her research titled,
“ Ease of Use versus User Control: Desired
Interface Model and Functionalities for Web-based
Databases.��� This study will explore
users’ perceptions of ease of use versus user
control and their preferences for desired
interface models and functionalities in
searching web- based online databases. The
results will lead to the identification of desired
interface models and functionalities and
further development of interface prototypes
for web- based online databases to support ease
of use without compromising user control.
• Hong Xu, assistant professor, and Arlene Taylor,
professor, University of Pittsburgh, for their
project titled,“ Identification of Resource Types
of Web Accessible Information.” This study will
examine a sample from OCLC’s Web
Characterization Project to determine
distribution of resource types, an element of
the Dublin Core, among different types of web
sites and among subject areas. In the process it
will test the efficacy of various existing lists of
resource types.
The OCLC/ ALISE Library and Information
Science Research Grant Program awards grants of
up to $ 10,000 to foster quality research by faculty
in schools of library and information science.
Projects are generally completed within one year,
and findings are published in the Annual Review
of OCLC Research and in the public domain.
Application materials for the grants are available
on the OCLC web site < http:// www. oclc. org/>.
For more information, contact the Office of
Research by telephone at + 1- 614- 764- 6487 or by
e- mail at < diane_ morris@ oclc. org>.
• • •
ALISE and OCLC announce grant awards
R E S E A R C H
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 25
Group meets to refine metadata standards for electronic theses and dissertations
Spearheaded by Edward A. Fox in the Department of Computer Science at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ( Virginia
Tech), the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations < http:// www. ndltd. org/> met Jan. 9– 10 at OCLC Dublin to refine
metadata standards for Electronic Theses and Dissertations ( ETDs). This event continued work begun during a series of meetings over
the prior year, with a goal of completing the ETD standards in time for ETD 2001: The Fourth International Symposium on Electronic
Theses and Dissertations, March 22– 24, at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
< http:// library. caltech. edu/ etd/>.
Meeting participants included ( left to right): Sunny Kim, Academy of Korean Studies; Nuno Freire, Portuguese National Library;
Sarantos Kapidakis, National Documentation Centre ( Greece); Shalini Urs, University of Mysore ( India); Robert France, Virginia Tech;
Ed Fox, Virginia Tech; Thorsten Bahne, Gerhard- Mercator- Universität ( Germany); Jay Jordan, OCLC; Mann- Ho Lee, Chungnam National
University ( Korea); Stu Weibel, OCLC; Thom Hickey, OCLC; John Espley, VTLS; Akira Maeda, Nara Institute of Science & Technology
( Japan); Anthony Atkins, Virginia Tech; Robert Bolander, OCLC. Also participating from OCLC, but not present at this gathering were
Eric Childress, Eric Miller, Ed O’Neill and Diane Vizine- Goetz.
E - S E R V I C E S
26 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by Susan Olson
E- service is about using the
tools of the digital age to
provide better information
more quickly. It’s about
how OCLC, OCLC regional
service providers and
libraries work together to
better serve their users.
Although technologies
like e- mail, the web and distance learning have
been in the limelight for less than a decade, it is
clear already that these tools are having a
profound impact on the way we communicate
within our organizations and with our partners
and users. For general information, e- mail delivery
of updates, expert- hosted discussion lists and
information- rich web sites have gone a long way
toward providing information services “ anytime,
anywhere.” For more structured learning,
webcasts, videoconferences and multimedia e-learning
systems with audio and interactive
features are transforming the way staff members
meet and acquire new skills. In the future, online
tutorials and workshops promise to provide “ just-in-
time” access to training when and where it is
needed. Also on the horizon are “ Learning
management systems” that will pull it all together
into an electronic learning environment.
The development of e- services does not mean
“ out with the old and in with the new.” We know
e- services will not remove the need for personal
services. Sometimes a problem is too complex
for a FAQ to solve. Often a librarian wants to talk
with someone before subscribing to a new
service. It is important to recognize that as e-services
have grown, so has the demand for
personal service. As information seeking on the
web has increased, so have the average length of
telephone support sessions and the demand for
network and service center consulting services.
The challenge is to use technology and personal
service to ease access to information, to solve
service problems and to provide opportunities for
education and interpersonal networking.
I’d like to recommend “ The Power of Internet
Learning— Moving from Promise to Practice,” the
report of the Web- based Education Commission
to the President and the Congress of the United
States. “ The web is a medium today’s children
expect to use for expression and
communication— the world into which they were
born,” according to the report. Much in this
report reminds us that while OCLC and OCLC
regional service providers are excited about
developing e- services because they add value for
libraries and library users, we are also aware that
e- services are quickly becoming an expected part
of effective service. OCLC and OCLC regional
service providers are working together to provide
service that exceeds expectations now and into
the future.— Susan Olson is director, OCLC U. S.
Network Relations and Worldwide Sales and
Service Partner Program.
• • •
Why e- service?
The emergence of the personal computer in the 1980s and the
World Wide Web in the 1990s has changed the way a large
portion of the world does business. This sea change is a large
part of what is meant by e- service— new ways to provide
service through computerized methods that are faster and
more efficient. Most current e- service developments trace
some ancestry to web technologies, whether they are training
programs written in HTML and distributed on CD- ROM or
electronic ordering and billing done over the web.
E- service defined
E - S E R V I C E S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 27
by Susan Olson and George Promenschenkel
The past few decades have seen tremendous
change in the way people do business.
Computers and the Internet enable almost instant
worldwide communication. Many colleges and
universities now offer distance- learning courses
in addition to their bricks- and- mortar curriculum.
Even in traditional classrooms, instructors use
online materials and e- mail to provide additional
access to reading materials and personal
assistance. Amazon. com and other dot. com
storefronts have raised user expectations for
buying over the web. Now, customers expect
businesses to have a web site and an online
catalog, and demand for online ordering and
24- hour- a- day online support is growing. From
inquiries to online learning to billing, fulfillment
and distribution, virtually every aspect of business
is being affected by e- services.
OCLC and OCLC regional service providers
( OCLC service centers, U. S. regional networks,
OCLC international divisions and international
distributors) have been actively adopting these
new technologies. They are using e- service
technologies to enhance the way they work
together and to improve service to libraries.
Creating an E- service
Environment for Staff
E- mail and Web
Lead Communication Revolution
The area most affected by the new e- technologies
is communication. E- mail was the first of these
technologies to catch on at OCLC, as it did in
much of the world. Even before the Internet
became publicly available, some OCLC and
network staff communicated among themselves
and with libraries via e- mail over CompuServe and
similar services. Today, volumes of e- mail flow
between OCLC staff and staff at networks,
international divisions and distributors, and OCLC
service centers all day, every day ( and many days,
literally into the night).
Close on the heels of e- mail came e- mail news
and electronic discussion lists, or listservs. Most
regional service providers offer listservs that
provide news and how- to information. Listservs,
including OHIONET- L and NEBASE- L,
help inform libraries about service enhancements
and other useful information.
OCLC maintains both discussion listservs
to facilitate the exchange of ideas by interest
groups and news listservs to broadcast relevant
announcements. Lists covering topics from
authority control to Z39.50, and much more,
are available through the OCLC web site
< http:// www. oclc. org/ oclc/ forms/ listserv. htm>.
Another discussion list, Netlist- L, provides
information and discussion among OCLC and the
regional service providers.
“ Having Netlist- L available allows us to ask
questions and exchange information with OCLC
staff and our colleagues at the regional networks
in a way that was not possible in a paper- based
environment,” said Rosario Garza, Bibliographic
Systems and Services, BCR. “ Our questions and
comments are seen by a large group of folks,
resulting in a quick exchange of ideas and
viewpoints.”
Following the 1993 introduction of Mosaic, the
first web browser, OCLC and the regional service
providers soon began building web sites to
provide information to librarians and others. As
web browsers and HTML have evolved, these sites
have become more sophisticated, offering
additional features and information.
While a wealth of information for service
providers is available on the OCLC web site, it
soon became clear that networks and
international distributors needed access to
additional information. So in 1996, OCLC
launched NetWeb— a web site reserved for OCLC
and regional service provider staff.
NetWeb serves as a shared “ electronic file
cabinet” and reduces the need for remote OCLC
and service provider staff to maintain a separate
file of this information. NetWeb information
includes product literature, documentation, a
knowledge base for support of OCLC products
and services, and calendars. A new NetWeb
feature allows service providers to customize a
web interface with the information and links they
most often use.
“ Netlist- L is a godsend,” said Lynn Bierma,
Profiling and Training, ILLINET. “ We can quickly
store important messages for future reference and
edit information received for posting on our
E- services evolving to change business …
OCLC’s methods of
electronic
communication
with networks have
completely changed
the way Nylink does
business. These
electronic tools have
built an OCLC and
network “ Virtual
Community.”
Lauren Pinsley
OCLC service manager,
Nylink
E - S E R V I C E S
28 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
listserv and monthly newsletter. And, no more
files of paper copies of product descriptions,
etc.; all because of NetWeb! The archival area
is wonderful. NetWeb has reduced my paper
files tremendously.”
Through e- mail, listservs and the NetWeb,
OCLC has increased the speed of
communications and broadened access to that
information for its service providers. As recently
as the early 1990s, most communication between
OCLC and service providers was by printed
memos. Staff in network and OCLC service
center offices had to wait weeks for the mail to
be delivered to their location and for the
communications to be logged and disseminated
within the office. Today with e- mail, listservs and
web sites, staff members can communicate
almost instantly and directly with each other, with
OCLC, and with libraries.
“ The online environment that OCLC provides
gives network coordinators an important role in
OCLC’s planning process by providing timely
updates on products and services as they are
being developed,” said Diana Bitting, senior
marketing and communications coordinator,
PALINET. “ Coordinators work closely with both
OCLC and member libraries and thus they are
able to facilitate a crucial information exchange
between OCLC and the libraries.��
These same technologies are being used to
enhance communication with OCLC providers
worldwide. Some of OCLC’s international
divisions are developing PartnerPages to
facilitate communication with their partners
who provide OCLC services to libraries in their
geographic region. OCLC Europe, the Middle East
& Africa uses its PartnerPages to share
information from its office and from OCLC in
Dublin with its partners, and to tailor that
information to the information needs of
distributors in its region. Similar PartnerPages
are in development for the distributors who work
with OCLC Asia Pacific. OCLC plans to expand
these services to new providers in Latin America
and other regions as the use of OCLC services
continues to grow worldwide.
Library staff can keep up with news from
their network and OCLC over the web and
through listservs.
E - S E R V I C E S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 29
Web Broadcasts and Archived Meetings
Keep Staff Informed
A few years ago, the Regional OCLC Network
Directors Advisory Committee ( RONDAC) and
OCLC investigated electronic conferencing
technologies and selected Microsoft’s
“ NetMeeting” to enhance teleconferences.
Using this technology, OCLC established a
biweekly broadcast to network and remote
OCLC staff called the “ OCLC Hour.” The OCLC
Hour helps keeps OCLC service provider staff
up- to- date on developments at OCLC, so they
are better informed to serve libraries. Staff from
the OCLC Western Service Center ( on the U. S.
West Coast) to OCLC Europe, the Middle East &
Africa ( in Birmingham, England) and all U. S.
network locations in between “ attend” these
broadcasts regularly.
As well as the OCLC Hour has worked for
keeping remote staff and partners informed,
these “ live” broadcasts have made clear the
problem of time zones. OCLC broadcasts the
OCLC Hour from 11 a. m. to noon U. S. eastern
time— when it is 8 a. m. for Western Service
Center staff ( who might have coffee and a scone
for breakfast while listening) and 4 p. m. for staff
at the OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa
offices ( for whom, perhaps, a stray thought
ponders what will be for dinner). To overcome
the effects of having staff in different time zones
and expand the number of potential viewers,
OCLC has recently added web- broadcasting
technology by PlaceWare. This enables OCLC to
archive the OCLC Hour broadcasts for replay on
demand by network and OCLC staff unable to
attend in person.
“ The OCLC Hour provides us with not
only a means of receiving updates on new
enhancements and services but allows the
regional networks to immediately have group
discussion and answer sessions with the
product managers and with each other,” said
Ms. Bierma. “ Using PlaceWare and NetMeeting
to view PowerPoint slides has allowed us to
have the feel of onsite meetings without the
travel/ budget constraints; the OCLC Hour is
truly two- dimensional.���
Creating an E- service Environment
for Libraries
Developing e- services between OCLC and regional
service providers is relatively easy compared with
developing e- service for use by libraries. The
OCLC, network and distributor “ family” is small
compared with the library community.
Technology does not always easily “ scale up.”
Some e- service technologies still function in what
is basically an experimental mode, where frequent
adjustments are necessary to keep the hardware
and software running, and sometimes even those
efforts fail. While this can work for smaller
groups, large- scale e- services are just beginning to
show signs of being almost ready for primetime.
While many of the e- services that OCLC and its
regional service providers have put in place
remain behind the scenes, several directly benefit
libraries and, a few, their users.
“ Amigos continues to expand and exploit
technology for providing technical support to our
members,” said Cathy Wilt, director, Member
Support and Education Services, Amigos Library
Services. “ Users have become accustomed to
receiving technical support and information
through a variety of options. It is exciting for us
to be expanding service by employing new
technologies collaboratively with OCLC in
addition to our traditional methods of providing
the excellent service OCLC users expect.”
E - S E R V I C E S
30 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
E- mail and Web Ease Access to Information
for Libraries
Among the first of these services to become widely
available are those using e- mail and the web for
delivery of information. User support
via e- mail is probably the most widespread of all
the e- services. Most OCLC regional service
providers enable libraries to receive support
through e- mail. Many maintain mailboxes, such as
memserv@ ohionet. org and asia_ pacific@ oclc. org,
for just this purpose. E- mail
support has proven so useful that
OCLC’s User and Network
Support area now receives and
answers more support questions
through e- mail than over the
phone. OCLC and regional service
providers also maintain both
discussion listservs to facilitate the
exchange of ideas by interest
groups and news listservs that
disseminate relevant
announcements to subscribers.
Through the OCLC web site, librarians and
others can subscribe to lists covering topics from
authority control to Z39.50 and just about
everything in between < http:/ www. oclc. org/
oclc/ forms/ listserv. htm>.
Network and service center listservs, such
as CAPCON- L and NEBASE- L, help inform
libraries about member meetings, training
opportunities, OCLC service enhancements
and other useful information.
The web sites of OCLC service providers
provide access a great deal of useful information,
including training schedules, online registrations
for training sessions and courses, support and
contact information. These web sites provide
another way for libraries to keep
informed about new developments
and offerings from their service
provider. A few networks, like
Michigan Library Consortium and
FEDLINK, are also providing
libraries with online access to
their accounts.
With more than 16,000
individual pages, OCLC’s site is
very large. The site contains
news, product and support
information, documentation, links
to services, a participating
libraries search, training information and
demonstrations, history, contacts, and much
more. OCLC staff are currently giving the site a
complete makeover designed to make it more
functional while updating its look.
Having so much information
available on NetWeb has
allowed us to reduce the
number of paper files we used
to keep by approximately
75 percent!
Rosario Garza, BCR
FEDLINK offers online videos
on its web site.
Education Applications Reach Libraries …
and End Users
E- services are also revolutionizing education and
training. Wisconsin Library Services ( WiLS) was
one of the first service providers to put e- learning
technology to use. Today WiLS provides
consulting and training on distance learning, and
makes e- training courses on OCLC services and
other subjects available through its web site
< http:// www. wils. wisc. edu/>.
In response to their members’ needs, the
Bibliographical Center for Research ( BCR) is
developing more options for distance learning for
library staff. The BCR region, which includes
much of the U. S. Rocky Mountains, is an area
where many libraries are located far from each
other and where weather can interfere with
travel. Currently, BCR offers a number of
workshops via the web and has identified other
web- based instruction opportunities related to
services that its members use. BCR has gathered
these together on the BCR website for libraries’
convenience. Currently, almost 30 online
workshops and web- based tutorials are available.
PALINET offers real- time online workshops to
its members via MicroSoft’s NetMeeting software.
Online workshop topics include a two- part
“ CORC for Catalogers” course, as well as “ Online
FirstSearch Usage Statistics for Individual
Libraries.” A complete list of its courses is
available from the PALINET web site
< http:// www. palinet. org/>.
Several networks, including INCOLSA, offer
training and consulting on distance learning.
INCOLSA calls its program “ Technology Delivered
Learning” ( TDL). A series of regularly scheduled
E - S E R V I C E S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 31
What a great way to get current information on new and evolving services to a large segment of
network staff! We would not be able to send the many staff who attend the biweekly OCLC Hour
presentations to meetings at OCLC. The OCLC Hour format has saved regional networks travel time
and money and allows us to make better use of the available staff.
Rosario Garza, BCR
Distance learning provides library staff with easy- to- access educational
opportunities.
E - S E R V I C E S
32 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
TDL workshops are held at INCOLSA’s
Indianapolis, Indiana, office and regionally at
member libraries.
The Missouri Library Network Corporation
( MLNC) received an LSTA grant from the Missouri
State Library to create a curriculum for libraries to
use when teaching their senior users how to
navigate the Internet. Staff at MLNC designed six
classes around topics of interest to older
Americans, including travel, investing, estate
planning, recreation and politics. Each module
includes a PowerPoint presentation, instructions
for the teacher, guided exercises and
supplementary handouts for attendees. All
documents are made available via MLNC’s web
site in their original format ( PowerPoint or
Word) as well as in HTML. This allows libraries
to teach their classes using MLNC’s web site, or
download the materials they need and modify
them to suit the individual library and/ or
instructor needs. MLNC’s staff has updated the
curriculum on a quarterly basis to ensure the
quality and accuracy of each class.
Another regional service provider, Nylink, is
using an Education and Training National
Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum
and Library Services to develop distance- delivered
information technology training for library
professionals in the Nylink service area and
Nylink instructors. The training program will
focus on e- learning techniques and technology
and on instructional design for e- learning.
OCLC, too, is offering a number of e- learning
opportunities for libraries. OCLC’s web site
provides a number of online product
demonstrations and training presentations
< http:// www. oclc. org/ support/ training/>.
In addition, OCLC includes “ TourGuides,”
which explain how to use a software product,
as part of its Windows software packages.
TourGuides may be found in Dewey for Windows,
OCLC Cataloging MicroEnhancer for Windows,
OCLC ILL MicroEnhancer for Windows and OCLC
CJK software.
Regional service providers and OCLC often
work together to create e- training programs. The
OCLC Institute’s new “ Cataloging Internet
Resources Using MARC 21 and AACR2” course
was developed in partnership with Amigos
Library Services, NELINET, SOLINET and OCLC
Institute Consultant Steve Miller from the
University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee’s Golda Meir
Library. This online course helps librarians
manage the expanding volume of knowledge
available on the web. It is the first course
available in the OCLC Online Library Learning
series < http:// www. oclc. org/ institute/ oll/
index. htm>.
The collaborative development model also
produced the “ Searching WorldCat,”“ Using CORC”
and “ Using Interlibrary Loan” tutorials ( each
available on CD or through download from
< http:// www. oclc. org/ support/ training/>).
Videoconferences Also Provide
Educational Opportunities
Videoconferences are another area of e- service
that OCLC regional service providers and OCLC
are using. Networks, as a whole, generally
promote a few national or international
videoconferences each year. These satellite
broadcasts often focus on current issues facing
libraries, such as Internet filtering in libraries—
which has been the subject of at least two such
broadcasts: SOLINET’s 1999 “ What’s a Librarian to
Do: The Filtering Dilemma” ( also sponsored by
Amigos Library Services) and INCOLSA’s April 11
“ Internet Dilemma: Filtered or Non- Filtered.”
Regional teleconferences may also include
product training and issues of interest in a
particular state or region.
“ ILLINET/ OCLC Services uses Ameritech V- TEL
to teach site- to- site long distance workshops for
member OCLC libraries,” said Lynn Bierma. “ V-TEL
allows the trainer and workshop participants
to see and hear each other and view online
demonstrations in real time, or perform hands- on
training depending on its setup. V- TEL equipment
is located at the ILLINET/ OCLC Services offices at
the Illinois State Library and with each of the 12
OCLC regional
service providers
A complete list of OCLC- affiliated regional networks,
international divisions and distributors, as well as
contact information ( including URLs and e- mail
addresses) is available on the OCLC web site
< http:// www. oclc. org/ contacts/ regional/>. Library
staff interested in e- services available in their area
should contact their OCLC regional service provider.
E - S E R V I C E S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 33
regional library systems in the state. V- TEL is also
used for site- to- site and multi- site meetings and
conferences.”
OCLC has also hosted national and
international videoconferences over the years,
most recently the May 2000 OCLC Users Council
worldwide virtual meeting—“ Library Success in
the New World.”
Appearing Soon on a Monitor Near You
OCLC and its regional service providers will
continue to monitor emerging technologies for
ways to improve existing services and create
new ones. For example, under OCLC’s “ Business
Process Improvement Program,” OCLC and
service providers are working together to make
it easier for libraries to do business with OCLC.
The program is exploring such e- services as
providing libraries with a way to track order
status online.
E- services promise the ability to foster a sense
of community— to create, as Lauren Pinsley of
Nylink puts it,“ a virtual community” in which
OCLC, OCLC partners and OCLC users can
coolaboate to develop resources and solutions.
Currently most of OCLC’s e- service applications
are translations from the print- based world. In
the future, e- services are likely to evolve entirely
new modes of doing business.— Susan Olson is
director, U. S. Network Relations and Worldwide
Sales and Service Partner Program, OCLC; and
George Promenschenkel is senior
marketing/ public relations writer, OCLC.
• • •
Video conferences can provide remote libraries with the opportunity
to learn more about— and participate in discussions of— important
library issues.
E - S E R V I C E S
34 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
OCLC web site redesigned
by Lisa Plymale
With the help of librarians from around the
world, OCLC introduced a redesigned web site
on Feb. 9. The web site redesign project began
with an analysis of the needs of OCLC’s web site
users. A focus group representing academic,
public and medical libraries assembled at the
American Libraries Association Annual
Conference last July in Chicago. At the same
time, OCLC formed an internal web review group
to assess plans for the new site and provide input
and feedback about the design. The Web Review
Group consists of 14staff members from all areas
of the organization.
Along with input from the focus and internal
review groups, the redesign team analyzed web
statistics, user browsing and searching patterns,
and web site feedback comments to identify
unmet needs of OCLC web site users. The team
determined the biggest problem with the old site
was the inability to find needed information
quickly and easily. Based on this information, the
redesign project is proceeding in phases that
together will take nine to 12 months to complete.
Four objectives were set for Phase I:
• Improve users’ ability to find information
• Update the visual design
• Increase efficiency and security of web
publishing
• Improve search functionality
To meet these goals, the redesign team
introduced in Phase I a new content architecture
and new design. The main content areas
have been restructured into a more logical
architecture to improve browsing and make it
faster to install updates.
Phase I also includes the introduction of a
Librarian’s Toolbox ( filled with links to the most-visited
pages on the site) and “ Resources for … ”
pages to guide new users to potential areas of
interest, as well as the customization and
implementation of a new search engine, which is
under way.
“ In redesigning the OCLC web site, the user
perspective was uppermost in our minds,” said
Phil Schieber, director, OCLC Communications.
E - S E R V I C E S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 35
“ We want to make it easy for librarians and others
to find what they need.”
As the new site began to take shape, an
additional review group was formed that included
19 representatives of regional service providers
and more than 300 library staff volunteers.
The review panel includes representatives from
consortia, academic, government, law, public,
medical, state, national, theological and special
libraries of all sizes from around the world. These
representatives work in all areas of librarianship,
including collections, reference, resource sharing,
cataloging, IT, systems, technical services, serials,
public services and management. Representatives
from 12 countries and territories served on the
review group: Australia, Canada, England, France,
Germany, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan,
the United States, the Virgin Islands and the
West Indies.
“ What I’ve been really impressed with is the
dedication of these volunteers,” said Debbie
Hysell, documentation department manager and
redesign project manager. “ They have made a real
effort to provide us with useful review comments
in a short time. I think they embody the spirit of
librarianship and OCLC membership, by
collaborating to improve the experience of all.”
Plans for future phases include a new search
engine, the continuing migration of site content
into the new architecture and design, the
incorporation of metadata to enhance search
results and the addition of more multilingual
content. Additional tasks include defining web
editorial policies, creating a web style guide and
conducting usability tests.
OCLC is striving to make the web site easy- to-use,
global and member- oriented. We invite your
feedback < http:// www. oclc. org/>.
— Lisa Plymale is web site coordinator,
OCLC Documentation.
• • •
Most- requested OCLC web pages in February
Page or area number percentage
of requests of requests
1. FirstSearch 195,650 15.64
2. OCLC home page 154,401 12.34
3. Bibliographic Formats 48,633 3.89
and Standards
4. Participating Institutions 21,715 1.74
search
5. Dewey/ Forest Press 19,377 1.55
6. Careers 13,430 1.08
7. OCLC Institute 12,336 0.97
8. Services and Databases 11,747 0.94
9. Cooperative Online 6,311 0.51
Resource Catalog
10. Support 6,098 0.49
Total number of hits ( Feb. 1– 28) 6,188,511
Number of individual visits 280,115
Average visit duration 0: 03: 04
E - S E R V I C E S
36 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
by Amy Lytle
On Jan. 24, the OCLC Institute together with co-developers
Steven Miller, Amigos Library Services,
NELINET and SOLINET announced the availability
of “ Cataloging Internet Resources Using MARC 21
and AACR2.
This web- based course provides easy, 24- hour
access to an important body of knowledge for
libraries today. Designed for self- paced and self-directed
study, the course covers current
cataloging rules and MARC fields that are
essential for libraries to provide efficient,
effective, and uniform description and access for
selected Internet resources using traditional
standards and practices ( a module on cataloging
serials is forthcoming).
Web browsers provide access to the course’s
28 interactive lessons. Each lesson contains
learning objectives, instructional materials, real-world
examples and quizzes and tests that
provide immediate feedback. All lessons provide
references and links to authoritative
documentation and standards.
The course covers:
• How cataloging Internet resources compares
with monographic cataloging
• How to code MARC leader and control fields
• How to record title and statement of
responsibility, including title proper, GMD,
additional title information, statement of
responsibility and varying forms of title
• How to record edition statements
• How to record special characteristics of
computer files
• How to record date, publisher and dates
of publication
• How to record series statements
• How to record notes that pertain especially
to Internet resources
• How to record electronic location and access
information using the 856 field
• How to record main and added entries
• How to apply existing experience in assigning
subject headings and classification to
bibliographic records for Internet resources
Online course covers cataloging of Internet resources
Lesson objectives
Practice test question
“ This course brings together, in a
comprehensive yet relatively concise manner,
just about all of the information that a cataloger
will need to handle most electronic resources
with confidence,” said Jay Weitz, consulting
database specialist, Metadata Standards and
Quality Division, who reviewed and critiqued
the course during development.
Special discounts for multiple registrations of
1 or more, making this course ideal for technical
services departments to provide their staff
members with training and resources for Internet
site cataloging.
Unlimited 24- hour access to the course is
granted for one year from the date of paid
registration, enabling learning to occur at the
user’s pace and convenience.
Course details, including sample lessons,
pricing and registration are available online
through the OCLC Institute’s web site
< http:// www. oclc. org/ institute/ oll/ index. htm>.
— Amy Lytle is event coordinator, OCLC
Institute.
• • •
E - S E R V I C E S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 37
Lesson references
Test question and related resource
I N T E R V I E W
38 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
How are e- service technologies helping
you and your staff?
E- services have changed the very nature of the
network and OCLC landscape. The physical
landscape still exists, of course, with geography
separating us by several states and many miles,
but the digital landscape is such that we have
been brought closer together in many ways. The
digital landscape strengthens two of the critical
components of any relationship— communication
and good information. Communication has been
enriched in numerous ways that have rendered
dramatic changes. Electronic communication
provides ongoing day- to- day communication
between the network and OCLC staff, enhances
the distribution of information to networks
regarding new OCLC services and products, and
dramatically improves the efficiency of
transactions such as order processing. Electronic
communications via OCLC’s NetList, a discussion
list for network staff, allows OCLC to distribute
information to all networks rapidly and
simultaneously. Feedback on the list from a
network staff member gets shared with all
networks, allowing for fruitful discussion of
events and issues. Though rare events,
notifications of system interruptions are reported
on NetList, thus informing networks as the
problem is occurring, enabling us to provide
better support for our member libraries. The use
of e- mail for order processing and product and
user support has drastically reduced turnaround
time and paper handling.
Other communication vehicles include the
OCLC web site and NetWeb, an OCLC web site
that contains information about the various
OCLC products and services for the networks,
and OCLC’s network- secure pages, which contain
data and other information specific to each
network that only that network can see. OCLC
Hours, virtual meetings that use teleconference
and online meeting technology, are held every
few weeks and allow OCLC and the networks to
share information about products and to discuss
issues that may be of concern.
NetWeb, NetList and the OCLC Hour are tools
that allow networks and OCLC to share
information and ideas in a more natural
continuous flow, as needed, rather than in the
periodic style of information sharing that is more
typical of face- to- face meetings and printed
The chair of RONDAC discusses how technology is improving the way
networks work with libraries and OCLC.
In 1996, Mary- Alice Lynch became the executive director of Nylink,
the OCLC- affiliated regional network based in Albany, New York.
Prior to that, she spent 25 years working in public and academic
libraries in a variety of roles— public services, technical services,
systems and management positions.
Ms. Lynch’s special areas of interest include library consortial
activities, organizational change and the impact of technology
on the delivery of services. She has made many presentations
on these topics and has acted as a consultant for academic library
program reviews and as an evaluation team member for Middle
States accreditation.
Ms. Lynch is currently chair of the Regional OCLC Network
Directors Advisory Committee ( RONDAC) and serves on the Advisory
Committee of the OCLC Institute.
Mary- Alice Lynch
photo provided by Nylink
I N T E R V I E W
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 39
materials. Periodic face- to- face meetings can also
be costly in terms of time away from the office
and travel expenses. So we communicate in a
more cost- effective way because fewer such
meetings are needed.
This more natural and continuous two- way
flow of information between networks and OCLC
is even more critical now that we exist in an
environment of rapid development and evolution
of products and services, rapid technology
change and high pressures on libraries to
perform. Various e- services make the networks
more visible to OCLC, and make OCLC more
visible to the networks, thus allowing network
staff to be more involved with things happening
at OCLC. Ultimately, the digital landscape allows
networks to be more responsive to our members’
needs while being better advocates on their
behalf at OCLC.
How do you envision NYLINK using
e- services to help libraries?
A significant change has occurred in the past few
years in the network interaction with its
members with the use of e- services. There is a
continual increase in the use of e- mail to deliver
user support and consulting services to member
libraries. The network web site has become a
key vehicle for communication and a tool for
members to gain information, order services or
register for classes, workshops, conferences and
seminars. Over 70 percent of training
registrations are now done via our web site— a
huge jump from only a year or two ago. Nylink
also has a database of all of our member libraries,
with key contacts in various areas of the library.
This database allows us to provide targeted
electronic dissemination of information in the
most timely manner to the key people who need
the information. I think this kind of timely,
targeted information is particularly helpful to
librarians who are suffering from information
overload in these rapidly changing times. Our
listserv, NylinkNews, is another mechanism for
the timely delivery of information to anyone in
the library community who is interested in
keeping up with and discussing issues relevant to
Nylink and its members.
This use of e- services will only increase and be
enhanced in the coming years. One area we
would like to greatly enhance is our delivery of
distance education and training. More and more,
library staff need to be able to participate in
continuing education and training without the
limitations of time and place. We were thrilled to
recently receive an Education and Training
National Leadership Grant from the Institute of
Museum and Library Services that will help us
greatly enhance our ability to provide substantive
opportunities for member librarians to enhance
their learning through distance education. This
two- year grant will allow us to create the Nylink
Institute for Information Technology Fluency,
which will offer a series of workshops for
librarians in relevant areas of information
technology. As this project evolves, we invite
people to track our progress through our web site
at < http:// nylink. suny. edu/ ITFluency/ imls. htm>.
What’s the biggest obstacle
to forging ahead?
The same things that we talk about all the time:
rapid technological change, information
overload, costs of new technologies. There is
also a fundamental cultural and environmental
change that results from the newer technologies
and e- services. These changes are sometimes
more difficult than the technological ones
because libraries need to constantly rethink how
they manage, organize and provide their services
in an environment with many choices for
accessing information. Nylink and OCLC need to
help libraries cope with constant transitions.
This is no small task, but an exciting one. Our
challenge is to accomplish this in the best way so
that libraries can provide the most relevant, cost-effective
service in a continually evolving
environment. I am probably not the only
librarian who is comfortable with a fundamental
approach to issues that is analytical and
organized; but in this age, we have to be risk
takers, too, something that is not always natural
for us. We sometimes have to make decisions
when only 80 percent of the data is in hand, or
implement systems based on promise as well as
reality. This is not always comfortable but
necessary to move ahead.
I N T E R V I E W
40 OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001
What’s your vision for the near future?
An exciting one! For libraries, for Nylink, and for
OCLC! OCLC’s recent governance study, which
reaffirms the value of the library cooperative, and
its evolving new strategy to help position
libraries as the center of information delivery
will have a major impact on the libraries of the
future. Nylink will continue to take a leadership
role in making the local library voice heard as the
OCLC strategy evolves, and help individual
libraries understand options and implement new
strategies on the local library level. The OCLC
community is made real at the local level through
the interactions with the network. It is our job at
Nylink to help the members of that community
learn from each other, work together for the
benefit of all, and translate the options they have
to make the delivery of their services the best
they can be. Through OCLC services,
educational opportunities and the added services
we provide, the library networks need to make
the librarian’s job easier and streamline processes
by providing personalized services that meet
their unique needs. Using technology, we need
to continue to enhance our infrastructure to
allow librarians and library managers to help
themselves to the information and services they
need, yet always provide that personal contact
and assistance when they need it. The libraries in
the near future will be the access point to the
world’s knowledge objects, no matter the format
or physical or digital location. The library
collaborative, which has done so much to
revolutionize libraries in the past 20 years, will
transform libraries again to be an even richer
center of our educational, cultural and business
lives. What a great time to be a part of this
redefined and re- energized collaborative!
• • •
P R O D U C T N E W S
OCLC Newsletter March/ April 2001 41
PAIS International, long considered the premier
public policy database, now has more to offer its
users on the OCLC FirstSearch service.
The enhanced PAIS International includes new
indexing and record displays, which make
searching the database faster, easier and more
flexible. PAIS International on FirstSearch now
features links to full text from other databases and
electronic journals within FirstSearch, allowing
users to access a growing number of articles
online. In addition, PAIS International on
FirstSearch allows users easy access to library
holdings information and allows them to limit
their searches to items held by their own library
or to specific library collections. The link from
FirstSearch to the OCLC Interlibrary Loan service
lets users submit loan requests for materials they
need quickly and efficiently. PAIS International
on FirstSearch also integrates selected web sites,
as well as directory information for the journals,
publishers and distributors it covers. The
materials covered in the PAIS International
database go back to 1972, giving it more depth
and breadth than most web- based resources.
“ The enhancements added to PAIS in January
make it more valuable than ever to researchers
investigating topics in world affairs, public policy
and the social sciences,” said Lori Saviers, director
of Product Marketing and Licensing, Reference
and Resource Sharing Division. “ PAIS
International’s global scope and inclusion of non-
English language materials make it an attractive
resource for libraries around the world.”
“ Users will be very pleased with reloaded PAIS
International’s improved accessibility and, by
extension, usability with the new FirstSearch
functionality,” said Debra Spruill, executive
director, OCLC PAIS. “ There are 17 new access
points, including links to URL
