University of Michigan and OCLC form partnership to ensure long-term access to OAIster database

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 21 January 2009 —The University of Michigan and OCLC today announced that they have formed a partnership that will ensure continued public access to open-archive collections through the OAIster database, and will expand the visibility of these collections to millions of information seekers through OCLC services.

Launched in 2002 with grant support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, OAIster was developed to test the feasibility of building a portal to open archive collections using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). OAIster has since grown to become one of the largest aggregations of records pointing to open archive collections in the world with over 19 million records contributed by over 1,000 organizations worldwide.

Under the partnership, OAIster.org will continue to function as the public interface to OAIster collections, through funding provided by OCLC to the University of Michigan. Later in 2009, metadata harvesting operations will transfer from the University of Michigan to OCLC.

"The University of Michigan approached OCLC about managing future operations for the OAIster project to ensure its long-term viability," said John Wilkin, Associate University Librarian, University of Michigan Library. "OCLC plays a pivotal role in the business of metadata creation and distribution. Situating OAIster with OCLC helps to create an increasingly comprehensive discovery resource for users."

"OCLC welcomes the opportunity to build on the success of OAIster," said Chip Nilges, OCLC Vice President, Business Development. "Adding records for open archive collections is a natural complement to WorldCat and will drive discovery and access of these collections for a broader community of scholars."

OCLC recognizes that open archive collections are critical for scholarly research, communications and scholarship. To that end, OCLC commits to building on the success of OAIster by identifying open archive collections of interest to libraries and researchers, and ensuring that open archive collections will be freely discoverable and accessible to information seekers worldwide.

Starting in late January 2009, while OAIster continues to be freely available at the www.oaister.org Web site, OCLC will host a version of OAIster on OCLC's FirstSearch platform and make it available through subscriptions to the FirstSearch Base Package at no additional charge.

More information about the OAIster database is available at www.oaister.org.

University of Michigan Library
The University of Michigan Library preserves and provides access to a collective record of intellectual and cultural achievement. With more than 8 million volumes and one of the finest digital collections in the world, its mission is to support, enhance, and collaborate in the instruction, research and service activities of the University and its community.

About OCLC
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC is a nonprofit library service and research organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, eContent, preservation, library management and Web services to 69,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide have created and maintain WorldCat, the world's richest online resource for finding library materials.  For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

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