Sharing resources and managing the library in new ways [OCLC]

No.12
ISSN: 1559-0011
June 2009

OCLC announces strategy to move library management services to Web scale

WorldCat Local offers libraries “quick start” to Web-scale services

OCLC is connecting the content, technology and expertise of its member libraries worldwide to create the first Web-scale, cooperative library management service. Member libraries can take the first step to realizing this cooperative service model with a new, “quick start” version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service.

“Our strategy to move library management systems to Web scale builds on OCLC’s 40-year history of innovation and cooperation,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “In 1967, OCLC Founder Fred Kilgour revealed a strategy to create an online union catalog through shared cataloging in order to reduce individual transaction costs for libraries. The result has been WorldCat, which has saved libraries millions of dollars in cataloging and interlibrary loan costs. Today, we are extending that strategy of cooperation to reduce the costs of library management functions, such as circulation and acquisitions. Our goal is to lower the total cost of managing library collections while enhancing the library user’s experience.”

Libraries that subscribe to WorldCat on the OCLC FirstSearch service will get WorldCat Local “quick start” as part of their subscription at no additional charge. WorldCat Local “quick start” offers libraries a locally branded catalog interface and simple search box that presents localized search results for print and electronic content along with the ability to search the entire WorldCat database and other resources via the Web.

This new library service design will support library management for print, electronic and licensed materials built on a new, Web-scale architecture that provides streamlined workflows and cooperative solutions. The Web-scale solution will not only include the functionality of disparate systems, it will interoperate with third-party business process systems, such as finance and human resources, and will reduce the total cost of ownership for libraries. OCLC will begin piloting the Web-scale management service components this year.

“To truly deliver network-level services—a platform-as-a-service solution—and not simply Internet-hosted solutions of current library services, new system architectures and workflows must be built that are engineered to support Web-scale transaction rates and Web-scale collaboration,” said Andrew Pace, OCLC Executive Director for Networked Library Services. “OCLC is in a unique position to create cooperative network effects in library management services on a par with OCLC Cataloging and OCLC Resource Sharing.”

OCLC will work with the more than 1,000 libraries and partners that are currently using OCLC library management systems in Europe and Asia Pacific to help build this service. These libraries will participate in this new system development by adding Web-based services to their local solutions to extend services for end users.

One interface, many formats: WorldCat.org access to OCLC electronic resources

In July 2009, OCLC will expand access to its electronic resource services through an enhanced WorldCat.org interface. Users of OCLC FirstSearch databases, NetLibrary eBooks and eAudiobooks, Electronic Collections Online eJournals, ArchiveGrid archival collection descriptions and CAMIO (the Catalog of Art Museum Images Online) art museum images will benefit from use of popular WorldCat.org features in addition to integrated search results that feature locally available resources.

This improved functionality provides users of WorldCat.org, WorldCat Local and WorldCat Local “quick start” with the ability to find and access a wide variety of content from within a unified search experience.

In addition to the single search box familiar to today’s Web users, the enhanced WorldCat.org interface will deliver new functionality—relevancy ranking and faceted browsing—to simplify finding and getting library resources. Users will also benefit from social tools, such as personal profiles, reviews, ratings and recommendations and the option to create and share lists with WorldCat users worldwide. Following the initial release in July, OCLC will expand the interface with additional enhancements on an ongoing basis.

This enhanced interface will be available at no additional charge to any library that licenses any of OCLC’s electronic resources. Existing interfaces for FirstSearch, NetLibrary, CAMIO and ArchiveGrid will continue to be available through at least 2011 to insure a smooth transition for library staff and library users.

Brian Cannan, OCLC Product Manager, said “The WorldCat.org interface will simplify information retrieval for users by bringing together relevant content irrespective of format into a single result set. This development will help users find what’s in their library and then help them get to it, in as few steps as possible.”