Members Council holds February meeting

The OCLC Members Council met February 8-10 in Dublin, Ohio to discuss global issues and solutions to challenges facing libraries worldwide.

Christine Deschamps, Past President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and former Members Council delegate and OCLC trustee, shared her experiences as a participant in the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2003. A panel of international Members Council delegates then reacted to the Summit report and provided perspective on challenges facing libraries in their respective regions of the world.

Delegates also heard from colleagues who offered innovative solutions to challenges facing libraries today. Paul Gherman, Vanderbilt University, described a cooperative, virtual storage system in development that will enable participants to discard duplicate copies of seldom-used titles that are permanently held by other participants. Wim van Drimmelen, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB), discussed the KB e-Depot, an archive for long-term preservation of electronic publications held by the KB. Bruce Newell, Montana State Library, led a panel discussion on innovative strategies for overcoming economic challenges.

In a report on OCLC’s pricing structure, Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO, noted that by July 1, 2004, OCLC will offer subscription pricing for cataloging and interlibrary loan for all libraries, with transaction-based pricing still available to libraries not ready to move to subscription pricing.

A resolution passed by delegates will add a fourth delegate-at-large position to the Members Council Executive Committee. Another will add a clause to the “Guidelines of the OCLC WorldCat Principles of Cooperation” to discourage unauthorized use of OCLC-derived records.

At their next conference, May 23-25, delegates will elect two new trustees to the OCLC Board from among four nominees: Ernie Ingles, University of Alberta; Vickey Johnson, Sunnyvale (California) Public Library; Emma Bradford Perry, Southern University; and Bob Seal, Texas Christian University. One focus for that conference will be discussion of the recently published OCLC Environmental Scan, according to Mr. Seal, current Members Council President.

News Updates