Moving our global cooperative forward

Jennifer Younger

NextSpace spoke with Jennifer Younger, President, OCLC Global Council (2010–2011), following the Global Council virtual meeting in July. Jennifer, who serves as Chair, Board of Directors, Catholic Research Resources Alliance, and Librarian, University of Notre Dame, talked about the future of the cooperative from the perspective of Global Council and three Regional Councils.

What have Global Council and the three Regional Councils achieved during the first year of the new governance structure?

Throughout the first year of Global Council, we reaffirmed our shared values, strengthened our understanding of the global cooperative, and celebrated the diverse perspectives that enrich our global library network. We revised the “WorldCat Principles of Cooperation” to provide up-to-date guidance so critical to the operations and services of members, and established principles of cost-sharing that will inform pricing strategies and support the public purpose. We also built a strong infrastructure to facilitate member-to-member participation and communication. Members on six continents have, or soon will, vote to elect new delegates to Global Council and leaders of their respective Regional Councils.

What approach will Global Council take to move the cooperative forward?

It is important that we focus on initiatives that directly impact how we advance our collective mission of furthering access to the world’s information. It is equally important that we continue to listen to and understand the unique challenges of our individual member libraries. From individual libraries, museums and archives to library consortia and all of their respective partners, we as a cooperative can build on our past successes only if members continue to provide value to the communities they serve—and remain relevant to information seekers.

By soliciting ongoing feedback from members through the Regional Councils, special task forces and other member-led initiatives, we will effectively represent the needs of members by informing and advising the OCLC leadership on matters most critical to members’ success. A new task force will advise the OCLC leadership teams on the development and evaluation of cost-sharing models reflective of the recently adopted cost-sharing principles. The membership can anticipate that we will ask for their involvement and input with regard to other long-term issues, as well as emerging opportunities that require more immediate action.

As a profession, we share many similar challenges, which is one essential component of why we have united in cooperation. By strengthening individual members, we will in turn increase the impact we have as a global library network.

How are members empowered to contribute to the overall goals and success of the cooperative?

Key to advancing the organization is increased member engagement. As members, we have the power to shape the future of the cooperative and the profession, and we have the power to guarantee its future success. It is easy to underestimate this power and responsibility. While many members are extremely passionate and diligent about their participation, I would like to see more members recognize how taking ownership of the cooperative will only result in realizing more member benefits. I challenge the leadership within each of our member-owners to consider the extent to which they will utilize the power of cooperative to help them meet their objectives and positively influence the global library network.

Reaching out to connect with other members, fulfilling organizational aspirations, inspiring other members by sharing and innovating together, communicating with Global Council delegates and OCLC leadership—there are countless ways members can leverage the power of the cooperative. The Regional Councils have designated several interest groups that reflect various interests of the membership. This is one way that individuals of member institutions can connect with others throughout their region on topics of importance to them.

What leadership opportunities are available for Global Council in terms of OCLC services?

OCLC members have invested in building services together to improve how our profession delivers value to many populations. In the coming months, in addition to the initiative on cost-sharing models, I look forward to working with more OCLC members on a variety of different projects and services. Web-scale Management Services will continue to unfold, which has truly been a collaborative effort, thanks to the members of the Web-scale Management Services Advisory Council. We will also explore how we can further promote the sharing of electronic resources. And together, we will advance the use of WorldCat as a shared resource that is a bibliographic record supply and registry of holdings, as well as a rich discovery environment.

OCLC’s Global Council Executive Committee will meet in Dublin, Ohio, on 25–26 October 2010. On 26 October, the entire Global Council will convene for a virtual meeting. The Global Council Executive Committee will begin planning for its Annual Meeting, which is scheduled to take place 11–14 April 2011.

WorldCat.org: Advanced citations | Expanding research opportunities for the cooperative