OCLC Appoints Council to Revamp WorldCat Record Use Policy
Second attempt will heed recommendations made by earlier review board
Josh Hadro -- Library Journal, 09/15/2009
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- New policy to expand "the role and value" of WorldCat
- Recommendations expected by midyear 2010
The OCLC Board of Trustees has appointed a new Record Use Policy Council to rework the terms of use governing its WorldCat bibliographic database.
This will be a second attempt at modernizing the usage guidelines for WorldCat records, after OCLC's first attempt at an overhaul fell flat. Announced in November 2008, it generated enormous controversy, with many complaining that the new policy was too restrictive and that there was insufficient consultation with OCLC constituents during its development.
In May, the Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship called for the formal withdrawal of the proposed Policy on Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records. Recommendations made to OCLC leadership included the creation of this new council, to be charged with the "development of a policy to enable expanding the role and value of WorldCat in the broad information ecosystem."
As has recently been noted by LJ and others, part of OCLC's attempt to expose library data more involves an agreement with the team responsible for the Google Book Search project.
Six members of the new Council's members also served on the Review Board, including Council co-chair Jennifer Younger, president-elect of OCLC Global Council and director of the University of Notre Dame's Hesburgh Libraries. OCLC says the review board will submit a new draft policy to its leadership for approval "in midyear 2010."
Contact the author: josh.hadro@reedbusiness.com
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