Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Wednesday, July 01, 2009

OCLC scraps WorldCat data policy, will write new one

OCLC, Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship releases final report, press release, June 26, 2009.

The Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship, convened jointly by the OCLC Board of Trustees and Members Council to represent the membership and inform OCLC on matters concerning shared data, has issued its final report recommending that the proposed Policy on Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records be withdrawn and a new policy drafted.

After review of the recommendations, OCLC has formally withdrawn the proposed policy. A new group will soon be assembled to begin work to draft a new policy with more input and participation from the OCLC membership. ...

In May, Jennifer Younger, Review Board Chair, and Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame, presented a report to OCLC Members Council recommending that the proposed policy be formally withdrawn and a new policy should be drafted. "We affirm that a policy is needed, but not this policy," said Dr. Younger. ...

[S]aid Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO: "Soon we will announce a new initiative to develop a record use policy that reflects both the rights of individual libraries and the needs of the cooperative to sustain and grow WorldCat for future generations. ..."

A new group will be named to begin work to draft a new policy. Until a new policy is in place, OCLC has reaffirmed the existence and applicability of the “Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records,” which have been in place since 1987, as recommended by the Review Board. ...

See also our past posts on WorldCat or OCLC.