Open everything, everywhere, all at once

“This is the first in a series of blog posts exploring the evolving Open landscape, library roles and OCLC’s place within it. This post provides a general overview of Open, sign-posting important categories as they relate to libraries and exploring motivations that draw libraries – and other stakeholders – into this ecosystem. Subsequent posts will describe OCLC’s engagement in the Open landscape and examine our distinctive position as a member-driven infrastructure partner.”

 

Tips for requesting articles from Internet Archive on OCLC’s resource sharing network | OCLC

“Join us for a webinar on November 9 to learn how Internet Archive is now quickly fulfilling Interlibrary Loan (ILL) requests for articles at no charge from libraries that use WorldShare ILL, Tipasa, and ILLiad. Staff at Internet Archive (OCLC symbol: IAILL) supply articles fast—with an average turnaround time of 37 minutes on OCLC’s resource sharing network.”

Open ecosystems: The heartbeat of modern librarianship

“This year’s OCLC Global Council area of focus is “Libraries and Open Ecosystems.” Through this lens, we are hosting leadership discussions on topics that are important to libraries, including the New Model Library, open research, and metadata challenges. We are also exploring what it means “to be open”—which, I believe, is the essence of what all modern libraries are striving for….

For leaders looking to be more open, I’d specifically recommend connecting with your staff first. Open data and technical infrastructures are important, but developing interest in the topics you identify will be key to your success. Encourage staff to share new concepts and aspirations. There’s a good chance you’ll identify more opportunities than you have time or budget to address. But you’ll provide room for new, surprising results….”

Libraries and Open Ecosystems

“Libraries play an important role in their community ecosystem by providing crucial resources and services. As patron needs grow and change, libraries adapt to meet those needs. While much of this work happens at a local level, when libraries work together we can achieve global impact.

Through this year’s focus on “Libraries and Open Ecosystems,” OCLC Global Council, together with OCLC Research, will explore the broader impact of the library in its local ecosystem, in other words, the library’s symbiotic relationship with the social, educational, informational, and environmental infrastructure of the community where it is located.

Through a three-part webinar series, Global Council and OCLC Research will partner to bring together thought leaders from around the world to explore how libraries can and do contribute to open ecosystems. Bringing impactful change to the communities we serve.”

Europeana’s partnership with OCLC brings cultural heritage to new audiences | Europeana Pro

“In October, we were delighted that our partnership with the global library cooperative OCLC came to fruition by making millions of cultural heritage items from Europeana available through the database WorldCat. We speak to Tim Martin, Director of Business Development and Publisher Relations at OCLC, to find out more….”

Research Information Management in the United States

“The Research Information Management in the United States two-part report series provides a first-of-its-kind documentation of RIM practices at US research universities that presents a thorough examination of RIM practices, goals, stakeholders, and system components.

Research information management (RIM) is a rapidly growing area of investment in US research universities. While RIM practices are mature in Europe and other locales in support of nationalized reporting requirements, RIM practices at US research universities have taken a different—and characteristically decentralized—course. A complex environment characterized by multiple use cases, stakeholders, and systems has resulted. 

This report provides a landscape overview of the state of research information management in the United States, makes sense of the complexity, and offers recommendations targeted at University leaders and other institutional decision makers. 

We hope that the information presented in this report can support library leaders in talking about RIM systems and practices with institutional stakeholders and to advocate for the role of the library in this work.”