Global library cooperative Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC), US, has released the WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway, a new service that helps libraries and other institutions maximise the visibility of unique primary source materials, such as digital photos, newspapers, letters and diaries, through WorldCat on the Web. The service is available to all users of OCLC CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management software at no additional charge.
The WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway offers libraries a self-service tool to easily upload metadata from their unique digital content to WorldCat, an online resource for finding items held in libraries. Once the metadata is in WorldCat, libraries' digital collections are more visible and discoverable by Web searchers through WorldCat.org, WorldCat Local (including the 'quick start' version), Google, Yahoo! and other popular search engines.
The Gateway has been piloted in 12 institutions. Since May, the pilot participants used the Gateway self-service tools to upload thousands of records from their CONTENTdm collections into WorldCat. Because they have used the Gateway to set up profiles for their collections, the pilot users' metadata will be regularly uploaded to WorldCat as they add to their digital collections over time.
As libraries, museums and other cultural heritage organisations continue to upload CONTENTdm metadata, they are creating a collective digital repository to enrich the resources available to their end users. End users will be able to search WorldCat to find the resources they need from their library's digital collections of rare, historic or local materials, along with materials provided by other libraries around the world. Users will be able to click on items and visit these unique collections virtually by viewing items immediately on their computer screen-anytime, from anywhere.
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