Global library cooperative Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC), US, has announced that OCLC Members Council and the OCLC Board of Trustees will jointly convene a Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship. The review board will represent the membership and inform OCLC on the principles and best practices for sharing library data. The group will also discuss the policy for use and transfer of WorldCat Records with the OCLC membership and library community.
The purpose of the review board is to engage the membership and solicit feedback and questions before the new policy is implemented. In order to allow sufficient time for feedback and discussion, implementation of the policy will be delayed until the third quarter of the 2009 calendar year. Jennifer Younger, Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame, and an OCLC Members Council delegate, will chair the review board. Members Council delegates and other leaders in the library community will be represented on the board.
The review board will consult with librarians and member representatives as appropriate. It will review reports, letters and comments including blog and listserv messages from the global library community regarding the revised policy. Also, it will recommend principles of shared data creation and changes in the policy for use and transfer of WorldCat Records that will preserve the community around WorldCat infrastructure and services, and strengthen libraries. Karen Calhoun, Vice President, OCLC WorldCat and Metadata Services, will serve as liaison between the board and OCLC.
In addition, the board will take into consideration other sources of review, like the recently formed ARL Study Group. It will provide findings to the President of Members Council, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, and the OCLC President and CEO.
The review board is scheduled to meet in late January to develop a work plan. It will organise information sharing and feedback sessions with Members Council delegates and other constituencies as determined by the board, and a preliminary report will be made to Members Council during its February meeting. Delegates will discuss the report at the May Members Council meeting, and a final report is scheduled to be submitted to the OCLC Board of Trustees following the May meeting. Implementation of the policy had been set for February 2009, but the policy will be under further review by the Board of Trustees and Members Council into the third quarter of 2009.
In November 2008, OCLC announced that it was implementing the new policy to update the existing guidelines for use and transfer of OCLC-Derived Records. The goals of the new policy are to modernise record use and transfer practices for application on the web, foster new uses of WorldCat data that benefit members and clarify data sharing rights and restrictions. It is intended to foster innovative use of shared records, while protecting the investment OCLC members have made in WorldCat, and ensuring that use of WorldCat records provides benefit to the membership.
