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Weekly News Digest
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June 24, 2010 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today.
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New OCLC WorldCat Record Use Policy Approved
A new WorldCat record use policy, developed by a Record Use Policy Council and informed by community input, has been approved by the OCLC board of trustees. WorldCat Rights and Responsibilities for the OCLC Cooperative will be effective Aug. 1, 2010. The new policy outlines the rights and responsibilities associated with stewardship of the WorldCat bibliographic and holdings database by and for the OCLC cooperative, including the use and exchange of OCLC member-contributed data comprising WorldCat. The policy was drafted by the Record Use Policy Council, a group of 12 library leaders charged by the OCLC board of trustees to craft a replacement for the Guidelines for Use and Transfer of OCLC Derived Records, which was developed in 1987. In April 2010, the Record Use Policy Council submitted to the library community and to the OCLC board a draft policy that began a 2-month period of community review and discussion. More than 275 comments were gathered via email, phone, meetings, and letters; in an online forum; and by monitoring blogs, listservs, and Twitter. At the end of May, community input was incorporated, and a policy statement was submitted to the OCLC board, which approved the revised document during its June meeting. "We decided to emphasize a code of good practice for members of the cooperative, based on shared values, trust and reciprocity," said Jennifer Younger, co-chair of the Record Use Policy Council; president-elect, OCLC Global Council; and chair, board of directors, Catholic Research Resources Alliance. "The focus of the new policy is on member rights and responsibilities-instead of data ownership issues, detailed provisions, or restrictions-with the general aim of fostering innovation in our ever-changing information landscape." The policy is based on the premise that OCLC members value WorldCat as a comprehensive, timely, and accurate reflection of the consolidated holdings of those members. The policy's intent is to encourage the widespread use of WorldCat bibliographic data while also supporting the ongoing and long-term sustainability and utility of WorldCat and of WorldCat-based services such as resource sharing, cataloging, and discovery. The new policy will become effective Aug. 1, 2010, replacing the Guidelines for Use and Transfer of OCLC Derived Records. Because the data-sharing environment is constantly and rapidly evolving, this new policy will be regularly reviewed to ensure its continued timeliness. To view the new policy, including an FAQs and a comparison between the draft submitted for community review and the final document, visit www.oclc.org/worldcat/recorduse. Source: OCLC
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Brandi Scardilli
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