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OCLC WorldShare Management Services

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Reminder: The deadline for transitioning over to WorldShare ILL, May 19th, 2014, is fast approaching. Whether you’ve made the switch or are in the process of doing so, we encourage you to participate in the following upcoming webinar to hear about a fellow member’s experience in moving to WorldShare ILL.

Coming in March 2014: WorldCat Discovery Services

In March 2014, OCLC will release WorldCat Discovery Services, a new suite of cloud-based applications that brings FirstSearch® and WorldCat® Local services together, making it possible for more than 18,000 FirstSearch libraries to offer a richer discovery experience for users.

A central index expands e-content access to all FirstSearch libraries

WorldCat Discovery Services will enable users to discover more than 1.3 billion electronic and physical resources in libraries around the world through a single search of WorldCat and a central index representing nearly 2,000 e-content collections. WorldCat Discovery will enable information seekers from mutually subscribing libraries to search authoritative sources from providers such as EBSCO, Gale and ProQuest.

Direct links from citations to full-text resources will be available for libraries that use OCLC cataloging and the WorldCat® knowledge base. Resources not available electronically can be delivered through integrated interlibrary loan.

New features for FirstSearch subscribers

  • A new user interface that adapts automatically to mobile devices
  • Access to a central index that represents more than a billion articles, e-books and other e-content
  • The ability to manage access to digital collections with CONTENTdm “quick start”
  • Direct links to full-text resources to which a library subscribes
  • A built-in A to Z list
  • A library’s resources listed first in search results

Additional new features provided for libraries that maintain up-to-date holdings in WorldCat

Libraries that maintain current holdings in WorldCat will also continue to benefit from increased visibility of their resources in WorldCat.org and through search engines and other popular websites where people often begin their research.

A year-long transition

WorldCat Discovery Services will be available to all current FirstSearch subscribers in March 2014 as part of existing subscriptions. FirstSearch will operate in parallel during a year-long transition, allowing libraries to choose their transition timing. WorldCat Local and WorldShare® Management Services libraries can begin to use WorldCat Discovery Services during a beta period that begins in April 2014.

WorldCat Discovery Services was developed and refined with feedback from more than 650 beta participants from the FirstSearch user community as well as a 30-member Advisory Group.

Video preview – Take a look at WorldCat Discovery Services (3 min.)

Find out more about WorldCat Discovery and sign up for an upcoming webinar »

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Upcoming WMS learning opportunities

WorldShare Management Services Live Demonstration: Print Collections

During this one-hour demonstration in the live WorldShare® platform, you’ll see WorldShare Management Services in action. We’ll give you ideas on how to simplify library management workflows and improve discovery and access of your library’s physical collections, including print materials, journals and serials.

Date: 18 February 2014

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

Register here>>

WorldShare Management Services Live Demonstration: Electronic Collections

During this one-hour demonstration in the live WorldShare® platform, you’ll see WorldShare Management Services in action. We’ll give you ideas on how to simplify library management workflows and improve discovery and access for your library’s e-collections, including databases, e-books, e-journal packages and open access collections.

Date: 20 March 2014

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

Register here>> 

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Introducing WorldShare Metadata and WorldShare Interlibrary Loan!

The library community has made it clear that traditional management systems lack the flexibility to meet the challenges of changing collections and the needs of library users. And since the demand for library services has never been higher, new collaborative and innovative solutions are needed now more than ever.

With ongoing member feedback, we are now incrementally moving new and existing OCLC services to the WorldShare Platform, including WorldShare Metadata and WorldShare Interlibrary Loan. One of the key design principles for the WorldShare architecture is vendor neutrality, recognizing that libraries work within an environment of non-OCLC and OCLC services.  Learn about these exciting new WorldShare services and applications here!

Learn how libraries implement change in the cloud (Please post on OCLC WorldShare page)

In this Library Journal/OCLC webcast, Joseph Janes discusses the challenges libraries face today and what the future holds. Then three librarians share how their libraries have benefitted from OCLC cloud-based intregration, experiencing streamlined workflows that free up their time and resources.

Watch video and recording here>>

Developers can now build applications with real-time data from the new WorldCat Live! API
Developed by the OCLC Innovation Lab, the WorldCat Live! API provides a real-time stream of newly added records of library collections and published materials to WorldCat. It is freely available under the Open Data Commons Attribution License.  View API live here!

OCLC and Gale expand partnership
OCLC and Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, have agreed to make all Gale databases and archives fully discoverable through WorldCat Local, and to explore broadening discoverability of Gale collections through other applications available through the OCLC WorldShare Platform.  Learn more about the partnership here.

OCLC WorldShare Management Services: The future of library management is now
Join OCLC for live, one-hour Web sessions and learn about this new approach to managing library services cooperatively. OCLC WorldShare™ Management Services not only streamline back-office workflows like cataloging, acquisitions and circulation, and resource sharing they also connect directly to WorldCat Local—a next-gen discovery too—making it easier and faster to get resources into your patrons’ hands.

Register to listen live, or to get the recordings later here. January 15, 1:00-2:00pm CDT “The future of library management is now” January 16, 10:00-11:00am CDT, “Transforming Discovery and Resource Sharing with OCLC: FirstSearch, WorldCat Resource Sharing and More.” Register to listen live or to get the recording later here.

OCLC WorldShare Management Services: The future of library management is now

Join OCLC for live, one-hour Web sessions and learn about this new approach to managing library services cooperatively. OCLC WorldShare™ Management Services not only streamline back-office workflows like cataloging, acquisitions and circulation, and resource sharing they also connect directly to WorldCat Local—a next-gen discovery too—making it easier and faster to get resources into your patrons’ hands.

Register to listen live, or to get the recordings later here. January 15, 1:00-2:00 CDT “The future of library management is now” January 16, 10-11am CDT, “Transforming Discovery and Resource Sharing with OCLC: FirstSearch, WorldCat Resource Sharing and More.” Register to listen live or to get the recording later here.

News for December
–   Significant enhancements to the integrated OCLC WorldShare services. Included are updates to WorldShare Management Services, WorldShare Metadata, WorldCat knowledge base, WorldShare Discovery (now WorldCat Local), WorldShare License Manager, WorldShare Analytics and the WorldShare Platform.

–   WiLS member Nashotah House joins OCLC WorldShare Management Services community

OCLC WorldShare License Manager Demonstration
Tuesday, November 27; 1:00 pm Central
Find out how OCLC WorldShare™ License Manager can be used to manage divergent e-content workflows so that your library saves time and money and simplifies the collection development process.

WorldShare Metadata – November enhancements
WorldShare Metadata collection management automatically delivers WorldCat MARC records for all of your electronic materials. The service ensures that the metadata and access URLs for these collections are continually updated. Your users get better access, your staff gains time for other priorities, and you see improved return on the investments you have made in your collections. WorldShare Metadata collection management is the ideal solution for streamlining workflows while managing increased user demand for e-content.

WorldShare Metadata collection management has been enhanced to offer additional ways to define collections.  Previously, collections could be selected from the global WorldCat knowledge base or created title by title.  Now you can also define new WorldCat query-based collections using existing WorldCat indexes to output sets of WorldCat MARC records.  Examples of record selection criteria include:

am:blackwellreference AND yr:2011 AND mt:elc
se=early american imprints AND yr:1777 AND au:backus

WorldCat query-based collections can be set to output data daily or as a one-time collection.  Daily delivery will output new records for titles that meet your query criteria as the records are added to WorldCat.

New 856 field editing options for URLs can be defined for WorldCat query-based collections.  Using the “Retain 856 Fields with these domains” option, the system retains only the matching 856 fields from the WorldCat master record based on your customized list.  If a record is also in a WorldCat knowledge base standard collection, the 856 URLs is based on your library’s knowledge base data.

Please visit the WorldShare Metadata collection management website and note there is a link to a pre-recorded webinar and the option to register for an upcoming free webinar to be held on Nov. 13 and Nov. 27.  If you are not familiar with this new service, we invite you attend the webinar to learn more.

WorldshareWorldShare Metadata—Managing Metadata for eBook Collections Recording

To respond to the changing nature of library collections and user expectations, OCLC is expanding its services to provide efficient management, discovery and access to electronic resources.OCLC is working with pilot libraries to test new functionality to output MARC records and manage URLs based on collections of e-resources in the WorldCat knowledge base, eliminating the need to create metadata on a record-by-record basis. This new collection management functionality will be released later in 2012 as part of WorldShare Metadata.In 2013, more collection management enhancements will be added, and OCLC will release new record-at-a-time metadata functions that span physical, licensed and digital materials across multiple metadata formats. OCLC will also expose data in the form of Web and data services through the OCLC WorldShare Platform for use by library developers and partners to create and share new applications that enhance current features and connect with other platforms.WorldShare Metadata will be available to all libraries with an OCLC cataloging subscription and will work with other OCLC services as well as traditional integrated library systems (ILS). Managing Metadata for E-book Collections – watch now!!

The focus of this popular event held during ALA Annual in Anaheim, California, was metadata management for e-book collections. Speakers included member librarians Tom Larsen, Head of Monographic Cataloging at Portland State University and Holly Tomren, Head, Metadata Services, Drexel University. Hear Tom discuss the integration of PDA (patron driven acquisition) into library processes as part of a consortial pilot. Holly shares her library’s experience as a pilot library testing new collection management functionality currently in development at OCLC. David Whitehair, OCLC Senior Product Manager, provides an overview of WorldShare Metadata and the collection management functionality coming later in 2012, and Chris Martire, Director, OCLC Member Services, kicks off the event, which drew 101 participants.

WorldShare Interlibrary Loan to replace WorldCat Resource Sharing in 2013
WorldShare Interlibrary Loan will replace WorldCat Resource Sharing in 2013, as part of libraries’ existing subscriptions. The transition from WorldCat Resource Sharing to WorldShare Interlibrary Loan will transform traditional interlibrary loan into a much broader fulfillment service in which interlibrary loan is one of many fulfillment options available to library staffs. In addition, library users will benefit from a new user experience for OCLC FirstSearch that will combine the user-friendly features of WorldCat.org with precision searching of FirstSearch. This will give staff the precision searching and expanded record views they need to accurately search and find items, and will let users see only what is meaningful to them to find and get to library content.

OCLC held a program about upcoming changes for WorldCat Resource Sharing and FirstSearch at the ALA Annual conference in June 2012. A recording of this program, “Transforming Discovery and Resource Sharing with OCLC: FirstSearch, WorldCat Resource Sharing and More,” is now available on the OCLC website. You may also link directly to each of the presentations from this program:

Recordings of other OCLC programs held at the ALA Annual conference in June are also available on the OCLC website.

Among the ALA Annual 2012 recordings available from the OCLC website are:

Open data license for WorldCat-derived records
If your library is considering releasing catalog data on the Web, OCLC recommends the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-BY) for WorldCat data

— If your library is considering releasing catalog data on the Web, OCLC recommends the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-BY) for WorldCat data

Viterbo University reduces clicks in new workflow with OCLC WorldShare™ Management Services
If you weren’t able to make it to WiLS World in July,view slides about Viterbo University’s move to Webscale from Gretel Stock-Kupperman.
By Gretel Stock-Kupperman, Director, Viterbo University

Located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Viterbo is a Catholic Franciscan institution. Viterbo University’s Todd Wehr Memorial Library has 9.125 FTE managing its resources and serving the student population.

“When I started at Viterbo University in late March 2010, we began exploring ways we could better organize the library to continue moving forward and meeting our patron’s needs. We have a small staff and we wear many hats, so that means we are always looking for ways to increase efficiencies. We assessed all of our resources, services and processes, and then created the library’s first strategic plan. In that plan was evaluating our options for enhancing the organization and discovery of our resources.

Beginning with the basics
In early 2011, I attended an OCLC WorldShare Management Services event at the ALA Midwinter conference, which included a demo. What really blew me away was that finding an item through WorldShare Management Services—which uses WorldCat as its foundation—selecting it, ordering it, receiving it and cataloging it, took a matter of three or four clicks. The speed of work in OCLC WorldShare Management Services versus our existing system was staggering in comparison. The fact that our cataloging backlog was the equivalent of two years of work for one staff member made it that much more appealing.”

Read this story >>

OCLC adds Linked Data to WorldCat.org
OCLC is taking the first step toward adding linked data to WorldCat by appending Schema.org descriptive mark-up to WorldCat.org pages. WorldCat.org now offers the largest set of linked bibliographic data on the Web. With the addition of Schema.org mark-up to all book, journal and other bibliographic resources in WorldCat.org, the entire publicly available version of WorldCat is now available for use by intelligent Web crawlers, like Google and Bing, that can make use of this metadata in search indexes and other applications.

Commercial developers that rely on Web-based services have been exploring ways to exploit the potential of linked data. The Schema.org initiative–launched in 2011 by Google, Bing and Yahoo! and later joined by Yandex–provides a core vocabulary for mark-up that helps search engines and other Web crawlers more directly make use of the underlying data that powers many online services.

OCLC is working with the Schema.org community to develop and add a set of vocabulary extensions to WorldCat data. Schema.org and library-specific extensions will provide a valuable two-way bridge between the library community and the consumer Web. Schema.org is working with a number of other industries to provide similar sets of extensions for other specific use cases.

The opportunities that linked data provides to the global library community are in line with OCLC’s core strategy of collaboratively building Webscale with libraries. Adding linked data to WorldCat records makes those records more useful–especially to search engines, developers and services on the wider Web, beyond the library community. This will make it easier for search engines to connect non-library organizations to library data.

“Schema.org introduces an important new standard,” said Richard Wallis, OCLC Technology Evangelist. “Making library information compatible with the rich data sources now being published widely on the Web will establish libraries as a major hub in the linked data universe. This enhancement demonstrates the WorldShare Platform vision by exposing rich bibliographic and authority data on behalf of OCLC member libraries.”

WorldCat has been built by thousands of member libraries over the last four decades and is the world’s largest online registry of library collections. OCLC will continue to engage the library community and the larger developer communities to research, discuss and inform the progression of linked data projects on behalf of member libraries.

“Libraries generate, maintain and improve an enormous amount of high-quality data that is valuable well beyond traditional library boundaries,” said Eric Miller, President of Zepheira, a professional services company that promotes the Web as a platform to manage information, and is assisting OCLC with linked data strategy. “By operating as a kind of switchboard to and from other data-driven resources, WorldCat data can better connect students, scholars and businesspeople to library resources.”

OCLC sees Schema.org as a timely and significant development toward linked data technology adoption that will provide recognizable benefits for libraries. “OCLC Research has been a lead participant in putting semantic structure in the Web for many years,” according to Jeff Young, OCLC Software Architect. “Schema.org gives us a search engine friendly vocabulary to describe our complex data environment. It conveniently allows various communities to join authoritative sources on the Web, such as Dewey, VIAF and FAST headings, using the same structures.”

Further demonstrating its role in providing linked library data, OCLC has recently announced that the full set of DDC 23–more than 23,000 assignable numbers and captions in English–is now available as linked data.

OCLC is committed to the stability and improved functionality of linked bibliographic data. It is likely that such mark-up may evolve over the coming months as the community develops a common understanding. This release should be considered experimental and subject to change. This linked data release of WorldCat.org is made available by OCLC under the Open Data Commons Attribution License.

OCLC and EBSCO develop partnership to offer interoperability of services and increased options for discovery
Libraries can now elect to use EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) with WorldCat Data for customized collection discovery. OCLC and EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) have signed an agreement to make EDS interoperable with OCLC WorldShare Management Services, enabling libraries to use EDS as their discovery layer and WorldShare Management Services as their library management system. Additionally, the companies are investigating working toward an integrated solution allowing WorldCat Local users who also subscribe to EDS to search and retrieve results from EDS within the WorldCat Local service.

Libraries using the integrated EDS-WMS solution will be able to perform cataloging, acquisitions, license management and circulation in OCLC’s next generation cloud-based management system, while providing their patrons with the EDS discovery service as a user front end. OCLC and EBSCO are working together to integrate such key WMS functions into EDS as patron identity management, item availability, circulation and system configuration. Because libraries using this integrated solution will catalog in WorldCat, users of EDS in this configuration will have the ability to access all of WorldCat.

“The EBSCO-OCLC approach provides libraries with flexibility and choice,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “It enables them to configure their discovery, content and management services according to their needs. It reduces duplication of effort at the same time that it vastly increases the availability of library resources. It will be a model for future collaboration on the WorldShare Platform across the library ecosystem.”

“Libraries’ situations vary so greatly that the over-arching need is for options and customization,” said Tim Collins, President of EBSCO Publishing. “This partnership allows libraries using WorldCat Local and OCLC WorldShare Management Services to customize the approach to discovery and collection utilization for their institutions, while exposing an even broader array of content available via EDS.”

“This affiliation between EDS and WMS illustrates the value of building partnerships in service to libraries using the OCLC WorldShare Platform,” said Chip Nilges, OCLC Vice President, Business Development. This strategic partnership reflects OCLC’s commitment to provide broader access to the Platform environment and WorldCat data, outside of OCLC developed applications. “Partners like EBSCO can take advantage of the same infrastructure that OCLC uses to build and maintain its own services, providing libraries with an extended range of options that take advantage of the same core data.”

 

Libraries in Australia Begin Pilots of OCLC Worldshare Management Services
Just weeks after OCLC began operating a new data center in Sydney, libraries in Australia began pilot projects to implement OCLC WorldShare Management Services, the cooperative’s new cloud-based approach to managing library services that provide tools to improve library workflows, reduce costs and offer new opportunities for collaboration.

OCLC WorldShare Management Services provide a Web-based environment that streamlines cataloguing, acquisitions, license management and circulation, and offer a next-gen discovery tool for library users.

Both replacing and standing apart from traditional integrated library systems, OCLC WorldShare Management Services enable libraries to share infrastructure costs and resources, as well as collaborate in ways that free them from the restrictions of local hardware and software. WorldShare Management Services also offer the ability to manage collections of print, electronic and digital material from start-to-finish, and the integration of license management features into interlibrary loan processes set WorldShare apart from legacy systems.

Libraries participating in Australian implementation pilot projects include:

  • Auburn Public Library (Sydney)
  • Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School (Melbourne)
  • Academic Centre, Newman College & St Mary’s College (Victoria)
  • Shire of Collie Public Library
  • St Ignatius’ College, Riverview (Sydney)
  • St Michael’s Collegiate School (Tasmania)
  • The Hutchins School (Tasmania)
  • Trinity Theological College (Perth)

“Pilot participants are helping to promote library innovation in this part of the world, and they are expanding the possibilities for collaboration for the entire OCLC cooperative,” said Chris Thewlis, OCLC Regional Manager, Australia. “We are very pleased that these libraries are taking the lead in adopting this new, innovative approach to cooperative library management services.”

OCLC staff in Melbourne are responsible for implementing and supporting WorldShare Management Services in libraries in Australia and New Zealand. Staff in Melbourne have been working closely with OCLC staff around the world to prepare them for implementation of the new services in Australian libraries. This team has extensive experience in supporting libraries in the region; the team supports 400 libraries using Amlib library management software, as well as VDX implementations, many of which are large, state-wide groups hosted by OCLC.

In March 2012, OCLC began operating a new data center in Sydney, Australia, to support OCLC WorldShare Management Services for members in Australia and New Zealand. The Sydney center is the fourth data center in OCLC’s global network. OCLC opened a data center in the United Kingdom in December 2011 and maintains two primary operations data centers in the United States.

The Sydney center employs state-of-the-art technologies to ensure high levels of performance, reliability, scalability and cost-effectiveness. Key facilities features include high-performance Internet services with multiple service providers to ensure efficient routing, fully redundant heating and cooling systems, continuous power from multiple sources, and best-of-breed security controls and practices.

In addition, the new center enables OCLC to comply with access and data privacy requirements in Australia and New Zealand, and adhere to technical standards that promote the cost-effective, worldwide sharing of information across platforms, and support scripts, languages and cultural materials. OCLC recently obtained its ISO 27001 certification which bolsters the position of trust in OCLC-hosted solutions and will assure the security of member data.

More about OCLC WorldShare Management Services can be found on the website.

The OCLC WorldShare Platform is the technical infrastructure on which OCLC’s Webscale services are built and provides data, tools and services for library developers, users and partners to create and share applications collectively. Libraries can build applications to meet local needs, while benefiting from the innovation of the broader global library community.