WorldCat Local to be piloted
Last month I commented on the possibility of a WorldCat Local.
Yesterday OCLC announced that they are to pilot the service, based upon WorldCat.org, starting with the University of Washington later this month.
Through a locally branded interface, the service will provide libraries the ability to search the entire WorldCat database and present results beginning with items most accessible to the patron.
A development that those libraries who use their funds to be part of the OCLC club, will be watching with interest.
Yet another clear demonstration that the library world is changing. The traditional boundaries between the ILS/LMS, and library and non-library data services are blurring. Get your circulation from here; your user-interface from there; get your global data from over there; your acquisitions from somewhere else; and blend it with data feeds from here, there and everywhere is becoming more and more a possibility.
Communities and organizations both large and small, expensive and/or closed, open and/or free, organized or ad hoc will all play their part in this. No doubt we will all be watching with interest the results of OCLC dipping their toe in this particular water.
(Image posted by axlotl in Flickr)
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