October 5, 2006

1
Putting Library Services Where Our Users Live and
Work

• October 5, 2006
• Matt Goldner
• Executive Director, Cooperative Collections
  Services
• OCLC

2
Realities of information discovery

• From OCLCs Perceptions of Libraries
• and Information Resources report

93 Agree Google provides worthwhile information
85 agree Yahoo provides worthwhile information
78 agree library Web sites provide worthwhile
information
69 feel libraries and search engines provide
the same level of trustworthiness
3
How we got here

• Worked when local library was the aggregator of
  information

• Went online with our catalogs via dumb terminals
• Began to create library Web sites
• Put our OPAC on the Web
• Worked in cruisin the Internet age

4
The world changed on us Marty

• Web crawlers became search engines
• Authoritative information became Web accessible
• Quantity of aggregated information exploded
• No longer about indexing Web pages
• The Web became interactive

5
Phenomenon of aggregated demand

• eBay and Amazon changed
• how we do business
• Google built on same
• concept in different
• direction a for profit
• can give free access to
• information from
• ad revenue
• Information consumers
• are moving to free
• sources which are readily
• accessible

6
Current prevalent view of libraries

• Libraries are about books and information
• First think of books
• But majority believe mission is information
• Majority do NOT consider library a source for
  readily available information, especially digital
  content

7
Result Tectonic shift in information discovery
process by consumers
8
Riding the Tectonic Wave
9
Have seen the problem

• What do we do about it as a community?

10
A few ideas

• Move our services to where users are
• In GYM
• In other major information websites
• In other campus systems

11
ideas

• 2. Move processes up to cooperative level
• Places library where aggregated demand is
• Frees libraries to concentrate on what is best
  done locally

12
ideas

• 3. Avoid duplicative efforts
• Ties back to moving processes to the cooperative
• Exploits local skills for local needs

13
ideas

• 4. Think in Web 2.0 framework
• We can add value to the Aggregate web of data
• Think and design with Data not pages
• Build for consumers, developers and machines

14
OCLCs role

• Expose wealth of data libraries have
  cooperatively built free to users on the Web
• Expose information delivery services of libraries
  free to users on the Web
• Expose librarys full range of services and
  collections to users on the Web
• OCLC is just the platform, the local library is
  the focus

15
Exposing library data
16
How this has worked to date

• Open WorldCat statistics for typical month
• Total Referrals 7,625,258. 
• Average Daily Searches 245,976.
• Links to Library Services
• We had 387,779 clicks to library services
• constituting a 5.1 click-through rate.
• We are currently averaging over 14,000 clicks a
  day
• from direct ISBN and OCLC links

17
How this works going forward

• Continue Open WorldCat affiliates program
• http//worldcat.org
• Downloadable search box

18
Another way to think about it
FirstSearch WorldCat value increased
substantially by WorldCat.org
FY2006 OCLC FirstSearch WorldCat revenue
16.0 million
19
Discovery
without
Delivery?
20
A fulfillment service should

• Give the user as much or as little as they want
• The way they want it
• With the fewest barriers possible

21
This requires

• Links to local Circulation system
• Links to local resolvers for licensed content
  access
• Links to commercial document suppliers
• Links to commercial book suppliers
• Links to digital collections
• Cooperative access to open access materials
• Ability to authorize the user to level necessary
  for the requested service

22
This ALSO requires

• Smarter universal resolution services
• Not just to e-content available online
• But to all delivery silos a library has

23
Some OCLC initiatives

• Universal resolution service
• Open the Policies Directory to web services
• Open and extend IFM into global payment service
• Interoperate with local circulation system
• Create set of global data registries

24
What it should look like
Discovery
FIND IT!
Fulfillment
GET IT!
25
Further information

• Perceptions Report http//www.oclc.org/reports/20
  05perceptions.htm