New OCLC Records Policy Generates Debate
OCLC has announced a proposed new records policy to take the place of its guidelines, effective mid-February 2009. We understand that there was a version of the policy published on November 2 that was hastily withdrawn in the face of great member pressure. Terry’s Worklog has an excellent ongoing discussion and analysis of the proposal’s implications.
The library-related blogosphere is abuzz with discussion about the potential effects of the proposed policy, from catalog ownership issues to whether it will encourage open source-like behavior to its possible relationship to the Google Books announcement. A host of excellent commentary and analysis has begun to appear; please add your suggestions or pointers to additional analyses in the comments area!
Tags: bibliographic records, catalog, oclc
November 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
A librarian managed to get a snapshot of the policy before it was pulled: http://marc.coffeecode.net/oclc_2008_11_02/
November 6th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I have been looking for a copy of the original policy, which I unfortunately did not download. It isn’t on the WayBack Machine. I would appreciate if anyone has a copy that they post it somewhere public. Thanks, kc
November 6th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
No, it’s not the Nov. 2 one that I want — it’s the one that was in force for about 10 years before this change.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
OK, I found it, still on the OCLC site.
http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/records/guidelines/default.htm
These were the guidelines put in place in 1987[1] after an attempt by OCLC in 1983[2] to declare copyright in the records in its database, which raised a great furor in the library community.
[1] Karen Calhoun’s blog posting on the new contract: http://community.oclc.org/metalogue/archives/2008/11/notes-on-oclcs-updated-record.html
[2]:”OCLC puts its database under copyright.” Wilson Library Bulletin 57 (Feb 1983): 458(1). Academic OneFile. Gale.
November 24th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
[...] for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records, last revised in the pre-Web era. (Karen Coyle points out that the Guidelines were themselves a response to an earlier attempt by OCLC to claim copyright in [...]
January 13th, 2009 at 6:23 am
[...] for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records, last revised in the pre-Web era. (Karen Coyle points out that the Guidelines were themselves a response to an earlier attempt by OCLC to claim copyright in [...]