ProQuest and OCLC today announced the launch of a data exchange program that will share metadata across OCLC’s Worldcat Local, ProQuest’s Summon service, and the full text of ProQuest Central and ebrary e-books, enriching discoverability for users of each of these services.
“This collaboration improves the user experience by streamlining the research process and improving search comprehensiveness,” Kurt Sanford, ProQuest CEO, said in an announcement. “The information world becomes more complex every day and we feel that user innovations will require cooperation among library service providers.”
Once the data exchange is completed, libraries that subscribe to WorldCat Local and also subscribe to ProQuest Central or own any ebrary content will be able to discover ProQuest records and access the associated articles or ebooks through the WorldCat Local interface. ProQuest Central includes 27 full-text versions of ProQuest’s most highly used databases, covering 160 multidisciplinary subjects.
“OCLC member libraries will have deeper access to their ProQuest services through WorldCat Local, and those who select Summon will enjoy direct access to WorldCat and OCLC Resource Sharing,” OCLC President and CEO Jay Jordan said in the announcement. “Both discovery and delivery for library users will be markedly enhanced.”
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