In Part 1 of “Where the Problems Lie” I focused on some issues that I see with the set of technologies and standards that I have lumped, for simplicity’s sake, under the heading “MARC”. In this post I am passing along issues that my OCLC colleague Jean Godby ran into with her work to crosswalk […]
The Post-MARC Era, Part 2: Where the Problems Lie, Part 1
In Part 1 of this series I looked at what has become the inevitability of change in our fundamental bibliographic metadata standard MARC. And by MARC I really mean the collection of technologies, rules, carrier formats, and what have you that could be hung off that rubric. However, as I turn to identifying specific problems […]
Purdue University Libraries Launches Data Curation Profiles Directory
Purdue University Libraries (PUL) and its Distributed Data Curation Center have partnered with the Purdue University e-Pubs Repository to launch the Data Curation Profiles Directory, a new online resource that will track research data management projects at academic libraries.
Separated At Birth: Library and Publisher Metadata
The Douglas County Libraries’ (DCL) pioneering project to own, rather than license, much of its e-content has not only forged a new business model but also exposed a new frontier in metadata. As of March, about 22,000 of the library’s nearly 58,000 e-content titles had been purchased directly from publishers and stored on an Adobe Content Server (ACS), and it became quickly apparent to library staff that we were going to have to get creative with the metadata associated with this material.
The Post-MARC Era, Part 1: If It’s Televised, It Can’t Be the Revolution
Please note: This series of posts outlines my opinions and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of my OCLC colleagues or of OCLC as an organization. Also, these opinions are held regardless of any impact the paths I suggest may have on my employer. You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will […]
Innovative Interfaces Founder Sells Remaining Interest in Company to Private Equity
Jerry Kline, founder of Innovative Interfaces, the third largest North American library automation company in terms of revenue, sold his remaining shares in the company to private equity firms Huntsman Gay Global Capital and JMI Equity, which now fully own the company.
Douglas County, Smashwords Refine Selection Tools for Bulk Ebook Purchases
Completing a deal originally announced in August, Douglas County Libraries last week acquired almost 10,000 ebooks from indie distributor Smashwords, using the company’s new Library Direct service. The transaction took much longer than initially expected, but it ultimately helped both parties discover ways to weed, filter, and tweak a list of independent titles to develop an optimal collection for DCL’s patrons.
Library of Congress’ BIBFRAME Initiative: Part 2
As I described in Part 1, the Library of Congress’ “BIBFRAME” initiative is finally becoming a lot more public. With the release of the report cited in the previous post, details are now becoming a bit clearer on what the LOC envisions for our bibliographic future. Not long after the release of that report, actual […]
Consortium Makes Radical Shift Away From ILS
The deal struck in September between the Orbis Cascade Alliance and Ex Libris may be the most forceful illustration to date that that the integrated library system (ILS) is facing the same fate that ultimately befell card catalog cabinets. Over the next two years, the 37 academic libraries in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho that constitute […]
DPLA, Europeana Launch Joint Virtual Exhibition Detailing Immigration Connections
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and Europeana today announced the official launch of Leaving Europe: A new life in America, a jointly curated virtual exhibition that tells the story of European emigration to the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibition includes digitized photographs, manuscripts, broadsheets, paintings, letters, audio, government documents, and other materials from U.S. and European libraries, museums, and archives, curated to describe the experiences faced by different groups emigrating from Europe to the United States.