Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship issues final report

The Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship has issued its final report recommending that the proposed Policy on Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records be withdrawn and a new policy drafted.

After review of the recommendations, OCLC has formally withdrawn the proposed policy. A new group will soon be assembled to begin work to draft a new policy with more input and participation from the OCLC membership.

Until a new policy is in place, OCLC has reaffirmed the existence and applicability of the "Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records" which have been in place since 1987, as recommended by the Review Board.

"The OCLC Board of Trustees is grateful to the Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship for its diligent work in gathering input from the library community, examining the issues closely and reporting their findings back to the OCLC membership," said Larry Alford, Chair, OCLC Board of Trustees and Dean of University Libraries, Temple University. "The Review Board's recommendations and report will help shape OCLC's approach to drafting a new policy."

Read the news release

About the Review Board

OCLC announced in November 2008 that it would update the policy for use and transfer of WorldCat records in an effort to modernize record use and transfer practices for application on the Web and foster new uses of WorldCat data that benefit members and clarify data sharing rights and restrictions. The policy was intended to foster innovative use of shared records, while protecting the investment OCLC members have made in WorldCat and ensuring that use of WorldCat records provides benefit to the membership.

Implementation of the policy was delayed after questions and concerns were raised. In February, the OCLC Board of Trustees and Members Council named the Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship to represent the membership and inform OCLC on the principles and best practices for sharing library data.

The charge of the Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship was to:

• Review reports, letters and comments including blog and listserv messages from the global library community regarding the proposed Policy
• Consult with librarians and member representatives as appropriate
• Recommend principles of shared data creation and changes in the proposed Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records that would preserve the community around WorldCat infrastructure and services, and strengthen libraries

Members of the Review Board

	Jennifer Younger (INCOLSA) Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame Review Board Chair		Caroline Brazier (EMEA) Head of Resource Discovery, British Library
	Christopher Cole (FEDLINK) Associate Director for Technical Services, National Agriculture Library		Poul Erlandsen (EMEA) Head, Document Access Services and Collection Management, Danish University of Education, National Library of Education
	Pat French (OCLC Western) Manager, Collection and Technical Services, Multnomah County Library		Clifford A. Lynch Executive Director, Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)
	Brian E. C. Schottlaender (OCLC Western) The Audrey Geisel University Librarian, UC San Diego Libraries		Ted Schwitzner (ILLINET) Head, Bibliographic Services Division, Illinois State University, Milner Library
	Roberta Shaffer (FLICC/FEDLINK/LC) Executive Director, Federal Library and Information Center Committee, Library of Congress		Lamar Veatch (COSLA/SOLINET) State Librarian, Georgia Public Library Service—University System of Georgia
	Elsie Weatherington (SOLINET) Dean, University Library, Virginia State University

OCLC Liaison to Review Board

Karen Calhoun OCLC WorldCat and Metadata Services

Forum at ALA in July

An OCLC Review Board Open forum will be held at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on Sunday, July 12, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, in the Chicago Hilton Waldorf Room. Members of the Review Board will discuss findings from their report and answer questions.

Register for the session

Related documents

• Final report of the Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship
• Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records
• Principles of Cooperation
• Guidelines for contributions to WorldCat