[Web4lib] Interesting item about OCLC broadening public access to services via the web

[Sloan, Bernie]

Some of this will be old news to some of you, but it's kind of
interesting to see it all pulled together in one brief item.

"Over the next few months, a series of pilot projects will expand OCLC's
Open WorldCat project into a full-featured, Web-integrated library
service. In December 2004, OCLC...opened WorldCat...to Google, Yahoo!
Search, and other outlets...With the new eSerials pilot project, OCLC
will begin expanding content to electronic journal collections. The
reference services pilot will link Web searchers to reference
librarians-sometimes live ones-through an 'Ask a Librarian' feature. The
bookselling pilot connects Open WorldCat searchers directly with book
purchasing options made by OCLC with Baker and Taylor."

Even a mention of the possibility of an "experiment to solicit
'wiki'-style input and book reviews from users".

Full text at:

Quint, Barbara. OCLC Pilots Traditional Libraries into Web Services.
NewsBreaks. July 5, 2005.
http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb050705-2.shtml 

Bernie Sloan
Senior Information Systems Consultant
Consortium of Academic & Research Libraries in Illinois
616 E. Green Street, Suite 213
Champaign, IL  61820-5752

Phone: (217) 333-4895
Fax:   (217) 265-0454
E-mail: bernies at uillinois.edu