News from OCLC

Citation

(2002), "News from OCLC", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 36 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2002.28036dab.006

News from OCLC

News from OCLC

OCLC to use Olive Software to digitise historic newspaper collections

OCLC Digital and Preservation Resources will use Olive Software to help libraries provide full online searchable access to their historic newspapers so that these valuable resources can be preserved and made accessible over the World Wide Web.

Through a unique process that builds an index of every article, photograph and page, newspapers in print or on microfilm can be quickly and easily converted to digital format and delivered back to the library to be made accessible on its own Web site.

Olive Software enables digitisation of historic materials by providing two unique benefits: making digitisation practical by significantly reducing time and cost; and enabling browser-based, user-friendly access to, and searching of, retrospective newspaper collections. Collections digitised using Olive Software are fully searchable down to article level.

"Through this partnership with Olive, OCLC is taking a leadership role in helping libraries preserve some of their most valuable resources", said Meg Bellinger, vice president, OCLC Digital and Preservation Resources. "The large volume of pages we can process at our facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania greatly enhances the usability of important content, creating for the first time highly functional, affordable newspaper digitisation opportunities for all types and sizes of libraries to serve their users."

Olive Software Technology is the first to bring together microfilm, clippings, entire saved newspaper editions, and recent digital page files in a single electronic archive in their original printed form.

Once a newspaper collection has been digitised and prepared for online access with Olive Software, a library can mount the collection on its own server or can choose to host the collection on an OCLC server. In either case, the library retains complete control over its collection, deciding whether to provide access to just its own community or to researchers worldwide. In addition, OCLC will provide a subscription-based service to provide access to selected full-text historic newspaper collections.

"Olive Software's technology provides a long-awaited solution for the digitisation of newspapers and represents a quantum leap in the technology of converting newspapers into a Web-accessible form by eliminating the need for re-keying the text", said Ms Bellinger. "The Web interface provides high-quality research by presenting all the information in context in its originally printed form."

"Newspapers are valuable research sources for scholars", Ms Bellinger continued. "The Olive/OCLC alliance represents a major advance in making these materials more accessible and more user friendly. Users will be able to pore over libraries' collections at their convenience. Digitised fragile materials will no longer require white-glove treatment. These materials are literally being unchained from special collections rooms and microfilm readers and will be available to users when and where they need them."

"We hope that this technology will make it possible for everyone to gain easy access to the world's historic treasures, and we believe that OCLC can help us realise that goal", said Yoni Stern, President and CEO of Olive Software. "As a solid partner with a unique market position and enormous customer base, microfilm and digitisation services complementary to Olive's own, and a forward-looking strategy, OCLC will help Olive's technology reach libraries around the world, making it possible for communities to search and access written history, as it was originally printed."

OCLC FirstSearch provides outbound links to full-text articles in JSTOR archive

OCLC and JSTOR, a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in information technologies, are working together to provide electronic access to full-text articles in the JSTOR archive from the OCLC FirstSearch service. Citations in 24 OCLC FirstSearch databases link to many of the articles within journals in the five JSTOR collections: Arts and Sciences I; Arts and Sciences II; Business; Ecology and Botany; and General Science. This "outbound linking", the first to be implemented in FirstSearch, is available to libraries with access to both the FirstSearch service and JSTOR journals.

Libraries interested in activating the links to JSTOR may enable this option in a new Outbound Linking section of the Database Settings area of the FirstSearch administrative module.

"This arrangement is particularly exciting for users because many libraries already have the JSTOR collections", said Frank Hermes, vice president, OCLC Co-operative Discovery Services. "Outbound linking provides seamless access between FirstSearch and the JSTOR journals. JSTOR's rich archive will complement the full-text coverage of OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online as well as other databases in FirstSearch."

The OCLC FirstSearch service provides library professionals and library users with access to more than 70 databases including WorldCat (the OCLC Online Union Catalogue). FirstSearch is a comprehensive and complete reference service with a rich collection of databases and links to the World Wide Web, over nine million online full-text articles, full-image articles from over 3,800 electronic journals, library holdings and interlibrary loan.

OCLC and RLG working group release report on metadata framework to support preservation of digital objects

The working group on preservation metadata, an initiative jointly sponsored by OCLC and RLG (Research Libraries Group), has released A Metadata Framework to Support the Preservation of Digital Objects, a new report available on the OCLC Web site (www.oclc.org/research/pmwg/pm_framework.pdf).

The report is a comprehensive guide to preservation metadata that is applicable to a broad range of digital preservation activities. Preservation metadata is the information infrastructure necessary to support processes associated with the long-term retention of digital resources and is an essential component of most digital preservation systems. The report represents the consensus of leading experts and practitioners comprising the working group and is intended for use by organisations and institutions managing, or planning to manage, the long-term retention of digital resources.

The working group based its work on preservation metadata element sets developed by several leading institutions and organisations in the digital preservation community, as well as the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model. OAIS is a conceptual framework that articulates the primary functional components of a digital archive and establishes concepts and terminology for describing and comparing architectures and data models.

The report follows on the working group's earlier paper "Preservation metadata for digital objects: a review of the state of the art", which defined and discussed the concept of preservation metadata and identified starting points for consensus-building activity in this area. The paper is also available on the OCLC Web site (www.oclc.org/research/pmwg/presmeta_wp.pdf). "The working group's report illustrates the value of co-operatively resolving the challenges of digital preservation", said Brian Lavoie, research scientist in the OCLC Office of Research. "The most effective solutions for the long-term retention of digital resources are likely to emerge from collaboration within the digital preservation community, pooling the expertise of researchers and practitioners from a variety of institutional and geographical backgrounds. Taken together, these consensus-building efforts will establish the necessary infrastructure, in the form of standards and best practices, to support digital preservation activity."

"For institutions creating and preserving digital objects, this new OCLC/RLG report is a good resource for both preservation metadata and its relationship to the OAIS reference model", said Robin Dale, RLG programme officer. "It broadens the digital preservation toolset we've been building, which includes such aids as the RLG/OCLC report on the attributes of trusted digital repositories and RLG's OAIS practitioners' Web page."

"The work of the OCLC/RLG working group on preservation metadata has been an extremely important effort as libraries and related cultural institutions begin to tackle issues concerning digital preservation", said Rebecca Guenther, senior networking and standards specialist, Library of Congress, and Working Group member. "The working group document takes the OAIS information model closer to the goal of actually implementing archival information systems that document preservation requirements and processes and is particularly relevant to the needs of libraries. This document is an important contribution to the development of preservation metadata standards in information technology, an area where much additional work is needed."

The working group on preservation metadata (www.oclc.org/research/pmwg/) is part of a co-operative effort between OCLC and RLG to support consensus-building activity in the development of key infrastructure for digital preservation (www.rlg.org/pr/pr2000-oclc.html).

OCLC offers CONTENTdm to help libraries develop online digital collections

OCLC Digital and Preservation Resources is offering the CONTENTdm software suite as a complete solution for libraries developing online digital collections to provide preservation and access to special collections (contentdm.com).

Already in widespread use and supporting hundreds of collections the CONTENTdm software provides tools for all aspects of digital collection management. As the world's largest library co-operative, OCLC will help bring CONTENTdm to libraries of all sizes so that they can offer worldwide access to special collections.

The CONTENTdm Software Suite is based on more than six years of development in collaboration with archivists and library professionals. With its ability to handle virtually all media types, CONTENTdm supports a diverse set of collections items, including photographs, slides, maps, yearbooks, fully transcribed diaries, rare books, audio and video clips, postcards and any other asset accessible via a Web browser.

"CONTENTdm's easily understood user interface and seamless upgrade path meets the needs of a wide range of users from small public libraries to complex multi-location university and consortium installations", said Greg Zick, president of DiMeMa Inc. "OCLC has demonstrated leadership and initiative with the formation of the Digital and Preservation Co-operative. CONTENTdm will provide a powerful software tool for Digital and Preservation Resources initiatives, linking directly to WorldCat and the OCLC Digital Archive in the future." DiMeMa Inc. (Digital Media Management) was formed early in 2001 to provide support for the community of CONTENTdm users. DiMeMa's corporate objective is to provide leading software tools for content management by professional archivists. Organisations implementing CONTENTdm collections may either purchase a direct licence to install the software on their own server or can take advantage of the "hosted" version by being a member of the OCLC Digital and Preservation Co-operative. The hosted version provides full software functionality, while operating from OCLC's server.

"The CONTENTdm design and affordability make it attractive to libraries considering digitisation for the first time as well as those with highly complex digital collection requirements", said Taylor Surface, Director, Digital Content Management, OCLC Digital and Preservation Resources. "Through the OCLC Digital and Preservation Co-op libraries can learn about digitisation and show results immediately with their CONTENTdm 500-image starter kit. Once they see how easy it is to create digital collections online, they are in a better position to fund expansion of their digitisation programme."

OCLC Digital and Preservation Co-op participants come together to share knowledge and to increase the value of digital collections by combining them with other collections. The Co-op provides the latest in best practices, standards and technology white papers to help participants learn more about digitisation and preservation trends.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a non-profit organisation that provides computer-based cataloguing, reference, resource sharing and preservation services to 41,000 libraries in 82 countries and territories. OCLC was founded in 1967 to improve access to the world's information and reduce information costs, and conducts ongoing research to develop technologies to support that mission. Together, libraries and OCLC have built WorldCat, the world's largest database of bibliographic information. ForestPress, a division of OCLC since 1988, publishes the Dewey Decimal Classification system.

For further information please contact OCLC Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 7th Floor, Tricorn House, 51-53 Hagley Road, Birmingham B16 8TP, UK. Tel: +44(0) 121 456 4656; Fax: +44(0) 121 456 4680; E-mail: Europe@oclc.org; URL: www.oclc.org