1. Going 'On-Web‘ Google, Yahoo, Open WorldCat and Library Services
Chip Nilges
Lorcan Dempsey
OCLC

2. Overview

3. Overview
Environment
Open WorldCat
Issues/opportunities

4. The Amazoogle user environment
Four perceived user attributes?
Comprehensive
Accessible
Immediate gratification (but see Google Scholar)
‘Followability’ of data
For many, the first and last resort of research
Available at the point of need

5. The Amazoogle platform
Creating network application platforms
Massive data and computational hubs in a loosely coupled world
E-bay, Google, Amazon, …

6. Open WorldCat on web Connect library users to library
services on the open web …
… by leveraging the WorldCat platform …
… which has been co-created by member
libraries and OCLC.

7. Open WorldCat
Background
Demonstration
Experience to date

8. History of Open WorldCat
Rationale
Research
Pilot
Service
Rationale
2000 corporate strategy – weave libraries into the web Help members make collections visible and available wherever their patrons are looking for information
This included licensed resources that libraries make available from w/in their portals as well as open Web resource, such as search engines
Supported by research we did and elsewhere, showing that researchers and students increasingly beginning their research in search engines, etc
Also discussed with OCLC advisory groups and library directors around the country
Value proposition for membership – solve many to many problem through the use of a shared infrastructure
Value proposition for search engines – holdings of 9000 libraries in your service
Began with pilot in fall 2002, with selected book vendors, to test value proposition – known item linking from book catalogs (ABAA, Alibris)
Based on this decided to make subset of 2 million most widely held records available for harvesting by search engines
Partial records
Spring of 2003 discussed with Google, which was receptive, and signed contract SU 2003
Fall of 2003 put up records, which Google began harvesting in December
WI of 2004 Yahoo! Approach us and we formed partnership
Yahoo! Ingested 2 million records in May
Traffic grew, and the membership responded positively to the program
In SU 2004, based on success of the pilot, made decision to evolve the pilot into a service
All 57 million records
Usage states for libraries to track activity
Incorporated into WorldCat subscription as of July 2005 (paid inclusion model – subscription to WorldCat = holdings display)

9. Discovery Fulfillment Public Web Private Web Open WorldCat WorldCat
Library lookup
OPAC link
Public
Web
Open WorldCat is evolutionary for OCLC, not revolutionary.
As this slide shows
We have come to thing of WorldCat as a library search cooperative – a cooperatively built and managed service that connects library users with the collections of the OCLC membership Compliments our cataloging and resource sharing cooperatives.
Leverages library cooperation to build shared infrastructure that lowers local library costs and improves local servic.
Quandrants represent the universe of Web search, which includes public and private web services (open/dark)
Also includes discovery – searching an engine or sifting through a Web site – and fulfillment – getting to the item described
Our starting point: End-user access to OCLC member collections - 50 million searches/year 20k institutions with access
Services available include those listed
From there, remaining in private Web, we added WC linking program
Surfaces member collections collections in licensed services – 12 partners, 20,000+ links in March
Grolier for fee model
From there, in early FY05, we launched the WC group catalog service
Union catalog based on holdings
Includes public view of consortial holdings – first production foray into open Web
Common infrastructure for union catalogs
5 installed – including two states -- with a number in the pipeline 30k searches in March
Next, Open WorldCat
Common infrastructure for surfacing member collections
Two models – known item link to holdings/seeding search engines
Currently in pilot
Required developing new services – library lookup, OPAC linking, gateway to authenticated services
Looking at this in total shows the progression in our efforts to use WC to broaden library access
I’m going to focus on open worldcat
From
A monolithic reference database
Expensive search
Staff orientation
Private resource
All services bundled
content, holdings, fulfillment options
Single funding model To
A library “search” cooperative
Lightweight search
End-user orientation
Public and private service
Modular service model
All or some content
All or some services (eg, holdings only)
Self-service for patrons, libraries, partners
Multi-source funding
Authentication
WorldCat
Group Catalog
OpenURL services
Resource sharing
Circulation
E-licensed resource
WorldCat linking:
Outbound & Inbound
Private
Web
Patron View of
WorldCat

10. Demonstration

12. Compare to search in oregan state university (89 hits in OSU catalog vs 59 in OHIO su vs 302 on yahoo library site)

15. Subject bibliography
Compare to search in oregan state university (89 hits in OSU catalog vs 59 in OHIO su vs 302 on yahoo library site)

16. IP Authenticated Services
Open URL
FirstSearch
Patron ILL
NetLibrary ebooks
JSTOR
OpenURL server
Detailed WorldCat record
in FirstSearch
Edinburgh’s catalogue
In this example, we search “wandering samaritan” in Google,
See the Find in a Library record,
Click it………….note: because our system recognizes the IP address of this user, and sees that it maps to an Edinburgh University FirstSearch account, we show certain fulfillment option links in the Open WorldCat interface that are active for this account – an openURL server they’ve configured within FirstSearch Admin, as well as a link to FirstSearch WorldCat where the user could get the detailed record. Obviously they can connect to the catalog too.

17. DSpace records

18. Exposing special collections

19. Yahoo! toolbar
Yahoo! Toolbar

23. How libraries participate
Set holdings in WorldCat
Configure access to their system
Monitor statistics
All library holdings display through June 2005; thereafter, holdings display for WorldCat subscribers

24. Open WorldCat traffic
This shows the number of times users come from search engines and connect to the Open WorldCat interface. We anticipate close to 4 million inbound links for the month of Oct’04. We expect this graph to continue showing growth in the future.
These are not “searches” in the traditional sense, because users out on the public Web are not searching WorldCat. They’re searching within Search Engines, and then finding and clicking “Find in a Library” links which takes them to Open WorldCat’s interface.
Searches are predominately simple subject searches

25. Links to libraries
This is a typical distribution of traffic: once a user comes to the Open WorldCat interface and generates a display of holdings, we track whether they proceed with linking to a library resource – such as catalog, information page, or a variety of FirstSearch fulfillment links that we’ll show in the interface, if we recognize the IP address of the user as associated with a FirstSearch account. (we’ll check to see if certain FS fulfillment options are activated, and then show the ones that are)
We are working on a stats reporting capability for libraries (with plans to release by end of 2004) to let libraries track this data for themselves, to see how much add’l. traffic Open WorldCat is generating for them, thanks to the visibility afforded them via the Open WC interface.
Currently, about 8% to 9% of inbound-linking will result in continued linking to library resources, on a monthly basis. So e.g. for the month of Sept., with its 3.4 million inbound links, 8% of that is 272,000 additional links into library resources, enabled through the Open WorldCat interface. This is a key measurement of value of the Open WorldCat Program.

26. User Feedback
"This is an awesome project. This is the right direction to take. We want to be fully involved." [member]
“I'm glad that [our library] is part of this as it will help us to promote our collections to a wider audience. We are in the process of converting 750,000 records, which should be available in WorldCat over the next 3-4 years.” [member]
“[This] site…let me know about a book that I never would have found out about otherwise, and let me know exactly where to tell the local county library to request an interlibrary loan. I'm a botanist for the US National Park Service, and this is an INCREDIBLE resource for those of us in isolated areas hours away from a university caliber library. If you need a testimonial for funding or convincing libraries to join, I'd be happy to provide one.” [end-user]
Just a few examples of the kind of positive feedback that Open WorldCat received during the pilot phase of the project. The 3rd one down (US Nat’l Park Service) is from a user who will be featured in OCLC’s Annual Report.
"I am absolutely DELIGHTED to be able to access WorldCat through Google! As an independent researcher and author…not associated with an institution…being able to easily find the local locations for books I need is WONDERFUL. Please continue to make this program available to the public. Many thanks indeed!" [end-user]

27. This slide shows system view of OWC
Beginning with WorldCat in the center, OCLC carved off 2 million abbreviated records (items held by 100 or more institutions) which were made available to search engines for harvest.
Continuing to follow this loop, as results come up in Search engines and users click the “Find in a Library” records, they come to the Open WorldCat interface, which populates itself with data from the subset (bib data and holdings information). If they generate a list of holdings (by entering a postal code, country, etc.), they they see libraries owning the item, and can connect to those libraries if we have the URLs in our system.
Starting from the upper-left, if a user begins from a book site, e.g., Alibris.com or BookPage.com, and they see/follow a link to Open WorldCat, they’ll actually connect into “production WorldCat” to get the same kind of bib/holdings information. But since they connect to production WorldCat, and not the 2m record subset, users from these sites have a far greater chance of finding a desired item, given production WorldCat’s 56+ million record set, as opposed to the only 2 million records currently indexed in Google and Yahoo.

28. Issues/Opportunities
General Usability
Placement
Ranking
FRBR
Subject access
Published content
OPAC linking & delivery
Licensed content
Rights & authentication
OpenURL linking
Special collections/Institutional repositories

29. Questions?