Tim, as an FYI - my understanding is that SkyRiver is not "dead" but has been folded into III and will continue as a cataloging service - the change appears to be legal rather than functional. I will find out more next week when I lunch with folks from there (their office is not far from me). Presuming this is the case, and now with Ex-Libris creating a cataloging platform, we need to support these efforts as alternatives to OCLC.
I'll try to get permission to blog about what I learn. kc On 3/7/13 10:56 PM, Tim Spalding wrote: > Dear all, > > Raj is correct. I said much the same three years ago, when someone > from the Manitoba Public library asked about Z39.50 access. I figure > that I get to state my opinions every three years and not be called a > troll. I note that a number of people involved in this project from > the start agree with me, and others at least thing my perspective > worth sharing--see Karen Coyle above. Until Karen is as rude to me as > you are, I'll chime in every few years. > > Let me be clear--I only refer to the question of bibliographic data. > Some of the OL's other projects are indeed now or potentially very > valuable to libraries. I have doubts as to the legality of the ebook > lending program, but it had to be tried. I hope it succeeds. If it > manages to create a new right to put a book on ice and lend an ebook > of it out, that would be great. > > As to the origin of records, the records OL has represent the work of > hundreds of libraries and thousands of catalogers around the world. > Just look at the 040s (the chain of cataloging institution codes) for > the millions of records you have. I would add that the core are from > the Library of Congress and the large group of British libraries > assembled together by Talis, and that all the libraries who freely > contributed to the project took a great risk in doing so--a risk of > getting sued by OCLC. Back in the day, Aaron Swartz and I emailed each > other daily about the OCLC policy change, and the many efforts against > it. It was a major threat. The death of SkyRiver renews that threat, > although if OL doesn't open its records up to libraries, OCLC will > probably leave it alone. > > In brief, I wish OL had made this bibliographic aspect a core part of > its mission. The world needs good bibliographic data, and libraries > especially. Yes, there are many other important things to do--I myself > would put the ebook project WAY above the "one page for every book" > mission. But I regret that this aspect has not been pursued. I think > it could change the world for the better. > > Sincerely, > Tim > >> The vast majority of library data in OL comes from libraries that the >> Internet Archive has partnerships with. >> >> IA has more than 30 scanning centers in libraries around the world, and not >> only provides book digitization, but also hosting of archived material >> online, forever. In addition to just MARC records for scanned books, some of >> our partner libraries have uploaded their catalogs for seeding OL. Much of >> the MARC data also comes from Library of Congress. In addition to scanning >> books and archiving the web for LOC, IA also purchased a subscription to add >> more LOC MARC records to OL. >> >> The Open Library E-book lending program also provides e-book lending of >> 200,000 books to patrons of libraries that have added data to OL. We also >> partner with state library associations in many states across the US, to >> provide lending services to readers in a large part of the country. Even if >> your local branch doesn't partner with OL for e-book lending, you may see a >> banner at the top of OL that says your state library is partnering with us, >> and our ebook lending platform is available to you. Last month, there were >> more than 60,000 ebook loans made through OL, and the number is growing. See >> http://openlibrary.org/libraries >> >> There are lots of other ways IA and OL work with libraries to help their >> patrons. You may not know about all of them. The Internet Archive does not >> do marketing or PR. We prefer that our partners make announcements >> themselves. We work tirelessly help libraries, authors, publishers, and >> readers, not to get headlines. >> >> The thing is, Tim knows all this, but he keeps posting the same rant year >> after year. I've been trying to decide if he is just being disrespectful, or >> if he is trolling. I've come to that it is both. >> >> Trolls kill communities. Do not feed the troll. >> >> -raj > _______________________________________________ > Ol-tech mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > [email protected] > -- Karen Coyle [email protected] http://kcoyle.net ph: 1-510-540-7596 m: 1-510-435-8234 skype: kcoylenet _______________________________________________ Ol-tech mailing list [email protected] http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to [email protected]
