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How clever is your code?

OCLC Research announces a software competition for developers and librarians

In celebration of libraries and their heritage of technological leadership, OCLC Research is sponsoring a software contest to encourage innovation in Web-based library services. Contestants will write programs and submit prototypes that do something creative with WorldCat data using at least one OCLC service. Convince the judges of why the program is interesting and how it will help libraries and library users and you will walk away with $2,500.

Read the announcement

Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting—but they also are unaware and naïve

According to a Pew Internet project report, Internet users are extremely positive about search engines and the experiences they have when searching the Internet. But these same satisfied Internet users are generally unsophisticated about why and how they use search engines. They are also strikingly unaware of how search engines operate and how they present their results, indicated by their inability to distinguish between unbiased search results and paid advertisements.

View the report summary
View PDF of the report

Apply for the 2006 IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program

The deadline to apply for the 2006 IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program is approaching. Applications, which include a cover sheet, a 1,000-word essay in English about the applicant’s professional plans and three letters of recommendation, must be submitted by Friday, March 25, 2005. Only complete applications will be considered. The fellowship program provides early career development and continuing education for library and information science professionals from countries with developing economies.

Jointly sponsored by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), OCLC and the American Theological Library Association (ATLA), this program sends five individuals, including a theological librarian, to OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, USA, for an intensive four-week program of lectures, seminars and mentoring. Topics and issues include information technologies and their impact on libraries, library operations and management, and global cooperative librarianship.

Program overview

OCLC welcomes these new member libraries

Menntaskolinn Isafirdi Public Library
Location: Isafjordur, Iceland
OCLC Symbol: ISISA
OCLC Network: OCLC PICA

Korea Information Strategy Development Institute
Location: Gwachun-Shi, South Korea
OCLC Symbol: ASKID
OCLC Network: OCLC Asia Pacific

Reykjanesbaejar Public Library
Location: Reykjanesber, Iceland
OCLC Symbol: ISJAR
OCLC Network: OCLC PICA

Spring Trail Elementary School
Location: Carol Stream, Illinois, USA
OCLC Symbol: ILSPT
OCLC Network: ILLINET

Sunnydale Elementary School
Location: Streamwood, Illinois, USA
OCLC Symbol: ILSUE
OCLC Network: ILLINET

Membership guidelines and protocols

WorldCat update

WorldCat is the world’s most comprehensive bibliographic database. Updated at a rate of nearly one new record every 10 seconds, WorldCat contains more than 57 million bibliographic records and holding information contributed by more than 8,500 libraries around the world. The new Open WorldCat Program makes the items in library collections—physical and digital, popular or special—discoverable by people searching the Internet.

See the latest WorldCat record

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OCLC Abstracts uses the Internet to deliver timely information about OCLC services, programs, news and events directly to subscribers’ desktops. This e-journal augments and complements OCLC’s Web site and print communications.