View this and past issues on the Web at http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/design/abstracts/

Access Pennsylvania lets users decide what eBooks to buy

Users pick 9,000 titles using a patron-driven acquisition model

A project of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, Access Pennsylvania is delivering eBooks to thousands of Pennsylvanians using a new model for collection development. Searchers browse the entire NetLibrary catalog, but the consortium acquires only titles viewed two or more times, creating a truly user-driven eBook collection. Says Joe Scorza, Executive Director of Access PA/HSLC, the patron-driven acquisition model is an ideal funding model because it allows the group to obtain exactly what users want, and shows how eager they are to have eBooks.

View the case study

South Carolina public libraries pump $347 million into the state’s economy

A recently released study from the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina found that South Carolina’s public libraries:

return $4.48 to the state’s economy for every $1 invested in them
pump $347 million into the state's economy; the state spends approximately $77.5 million on public libraries
provide $102 and $26 million annually in circulation and reference services, respectively
bring nearly $5 million to the state from federal and private sources

The study involved surveying 3,689 general library users, 161 businesses, 298 job seekers and 172 personal investors to determine their perceived value of the library. Researchers placed a dollar value on library services, based on usage statistics from the State Library, to determine the economic benefit to the state.

View the study

New OCLC webcast available

Gaming and the Significance for Information Literacy

How can you improve library service in the tech-centric, personalized, branded world of instant information?

Recorded at the January 2005 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, Gaming and the Significance for Information Literacy, an OCLC Symposium, is an examination of how young people’s social interaction and technology skills have created a seamless sphere fusing work, play and information—and what the impact is for the library. The dialogue begins with a definition of gaming and moves to the “experience society” and the library as the “third place.”

View the webcast

OCLC welcomes these new member libraries

City University of Bulgaria
Location: Pravetz, Bulgaria
OCLC Symbol: CU3BU
OCLC Network: OCLC Western Service Center

Clinton Elementary School
Location: South Elgin, Illinois, USA
OCLC Symbol: ILCLS
OCLC Network: ILLINET

RAF Menwith Hill
Location: North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
OCLC Symbol: UKMWH
OCLC Network: OCLC PICA

Hawk Hollow Elementary School
Location: Bartlett, Illinois, USA
OCLC Symbol: ILHHE
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

Subscribe/Unsubscribe | Questions/Comments

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.