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New OCLC Research prototype assesses likely audience for resources in WorldCat

Developed in conjunction with the Audience Level research project, the prototype system uses library holdings data in WorldCat to calculate audience levels for books represented in the WorldCat database, based on the types of libraries that hold the titles. The system is available as a user interface, a Web service and as greasemonkey scripts, and is part of a broader data mining activity at OCLC Research, which seeks to explore various ways to leverage intelligence from system files and “make data work harder.”

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Learn more about the Audience Level prototype
View post in Lorcan Dempsey’s blog

Hyped Web stories are irrelevant

The fads that get the press coverage are not important for running a workhorse Web site. To serve your users, it’s far better to emphasize simplicity and quality than to chase buzzwords.

In 1997, Jakob Nielsen, one of the world’s foremost experts in Web usability according to Business Week magazine, wrote an article called “The Fallacy of Atypical Web Examples.” In it, he complained about the excessive attention focused on a few highly prominent Web projects that didn’t represent the vast majority of Web sites. He also warned against emulating these big and famous examples.

And now, he says, history is repeating itself. There is endless coverage of a few atypical stories in the trade press, mainstream media and even on specialized Internet-focused Web sites. Once again, though, it’s worth remembering: your site is different from the ones in big stories. Focus on fixing the basics to get a simple and communicative Web site, he suggests. Simple steps don’t get hyped, but they drive much more value for the average site than the issues that everyone writes about.

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MindLeaders partners with OCLC NetLibrary to enhance reference library

MindLeaders has launched a new version of its reference library product created through a partnership with OCLC NetLibrary, the eContent platform for the world’s preeminent library service organization. Under the agreement, OCLC NetLibrary is providing eBooks that complement MindLeaders online courses through the MindLeaders Reference Library.

The initial collection will contain 1,000 eBooks with an emphasis on technology and business subjects. Over time, the collection will continue to expand based on customer needs from NetLibrary’s catalog of more than 100,000 eBooks, and it may eventually include other learning resources, such as eAudioBooks and eJournals, to offer MindLeaders customers additional blended learning tools.

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OCLC welcomes these new member libraries

University of Malta Library
Location: Msida, Malta
OCLC Symbol: MTUMA
OCLC Network: OCLC PICA

Delphi Community High School
Location: Delphi, Indiana, USA
OCLC Symbol: INDCH
OCLC Network: INCOLSA

Forest Elementary School
Location: Des Plaines, Illinois, USA
OCLC Symbol: INFES
OCLC Network: ILLINET

Membership guidelines

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 65 million bibliographic records and 1 billion holdings contributed by more than 9,000 libraries around the world. The 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.