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OCLC providing on-site microfilming for Library of Virginia

A new preservation services lab operated by OCLC will expand access to one-of-a-kind collections

As part of a three-year agreement, OCLC has established a preservation services lab at the Library of Virginia to microfilm and preserve the Library’s brittle newspapers, business manuscripts, government records and other important archival collections. The new lab will work exclusively on Library of Virginia preservation projects. Personal Property Tax Lists from 1870–1927, World War I Distinguished Service Histories, Personal War Service Record of Virginia’s War Dead 1941–1946, and the Department of Education Lists of Teachers are among the documents being microfilmed using state-of-the-art techniques that will improve legibility and access.

Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to E-Learning and Why?

This 76-page study from the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Thomson Corporation, answers the question “Why did the boom in e-learning go bust?” Among the faulty assumptions of e-learning, according to researchers Robert Zemsky and William F. Massy, are

If we build it, they will come.
Kids will take to e-learning like ducks to water.
E-learning will force a change in the way we teach.

Nonetheless, the researchers say, the story isn’t over. E-learning is still unfolding—and no one really knows what tomorrow will bring. Zemsky and Massy suspect that computer-based learning technologies will continue to serve as a major catalyst of innovation.

View the report

OCLC Interlibrary Loan migration update

During the next year, OCLC will launch a new resource sharing system based on the FirstSearch interface. The new interface will, by July 2005, replace the OCLC Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Web interface, the OCLC ILL Micro Enhancer and Passport for ILL. Most of the borrowing and lending functionality available through ILL Web was added to the FirstSearch system in June 2004. Remaining borrowing and lending functionality will be added in August 2004, with the addition of custom holdings functionality. Subscribe to OCLC-SHARING-L to receive all migration updates as well as other OCLC resource sharing news.

ILL migration timeline
FAQ on ILL migration

OCLC welcomes the following new member libraries

National Center for Health Statistics
Location: Hyattsville, Maryland, USA
OCLC Symbol: NCHSL
OCLC Network: FEDLINK

National Museum of Iceland
Location: Gardabar, Iceland
OCLC Symbol: ISPJO
OCLC Network: OCLC PICA

California State Library-Sutro Library
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
OCLC Symbol: SUTRO
OCLC Network: OCLC Western Service Center

Membership guidelines and protocols

WorldCat update

Every 12 seconds an OCLC member library adds a new record to WorldCat, which contains more than 55 million records representing 929,352,363 holding locations as of July 10, 2004. Every 4 seconds an OCLC member library fills an interlibrary loan request using WorldCat, which has supported 137,071,327 interlibrary loan requests as of July 10, 2004. A library user searches WorldCat using the OCLC FirstSearch service every second.

See the latest WorldCat record

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