> There's another problem with OCLC's focus on protecting it's current
> business model, and that's the lack of effort being made in looking at what
> libraries will need to make the leap into a world not based on MARC and the
> traditional ILS. Not only has OCLC been silent on what it intends to do
> about RDA, but without that, how can it figure out what services its members
> will need to make the change?
>
> I made a few points about this in a recent column in Technicalities,
> available here: http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/11620
That's very true, but they have made *one* thing clear—and I think
it's the only thing that matters. They've made it clear that RDA
records, which will derive in part from MARC records, will be fully
covered by the OCLC policy. If OCLC were competing—if they risked
losing a central position in the RDA metadata world—I think we'd see
movement on RDA.
As it is, OCLC can come late the party, and tell us all to play
*their* party games. It's their cake, after all.
Tim
Received on Wed Apr 15 2009 - 10:42:10 EDT