23.12.2010 15:20, Ross Singer:
>
> Somewhere along the path we lost our way and our administrators seem
> to have forgotten what we can do when we work together. Granted, it's
> a lot easier to just say "we can't do that" and bide our time until we
> retire.
>
First, for projects on this order of magnitude, there needs to be some
concept and then some proof of concept. The Hathi Trust is doing
valuable work in this regard, and there will be lessons to be learned
from their experience and momentum for other projects to be derived
from their success.
Second, and again, I don't think libraries could strike the kind of
deals with publishers that Google has achieved. For in-print titles,
they'd rather have libraries not provide access to them at all. GBS,
in contrast to that, is a marketing platform that allows publishers
considerable choice in what and how much of their stuff to display
for free. That cannot exactly be called "free access to information",
in either meaning of "free".
The WorldCat, BTW, might link into Hathi, at least, if not into GBS.
Ideally, that would be on the work level, not the manifestation (OCLC
record number) level. Without work identifiers, easier said than done.
What else could make the use of WorldCat as a starting point more
attractive?
B.Eversberg
Received on Mon Jan 03 2011 - 03:14:31 EST