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Why I Joined OCLC
May 18, 2007
Recently my Library Journal editor asked me to say something about why I left the California Digital Library for OCLC in my "Digital Libraries" column. Although I was uncomfortable with taking up precious magazine space with my personal story, I gave a brief answer in a column that will appear soon. But I realized that it might be a story worth telling in greater detail, at least in a blog posting.
As I travel around the country it seems clear to me that we are all looking for the right road ahead. Although librarians as a cohort were early adopters of the Internet, it looks increasingly like the Internet may be the instrument of our downfall.
While we are mired in budget battles and struggles to keep the doors open, Internet startups with massive market capitalization are swooping in and throwing our content up on the web almost as an afterthought. Our users now turn to the Internet to answer their questions more than they turn to us. Amazon is the place where everyone goes to find a book, and LibraryThing is where they discuss books. The presence of libraries on the Internet has some high points but it's mostly pitiful. Sure, we still have users who walk through our doors every day, but I wonder sometimes what keeps them coming back. In time, they may not.
So I became convinced that the only way to bring libraries into the 21st century vibrant and effective would be to get two things right: 1) be where the users are, and 2) give them what no one else can -- when, where, and how they want it. I also became convinced that the single organization best positioned to help libraries achieve these goals was the organization of the whole -- OCLC.
Despite those who view OCLC as a "vendor", I've always looked at it for what it undeniably is -- a membership organization. OCLC is us. Let me break it down for you. You + Me = OCLC. This has only become stronger through the merger with RLG, which also provided an appropriate geographic opportunity for someone who wished to remain in California.
On the Internet, OCLC is the biggest and best play libraries have. Despite how great an esteem we hold for our individual institutions, we are only big enough to sit at the table with Google, Microsoft, and others when sit together as a collective. Individually we are toast. We need each and every member. It is only through our collective strength that we have any strength at all. I need you and you need me.
That's why I joined OCLC. I mean, heck ya! Like, sign me up. Put a shovel in my hands and show me the mountain. I'm so there.
So stay tuned. You've seen some big things hitting the streets lately (e.g., WorldCat.org, WorldCat Local, etc.) and will be seeing a lot more soon. Since joining OCLC this week, I've had just the tiniest peek into its depths. Nonetheless, this quick look indicates I was right -- this is the biggest and best play we have. Let's make the most of it. I'm up for it -- are you?
Posted by Roy Tennant on May 18, 2007 | Comments (2)
