Important news from the Library of Congress:
The Library of Congress today announced the next phase of its investigation into the creation and distribution of bibliographic data in U.S. and Canadian libraries. The Library has commissioned a study to research and describe the current marketplace for cataloging records in the MARC format, with primary focus on the economics of current practices, including existing incentives and barriers to both contribution and availability. The study will be carried out by R2 Consulting LLC of Contoocook, N.H....
Full press release here.
Via Open Access News
Anyone else find it ironic that LC is paying a consulting company to study the economic marketplace for a record standard it manages?
Posted by: Million | Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 12:38 AM
Am I reading this correctly to imply that LC might be competing with OCLC one of these days...? If so, is there some connection with OCLC's updated approach to the use of their records?
Posted by: David | Monday, February 02, 2009 at 10:51 AM
My take is that the Library of Congress wants to "get out of the cataloging business." But they need to take the slow, gradual approach. Last year it was the working group report. This year it's this study. I think they want some other organization to step in and do cataloging for print materials, so they can focus solely on digital resources.
Posted by: Christine Schwartz | Monday, February 02, 2009 at 11:23 AM