UC-OCLC Next Generation Melvyl Pilot: Task Groups in Action

July 18, 2007 Author: Ellen MeltzerCategories:

By Ellen Meltzer, CDL Information Services Manager

Many librarians and staff systemwide are busy this summer working on the Next Generation Melvyl Pilot, supported by the WorldCat Local service. A number of UC task groups, feeding into joint UC/OCLC working groups, are grappling with the complex issues involved in understanding what it would take to make WorldCat Local become UC’s Next Generation Melvyl Catalog.

These are some of the task groups in place, with more to come:

Records Missing from WorldCat Task Group
Local ILSs Task Group (formerly called Z39.50 Task Group)
Local Bibliographic Data Task Group
OCLC Holdings Symbols Task Group
Holdings Information Task Group
UC-eLinks Task Group
Request/Resource Sharing Task Group
Searching Government Information/Maps/GIS Task Group
Searching Non-Roman Alphabet Languages
Browse Search Task Group

The web site for this fascinating and challenging project is updated on a regular basis, as task groups are appointed and report on their work. You can see the members, charges, and reports at the web site.

Charges for the Joint UC-OCLC Workgroups are now also beginning to appear on the web site.

And, coming soon….the Next Generation Melvyl pilot project will have an open discussion forum where registered users (that means you!) can exchange ideas, post and answer questions, and discuss the pilot. Stay tuned for more details.

(Check here for an earlier CDLINFO article on this project, or the June 22, 2007 press release.)