OCLC introduces WorldCat Discovery Services, a new suite of cloud-based applications that brings together the FirstSearch and WorldCat Local services. Set to launch in March, the new suite will enable discovery of more than 1.3 billion electronic, digital and physical resources in libraries around the world through a single search of both WorldCat and a central index that represents nearly 2,000 e-content collections. This will make it possible for more than 18,000 FirstSearch libraries to offer a richer discovery experience.

“Development of WorldCat Discovery Services is another significant step in our work with members to deliver innovations and new services that drive library costs down and information access up. We have enormous potential to use our collective talents and the capacity of cloud computing to deliver continuous innovation for our users,” said Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO.

WorldCat Discovery Services will offer library users and staff access to rich, global bibliographic content available only through WorldCat. A central index will enable information seekers from mutually subscribing libraries to search authoritative sources from providers such as EBSCO, Gale and ProQuest. Direct link resolution from citations to full-text resources will be available for libraries with holdings in WorldCat and the WorldCat knowledge base. Resources not available electronically can be delivered through integrated interlibrary loan.

“OCLC is letting its mission drive its actions,” said Angi Faiks, Associate Director of Access, Instruction and Research Services, Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and a participant in beta testing. “OCLC is reinforcing its public purpose by providing more access to more information for more people. Making library collections more accessible can only help us fulfill our mission as libraries.”

“I see WorldCat Discovery Services as an ideal combination of applications for librarians and end users alike,” said Kurt Munson, Resource Sharing and Reserve Librarian, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and part of the Reference Advisory Group. “WorldCat Discovery can help us do the complicated work librarians do, and yet it is simple enough for users to just walk up, use it and find what they need.”

WorldCat Discovery Services will be available to FirstSearch users in March as part of existing subscriptions. FirstSearch will operate in parallel during a year-long transition so libraries can choose when to move to the new service.

New features for FirstSearch subscribers include access to the central index that represents more than a billion articles, e-books and other e-content; a new user interface that adapts automatically to mobile devices; and the ability to manage access to digital collections.

Additional new features provided for libraries that maintain up-to-date holdings in the WorldCat database include direct links to full-text resources to which they subscribe, a built-in A to Z list, and their library’s resources listed first in search results. Libraries that maintain holdings in WorldCat will also continue to benefit from increased visibility of their resources through search engines and other popular websites where research often begins.

The WorldCat Discovery Services suite also offers subscribers several optional features for a fee, such as real-time availability, group view of available resources, management of course reserves or reading lists, or customized traffic and usage reports.

“WorldCat Discovery Services is an important advancement for our loyal FirstSearch users,” said Andrew K. Pace, Executive Director, OCLC Networked Library Services. “This new suite has been developed and refined based on input and feedback from a 30-member Advisory Group and more than 650 FirstSearch beta test libraries around the world over the past 18 months.”

WorldCat Local libraries will also move to WorldCat Discovery Services over the next 18 months. The transition will begin in April with a beta period when WorldCat Local subscribers can begin using the new services and plan transition activities.

WorldCat Discovery Services is OCLC’s second cloud suite. WorldShare Management Services, released in 2011, is a cloud suite of library management applications that is helping libraries reduce library management costs, streamline workflows, and improve access to their collections and services. There are currently more than 180 libraries using WorldShare Management Services and 100 more libraries and library groups in implementation.

Learn more about WorldCat Discovery Services during the ALA Midwinter presentation, “The Future of FirstSearch and WorldCat Local: What OCLC’s New Discovery Services Mean for Your Library,” on Saturday, January 25, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 108 B.

More about the new WorldCat Discovery Services suite https://www.oclc.org/go/en/worldcat-discovery.html is on the OCLC website.

EBSCO Information Services Awarded Silver in Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards
~ EBSCO’s Leadership & Management Learning Center™ Helps Achieve Silver for
Best Advance in Performance Support Technology ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — January 22, 2014 — EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) today announced that it won a coveted Brandon Hall Group Silver award for excellence in the Best Advance in Performance Support Technology category. EBSCO earned the award as a result of its robust organizational learning solution, Leadership & Management Learning Center™ (LMLC).

Leadership & Management Learning Center is a turnkey solution that supports and sustains formal and informal learning programs, promotes contextual learning, contains the most current content from business industry thought leaders and is easily accessible from mobile devices.

Leadership & Management Learning Center’s unique customization options allow professionals to have quick access to premium content that matches the company’s core competencies. The resource also enables social collaboration and is easily integrated into the learning workflow.

Tad Goltra, Vice President of Product Management, says recognition in Brandon Hall Group’s Excellence in Technology Awards shows the power of the LMLC solution. “Leadership & Management Learning Center is a unique, cloud-based solution that helps companies support and sustain their formal and informal learning programs. It offers an on-demand portal with strong collaboration capabilities, pre-populated with best practices content from industry thought leaders, which helps employees achieve their learning objectives.”

“It is our honor to recognize this year’s award winners, who exemplify the commitment to innovation and excellence that drives growth and over-the-top business results,” said Mike Cooke, Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group.

Rachel Cooke, Chief Operating Office of Brandon Hall Group who runs the awards program, stated, “With the innovation and unique differentiators demonstrated in this year’s entries, it
is easy to see why these organizations are tremendously successful.”

The entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group senior analysts and executive leadership based upon the following criteria:

• Product: What was the product’s breakthrough innovation?
• Unique differentiators: What makes the product unique and how does it differ from any competing products?
• Value proposition: What problem does the product solve and/or what need does this product address?
• Measurable results: What are the benefits customers can expect to experience as a result of using this product?

For more information about Leadership & Management Learning Center please go to: http://www.ebsco.com/promo/corporate-learning-brandon-hall-excellence-aw...

About Brandon Hall Group, Inc.
With more than 10,000 clients globally and 20 years of delivering world class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is the most well--‐known and established research organization in the performance Improvement industry. We conduct research that drives performance, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results.

Brandon Hall Group has an extensive Repository of thought leadership, research and expertise in Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition and Human Resources. At the core of our offerings is a Membership Program that Empowers Excellence Through Content, Collaboration and Community. Our members have access to research that helps them make the right decisions about people, processes, and systems, combined with research--‐powered advisory services customized to their needs. (www.brandonhall.com).

About EBSCO Information Services

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) serves the organizational learning needs of more than 100,000 corporations and institutions around the globe with innovative products and robust content from industry thought leaders. EBSCO’s flagship learning product, Leadership & Management Learning Center™ is a turnkey learning solution with pre-populated, highly-relevant content including corporate training videos, business e-books, journals, employee training material, business book summaries, case studies, comprehension tests and much more. EBSCO’s learning solutions are powered by EBSCOhost® and may be accessed via dedicated portals, learning management systems (LMSs), or mobile devices. For more information visit EBSCO’s website at http://www.ebsco.com

###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Vice President of Public Relations
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com

NASHVILLE, TN – Ingram Content Group Inc., today announced that the Williamson County Public Library in Franklin, Tennessee has launched an innovative publishing program using IngramSpark®, Ingram's comprehensive print and digital independent publisher platform.

"The creation of our first book and the development of our publishing program has been a labor of love and illustrates how libraries of today can move forward in new and exciting ways to serve their patrons," said Dolores Greenwald, Library Director, Williamson County Public Library. "Through the tools available from Ingram, more public libraries can easily assist writers to independently publish their works to benefit the writer, readers and the communities they live in - IngramSpark is such a great program."

The Williamson County Library team used Ingram's easy-to-use publishing platform to develop and print copies of their first book, a children's book co-authored by library staff. The library has plans to expand the publishing program in 2014 with open submissions from the community.

"We've had great success using the tools of IngramSpark to launch our special library publishing program," Dolores Greenwald said. "Using IngramSpark, we were able to print stunning four-color books at great value, and all the proceeds from our book sales will go directly back into the library to fund new adult and youth programs, to maintain and increase collections, and to provide new technologies, equipment and other improvements."

The IngramSpark platform that was developed for independent publishers connects to Ingram's comprehensive print-on-demand and e-book technologies. Through the platform, libraries can easily launch publishing programs, and can set up and distribute print books and e-books simultaneously at minimal cost. The platform also provides worldwide access to leaders in online and traditional bookselling.

"Libraries have long provided an essential service by making books and other information freely available and accessible to local communities," said Dan Sheehan, Vice President and General Manager, Ingram Library Services. "We are pleased that our IngramSpark platform provided the Williamson County Public Library team with the tools to take their publishing idea from concept to reality, and we look forward to assisting them with their future plans."

Ingram associates will be discussing the IngramSpark platform at Ingram booth number 431 at the American Library Association show, January 24 - 28 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Follow IngramSpark:
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter @ingramspark
#alamw14

ABOUT INGRAM
Ingram Content Group Inc. is a subsidiary of Nashville-based Ingram Industries Inc. Ingram provides books, music and media content to over 39,000 retailers, libraries, schools and distribution partners in 220 countries and territories. More than 30,000 publishers use Ingram’s fully integrated physical and digital distribution, logistics, and manufacturing solutions to access global consumer demand, and realize the full business potential of book content. Ingram’s operating units are Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc., Vital Source Technologies, Inc., Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Tennessee Book Company LLC, Coutts Information Services, and ICG Ventures Inc. For more information, visit www.ingramcontent.com

The Code4Lib Journal editors are pleased to bring you this latest issue. You can find it at http://journal.code4lib.org/issues/issues/issue23; titles and abstracts below.

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Editorial Introduction: Conscious Resolutions
by Shawn Averkamp
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9389

Hack your life with 10 New Year’s resolutions from Code4Lib Journal.

=======================

The Road to Responsive: University of Toronto Libraries’ Journey to a New Library Catalogue Interface
By Lisa Gayhart, Bilal Khalid, Gordon Belray
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9195

With the recent surge in the mobile device market and an ever expanding patron base with increasingly divergent levels of technical ability, the University of Toronto Libraries embarked on the development of a new catalogue discovery layer to fit the needs of its diverse users. The result: a mobile-friendly, flexible and intuitive web application that brings the full power of a faceted library catalogue to users without compromising quality or performance, employing Responsive Web Design principles.

=======================
Recipes for Enhancing Digital Collections with Linked Data
by Thomas Johnson and Karen Estlund
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9214

Standards-based metadata in digital library collections are commonly less than standard. Limitations brought on by routine cataloging errors, sporadic use of authority and controlled vocabularies, and systems that cannot effectively handle text encoding lead to pervasive quality issues. This paper describes the use of Linked Data for enhancement and quality control of existing digital collections metadata. We provide practical recipes for transforming uncontrolled text values into semantically rich data, performing automated cleanup on hand-entered fields, and discovering new information from links between legacy metadata and external datasets.

=======================

Implementing a Collaborative Workflow for Metadata Analysis, Quality Improvement, and Mapping
by Mark Phillips, Hannah Tarver, and Stacy Frakes
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9199

The University of North Texas (UNT) and the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) are collaborating to digitize, process, and make publicly available more than one million photographs from the Oklahoma Publishing Company’s historic photo archive. The project, started in 2013, is expected to span a year an a half and will result in digitized photographs and metadata available through The Gateway to Oklahoma History. The project team developed the workflow described in this article to meet the specific criterion that all of the metadata work occurs in two locations simultaneously.

=======================

How the WSLS-TV News Digitization Project Helped to Launch a Project Management Office
by Ivey Glendon and Melinda Baumann
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/8652

This article discusses how the WSLS-TV News Digitization Project at the University of Virginia Libraries was the catalyst for creating a more formalized project workflow and the eventual creation of a Project Management Office. The project revealed the need for better coordination between various groups in the library and more transparent processes. By creating well documented policies and processes, the new project workflow clarified roles, improved communication, and created greater transparency. The new processes enabled staff to understand how decisions are made and resources allocated which allowed them to work more efficiently.

=======================

Use of Cue Sheets in Audio Digitization
by Austin Dixon
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9314

Audio digitization is becoming essential to many libraries. As more and more audio files are being digitally preserved, the workflows for handling those digital objects need to be examined to ensure efficiency. In some instances, files are being manually manipulated when it would be more efficient to manipulate them programmatically. This article describes a time-saving solution to the problem of how to split master audio files into sub-item tracks.

=======================

A Video Digital Library to Support Physicians’ Decision-making About Autism
by Matthew A. Griffin, MLIS, Dan Albertson, Ph.D., and Angela B. Barber, Ph.D.
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9281

A prototype Digital Video Library was developed as part of a project to assist rural primary care clinics with diagnosis of autism, funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. The Digital Video Library takes play sample videos generated by a rural clinic and makes it available to experts at the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Clinic at The University of Alabama. The experts are able to annotate segments of the video using an integrated version of the Childhood Autism Ratings Scale-Second Edition Standard Version (CARS2). The Digital Video Library then extracts the annotated segments, and provides a robust search and browse feature. The videos can then be accessed by the subject’s primary care physician. This article summarizes the development and features of the Digital Video Library.

=======================

Unix Commands and Batch Processing for the Reluctant Librarian or Archivist
by Anthony Cocciolo
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9158

The Unix environment offers librarians and archivists high-quality tools for quickly transforming born-digital and digitized assets, such as resizing videos, creating access copies of digitized photos, and making fair-use reproductions of audio recordings. These tools, such as ffmpeg, lame, sox, and ImageMagick, can apply one or more manipulations to digital assets without the need to manually process individual items, which can be error prone, time consuming, and tedious. This article will provide information on getting started in using the Unix environment to take advantage of these tools for batch processing.

=======================

Automated Processing of Massive Audio/Video Content Using FFmpeg
by Kia Siang Hock, Li Lingxia
URL: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/9128

Audio and video content forms an integral, important and expanding part of the digital collections in libraries and archives world-wide. While these memory institutions are familiar and well-versed in the management of more conventional materials such as books, periodicals, ephemera and images, the handling of audio (e.g., oral history recordings) and video content (e.g., audio-visual recordings, broadcast content) requires additional toolkits. In particular, a robust and comprehensive tool that provides a programmable interface is indispensable when dealing with tens of thousands of hours of audio and video content.

FFmpeg is comprehensive and well-established open source software that is capable of the full-range of audio/video processing tasks (such as encode, decode, transcode, mux, demux, stream and filter). It is also capable of handling a wide-range of audio and video formats, a unique challenge in memory institutions. It comes with a command line interface, as well as a set of developer libraries that can be incorporated into applications.
=======================

On behalf of the Code4Lib Journal Editorial Committee,

Shawn Averkamp
Code4Lib Journal Coordinating Editor for Issue 23
--
Shawn Averkamp
Interim Head, Digital Research & Publishing
University of Iowa Libraries
shawn-averkamp@uiowa.edu
319.384.3526

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Duluth, GA —January 20, 2014

Equinox is heading to the “City of Brotherly Love” for the ALA Midwinter meeting and will debut a completely revamped suite of services, including the Sequoia services platform, AIM, and Idea Lab. Equinox staff will be available at booth 541 in the exhibit hall to provide demos for Evergreen, Koha, and FullfILLment and answer questions.

Sequoia is a brand new cloud-based services platform that provides users of Evergreen, Koha, and FullfILLment the highest level of uptime, performance, and stability. Sequoia was designed from the ground up, based on Evergreen’s existing service-oriented architecture, to leverage a large number of physical servers in a fully-redundant cloud environment. To the library, this translates to no unscheduled downtime, better performance, and the ability to meet even the most demanding load requirements seamlessly.

AIM, or Active Integrated Maintenance, is a new subscription service from Equinox. AIM allows libraries to target bug fixes for their software according to their specific needs. Three different subscription types will allow libraries to find a service level that best meets their budget. AIM will allow subscribing libraries to identify target fixes, prioritize their fixes, and receive immediate access to upgrades and repairs.

Idea Lab provides every participating library the ability to help direct and fund on-going software development within their open source community. Idea Lab subscribers pool funding and participate in the selection and development of new software features that are most important to their library.
Together, these three new services comprise the bulk of Equinox’s completely revamped services offerings, which were constructed based on customer demand and feedback.

Mike Rylander, Equinox Director of Research and Software Development, says, "We are very proud of our new service offerings: AIM, IdeaLab, and Sequoia. Each represents the culmination of years of experience, and has been designed to serve libraries and librarians in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible. By listening to our customers and working with them to identify needs, we have put together a set of complementary services that allow organizations to offload many of their non-core activities while still staying actively engaged in the Open Source process."

About Equinox Software, Inc.

Equinox was founded by the original developers and designers of the Evergreen ILS. We are wholly devoted to the support and development of open source software in libraries, focusing on Evergreen, Koha, and the FulfILLment ILL system. We wrote over 80% of the Evergreen code base and continue to contribute more new features, bug fixes, and documentation than any other organization. Our team is fanatical about providing exceptional technical support. Over 98% of our support ticket responses are graded as “Excellent” by our customers. At Equinox, we are proud to be librarians. In fact, half of us have our ML(I)S. We understand you because we *are* you.
We are Equinox, and we’d like to be awesome for you.

For more information on Equinox, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com

Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 770-709-5575