Library of Congress and OCLC to collaborate on digital reference project

Abstract

The Library of Congress and OCLC have signed a cooperative agreement to develop a prototype for a new reference service based on the Collaborative Digital Reference Service pilot, begun in early 2000 by the Library of Congress and 16 participating libraries. Now in its third phase, the pilot project has expanded to include more than 60 libraries and other institutions internationally.

The Library of Congress and OCLC have signed a cooperative agreement to develop a prototype for a new reference service based on the Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) pilot, begun in early 2000 by the Library of Congress and 16 participating libraries. Now in its third phase, the pilot project has expanded to include more than 60 libraries and other institutions internationally.

The goal of MRS is to provide professional reference service to researchers any time anywhere, through an international, digital network of libraries and related institutions. The 24/7 service will deliver the direct benefits of quality reference service to a broad spectrum of users: a reliable and authoritative knowledge navigation service, a large searchable archive of authoritative answers, and increased visibility and support for libraries everywhere. The service will use new technologies to provide the best answers in the best context by using Internet resources, as well as other resources that are held by libraries. CDRS supports libraries by providing additional choices for the services they offer their end users. Libraries will assist their users by connecting to the MRS to send questions that are best answered by the expert staff and collections of MRS institutions from around the world.

According to the agreement, OCLC will provide technical and development support to the CDRS pilot by:

* Building and maintaining a database of profiles of participating institutions that will provide answers through CDRS.

* Building and maintaining a question-andanswer database system that will enable CDRS participants to catalog answers and store them in a searchable/browsable database.

* Providing administrative support for CDRS, including marketing, registration, training and user support.

Together, the Library of Congress and OCLC expect to develop a viable model for a selfsustaining digital reference service and promote CDRS in the library community.

OCLC and the Library of Congress cosponsored a symposium on "Building the Virtual Reference Desk in a 24/7 World" at the Library of Congress on January 12 that was attended by more than 600 librarians. Speakers at the symposium described their experiences with virtual reference services in academic and public libraries in the USA.

Chip Nilges, director of New Product Planning at OCLC, informed the audience that OCLC was exploring several possible roles in the cooperative reference services environment that could include supporting emerging networks, delivering a low-cost alternative for local use and supporting cooperative efforts to deliver reference services through the Internet. In his concluding remarks, Frank Hermes, vice president for Planning and Marketing at OCLC, said that:

Cooperative reference services is central to the OCLC strategy, and it is also central to the future of libraries and librarianship.

Diane Nester Kresh, director for Public Service Collections at the Library of Congress, provided an overview of the Collaborative Digital Reference Service during the symposium. Ms Kresh said:

By linking libraries for reference services, the MRS would combine the power of local collections and staff strengths with the diversity and availability of libraries and librarians everywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There would always be a librarian available to provide to users located anywhere the interchange and experience of trained assistance in providing access to collections and resources both analog and digital.

The Library of Congress, with more than 120 million items, is the largest in the world. Its collections are in all formats on which information is recorded - books, manuscripts, films, audio tape, maps, prints, photographs, musical scores and digital disk. Its Web site www.loc.gov is one of the most popular in the federal government, handling more than 115 million hits per month. The Library's newest Web site, America's Library www. americaslibrary.gov has recently been named by USA Today as one of the "hot sites" of 2000.