Karen Calhoun, OCLC VP for WorldCat and Metadata Services posted the following WorldCat Cataloging Partners status update on OCLC-Cat on Feb. 1 2010:

This is to provide an update on the resolution of the recent problems with the WorldCat Cataloging Partners service. Nearly all of the reprocessing of incorrect label files and records that resumed on December 18, 2009 has been completed. We continue working to resolve remaining known issues, including Cataloging Report production. We are committed to resolving all of the issues.
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The increasing use of handhelds and other mobile technologies has created a challenge for libraries.   Mainly, we have to find ways to effectively assess and use the many mobile devices and applications that are available so that we can create services needed by our users.

There are a couple of events coming up that may be of interest to anyone intrigued by mobile technologies and libraries.  On February 19, Nylink is offering a webinar that looks at Libraries and the Mobile Web.  This webinar is being conducted by Ellyssa  Kroski.  The webinar will look at the diverse array of mobile Web applications available, how libraries are using the mobile web and how they can get started with the mobile Web.

The Alliance Library System and LearningTimes is offering the second annual Handheld Librarian conference on February 17-18, 2010.  This is an online conference that will include keynote and other speakers, resources, discussion boards and access to recordings of all the live events.  Over 2000 people participated in last year’s conference.

Join Lauren Pinsley for a demo of True Serials, and see how it can help you to facilitate accurate inward & outward facing serials holdings through a robust hosted management environment that provides easy access to license and subscription/renewal terms, and streamlined local holdings record updating by batch to WorldCat.

With True Serials, you will be able to:

• Help your patrons find and use your e-journals and databases.
• Keep track of licenses, renewals, and other administrative data.
• Create accurate local holdings for your e-journals in WorldCat.

Dates

• METRO: 01/25 (1:00 PM-3:00 PM)
• Nassau Library System: 01/26 (1:00 PM-3:00 PM)
• Capital District Library Council: 02/08 (2:00 PM-4:00 PM)
• Rochester Regional Library Council: 02/22 (2:00 PM-4:00 PM)
• Western New York Library Resources Council: 02/23 (10:00 AM-12:00 PM)
• Central Library Resource Council: 02/23 (2:00 PM-4:00 PM)
• Southeastern New York Library Resources Council: 02/01 (1:00 PM-3:00 PM)

Attendance is free, but we do appreciate your advance registration; sign up now!

Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) and Atlas Systems are excited to provide a special offer for a limited time on CCC’s Annual Copyright License and Atlas Systems’ Ares e-reserves system.
Purchase the Annual Copyright License before April 15th, 2010 and CCC will waive the General and Administrative (G&A) fee1 and, Atlas will provide the first year of its Ares e-reserves system2 at no cost.
Combine the reserves management functionality of Ares with the convenience of the Annual Copyright License Ares is Atlas’ e-reserves system. It is designed to quickly and efficiently automate library reserve services for faculty, students and reserve staff. Ares provides around-the-clock access to a reserves collection and saves time for faculty members and library staff.

For more information about this offer, and about what Ares can do for your library, see the Nylink website.

Nylink partner Atlas Systems has announced the first Ares User Group meeting, to be held at ALA Midwinter in Boston. 

As Ares Electronic Reserves continues to grow in the number of users, Atlas decided that it was time to turn the Ares User Group meetings over to the Ares community, and are very pleased that Crystal Hester of Case Western Reserve University has agreed to serve as the first Chairperson of the Ares User Group Meetings.   As Chairperson, Crystal will handle the organizing, promoting and running of the Ares User Group Meetings to be held at the 2010 ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences.

The inaugural Ares User Group Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 16, 2010, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm at the Westin Waterfront Hotel’s Hancock Room.  Current Ares subscribers as well as librarians interested in learning more about how Ares Electronic Reserves can help automate and streamline e-reserves functions in their library, are welcome to attend.

Nylink has entered into a series of partnerships with like organizations to offer True Serials^TM on a national basis. Lyrasis, WiLS (Wisconsin Library Service), OHIONET, and MLNC (Missouri Library Network Corporation) have all signed on to distribute True Serials to their membership. Below is part of a press release from Lyrasis announcing the new partnership:

LYRASIS and Nylink are pleased to announce a strategic partnership that will offer True Serials, a comprehensive serials holdings maintenance service to information organizations.

LYRASIS’ extensive product offerings now include True Serials by Nylink. Built on a knowledge base that includes over 500 database and serials aggregation packages, True Serials facilitates accurate inward and outward facing serials holdings and offers streamlined local holdings updates to common resource sharing platforms. "True Serials, the first of several new services Nylink will be introducing over the next year, represents a major step in fulfilling our commitment to offer low-cost, high-efficiency solutions and choices," said Dave Penniman, Executive Director of Nylink.

Core Services Include:
• Hosted Electronic Resources Management
• A-Z list service
• OpenURL Link Resolver
• Participation in Nylink’s group local holdings maintenance service
• Standard and customized statistical reports
• Optional MARC record services

"True Serials is an affordable option for any library. However, because the service is hosted, smaller libraries and libraries lacking an electronic resources librarian or serials librarian will experience a greater benefit," added Randy Bell, LYRASIS Program Development Manager.

We look forward to working with all of our new partners to offer this cost-effective hosted service to libraries across the US.

Get more information about True Serials, including demo dates (coming soon: live demos in NYC and Long Island).

Interesting announcement on Library Journal yesterday from Marshall Breeding: Innovative Interfaces owner and co-founder Jerry Kline is launching a new bibliographic utility intended to compete directly with OCLC. Called SkyRiver, the utilty is already fully operational and is being used by library development partners for cataloging. Technology infrastructure and support is contracted from Innovative, and the service will launch its website at http://theskyriver.com on Friday, October 9.
SkyRiver differs from LibLime’s biblios.net in that it offers more functionality. However, the service is not intended to enable interlibrary loan or function as a discovery service for patrons. Read more about this development at Library Journal.

Computype is a world leader in the production of bar code label products, and also manufactures CD/DVD labels, label printing systems, and full color patron cards. Did you know that Nylink and Computype have partnered to provide a considerable savings on the full line of Computype’s library products? Computype provides all invoicing and shipping of ordered products, and so you deal directly with Computype while receiving the Nylink discount. For Nylink pricing, please go to visit our website and click on the Computype Pricing link.

Nylink now offers a collection of ITS.MARC files by The Library Corporation (TLC) specially aggregated and priced for member libraries only. This collection is not simply a copy of the Library of Congress catalog, but a comprehensive set of files that builds on the LC foundation by including audio-visual, pre-publication, and other records appropriate for public, school, and academic libraries.

Most importantly, Nylink consultants can help your library evaluate new options in technical services, and configure one or more record sources in a  combination that is best for your library.

Click here to activate your free trial account today

Click here to view a 3-minute video demo

Caryl Ward, Binghamton University Libraries, and Boaz Nadav-Manes, Cornell University Library (both universities’ libraries are Nylink members) agreed to repeat their presentations from the WorldCat Selection User Group Meeting Presentations so that OCLC could record them to post to the OCLC Web site. The recordings are now available at http://www.oclc.org/selection/overview/websessions.htm.
For more information about WorldCat Selection, please contact OCLC’s Support department by phone at 1-800-848-5800 and follow the prompts (menu selections 1-4-2-1 for FirstSearch and WorldCat.org), or by e-mail at support@oclc.org.