Metadata Wants to Be Free (and Muddy)

Abstract

With the recent merger of OCLC and RLG, the near monopoly of OCLC over library metadata distribution is complete. This is, to some extent, a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that OCLC is as aware as any organization in libraryland (perhaps more aware, given its dependence on libraries for its future) of the need for new models and strong innovation in the very near term. They've taken leadership in surveying the landscape and their membership (which includes all but the smallest libraries) to determine where they should spend their resources to meet library needs.