Preface
This special issue of the Journal of Internet Cataloging is special indeed. As the title implies, “CORC: New Tools and
Possibilities for Cooperative Electronic Resource Description” documents the
issues—technological, standards, economic, and organizational—involved in
creating a new cataloging system for electronic resources. It also testifies to the notion that in any
endeavor involving people, information and technology, the “people” part is
most important.
The Cooperative Online Resource Catalog (CORC) began
as a research project in the OCLC Office of Research, which is one of the world’s
leading centers devoted exclusively to the challenges facing libraries in a
rapidly changing information technology environment. Since its founding in 1978,
the Office has investigated trends in technology and library practice to
identify technical advances that will enhance the value of library services and
improve the productivity of librarians and library users. The CORC Project grew out of work OCLC
research scientists were doing in metadata, linked authority control, the Web
version of the Dewey Decimal Classification, and Mantis software and other
automated tools for finding, harvesting and classifying electronic resources. CORC is both a computer system and a
collaborative effort among the world’s libraries.
In January 1999, CORC came online. St. Joseph’s County (Indiana) Public Library
was the first institution to catalog on CORC.
At this writing, more than 350 libraries are now participating,
including the Library of Congress and the U.S. Government Printing Office. Approximately 58 percent of participants are
academic libraries; 9 percent are public libraries; and 19 percent are
government libraries. Thirteen percent
of the participants are outside the United States. The pioneering libraries that have participated in the initial,
founding phase, of CORC, have made valuable contributions to its ongoing development.
Participants have held meetings at OCLC
and at library conferences where they provide feedback for both practicing
librarians and OCLC system developers.
Indeed, one of the more interesting, and as yet
untold aspects of CORC, is the new, concurrent engineering approach that information
scientists at OCLC have used to take the system from a research project to an
operational service. It has been
estimated that one Web year is worth seven traditional development years. At OCLC, we are tracking our CORC
development process in Web years. We
are using cross-organizational teams.
We have re-engineered our development processes for quicker turnaround
without compromising quality. And most
important, we have worked closely with current CORC users. In some cases, we have been able to install
an enhancement suggested by a user within 24 hours.
At this writing, OCLC plans to launch CORC as an
operational service later in 2000. CORC will evolve into a general-purpose, Web-based
cataloging service and will be a key component of future OCLC Web-based
services.
The contributing authors in this issue of the Journal of Internet Cataloging are engaged
in important work. They are dealing
with the nuts-and-bolts, practical matters of making a cataloging system work
in an environment whose information objects are electronic, transient and
numerous. They are also helping to
define the future of librarianship and information access at a time when the
World Wide Web is transforming not only commerce, but education and
communications, indeed, society itself.
Ultimately, CORC is more than tool sets and
technological platforms. It is the
story of people and libraries working together to advance research, scholarship
and education. I would like to thank
the authors and the staffs of the 340 institutions who have elected to participate
in the founding phase of CORC. They are
true pioneers, and they are carrying the spirit of library cooperation into an
exciting new era.