# /programsandresearch/parcasts/default.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/programsandresearch/parcasts/default.htm

# PARcasts

Welcome to the OCLC Research PARcast page. Here you'll find links to our podcasts—the latest recorded interviews with industry thought leaders and up-and-comers—as well as recorded webinars, or online presentations, from OCLC Research staff. Each file is available in several ways: click the link for direct streaming and immediate viewing online or right-click to save the file to and view it from your own drive. This content is also available through our RSS feed and are also available in the iTunes Store. New files will be updated regularly, so be sure to check back often. |
| ## Podcasts What's keeping you awake at night? That's the question we've been asking as we travel around and find ourselves in places with people who are thinking ahead, worrying about big issues or imagining the next big thing. We've recorded these impromptu interviews and posted them here to share with you.
Date Recorded | Speaker | Title
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29 April 2009 | John Price Wilkin, Executive Director, Hathi Trust AUL for Library Information Technology, University of Michigan Interviewed by Roy Tennant, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | The Hathi Trust and "The Silence of the Archive" (.mp3: 14.6MB/19min.) In this interview, the Executive Director of the Hathi Trust, a shared digital repository of vast amounts of digital content, discusses this invigorating collaborative development. John talks about recent accomplishments and future plans for that cooperative effort, and makes an amazing prediction that there will be 15 million volumes online at the Hathi Trust in 3-4 years. John also talks about "the silence of the archive" and the issues that poses for those interested in preserving our cultural heritage.
04 December 2008 | Joe Janes, Associate Professior, Information School, University of Washington Interviewed by Roy Tennant, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | Professional Pivot Point: Regaining Relevance in a Rapidly Changing World (.mp3: 22.8MB/28min.) In this interview, Joe Janes asserts that we are at a professional crossroads. The future will either leave libraries in the dust, or we can seize opportunities to demonstrate our value and solidify our place in modern society. For example, Joe says, "libraries have to figure out how to be relevant to people who spend half their life on a device they hold in their hands." In typical Joe Janes style, there isn't a single boring minute in this look at challenges we face in libraries, museums and archives and what we should be doing to regain our relevance for the communities we serve.
06 November 2008 | Grace Agnew, Associate University Librarian for Digital Library Systems, Rutgers University Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | Beyond Brilliant Silos: Video Content, Data Sets, Open Source and Rights Management (.mp3: 6.9MB/20min.) Tune in to find out why video content, data sets and open source are keeping Grace Agnew awake at night, plus why she believes you can never get away from rights management.
04 September 2008 | Robert Crawford, Poet and Professor of Modern Scottish Literature, University of St Andrews Interviewed by John MacColl, RLG Partnership European Director, OCLC Research | Research Libraries: the Viewpoint of a Scholar Poet (.mp3: 19.2MB/21min.) In this interview, Robert Crawford talks about the scholarship which supported "Scotland's Books," a recently published book about the history of Scottish literature, and a forthcoming biography of Robert Burns. He describes the importance of digitized archives as well as the pleasures of working with paper in archives such as that at St Andrews, with hundreds of years' worth of undigitized material still to be charted. He also discusses the inspiration his poetry derives from new technologies, which is nonetheless inflected by anxiety about the loss of democratic access to the works which form a common heritage, and the uncritical adoption of the virtual world in preference to a natural world which needs our urgent attention. He finishes by reading his recent poem "The Digital Library, St Andrews."
29 August 2008 | Richard Ovenden, Associate Director and Keeper of Special Collections, Bodleian Library, Oxford Interviewed by John MacColl, RLG Partnership European Director, OCLC Research | Special Collections and Beyond—Conservation, Project Funding and Digital Surrogates (.mp3: 10.3MB/11min.) In this interview, Richard Ovenden discusses the three main areas of his responsibility, arguing for a need to return to more active conservation, describing problems in digital library development caused by over-reliance on project funding, and pointing to the dangers of over-use of digital surrogates. He also considers an interesting and unforeseen consequence of being a Google Library Partner.
21 August 2008 | Alice Schreyer, Assistant Director for Special Collections & Preservation; Director, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | Picking Up the Pace: Considering the Implications of Accelerated Archival Processing (.mp3: 13MB/38min.) What happens when you are successful at increasing processing throughput? What is the impact on researchers, staff and space? Tune in and find out!
30 July 2008 | Jackie Dooley, Head of Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine; Consulting Archivist, OCLC Research Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | Electronic Records: The Archivist's 600-Pound Gorilla (.mp3: 13.4MB/38min.) Digital does not mean preserved. Methods for managing and preserving born-digital electronic records are complicated and unresolved. Archivists must actively educate themselves about the issues. Learn more about the challenges of digital preservation and some current efforts that illustrate progress.
1 July 2008 | Ken Hamma, Executive Director for Digital Policy and Initiatives J. Paul Getty Trust Interviewed by Günter Waibel, Program Officer, OCLC Research | The Cost of Owning Technology (.mp3: 9.17MB/20min.) Owning technology requires significant ongoing investment, but there are various options—including development of open source and Web-based systems—that can bring down costs and lead to a more collaborative future.
8 May 2008 | MacKenzie Smith, Associate Director for Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer OCLC Research | Strategically Embracing Technology to Improve Libraries (.mp3: 7.3MB/21min.) What are the risks of missing out on new services, such as personal information management, vertical search, data curation for faculty research collections, and digital preservation? How can we shift resources to develop and implement new services? How do we prioritize the old versus the new? Developing evidence to support decisions is an important part of the puzzle. Clearly, shifts need to happen both with in library schools and also within current library leadership. A discussion of forward-looking MIT projects—such as DSpace, SIMILE (which has gathered wide adoption outside of libraries) and Facade (digital preservation of three dimensional, born digital objects)—and developing systems to deal with policy-driven data curation, is also included.
11 April 2008 | Jenn Riley, Metadata Librarian, Digital Library Program, Indiana University, an RLG partner institution Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer OCLC Research | Why Shouldn't the Library Catalog be an Encyclopedia? (.mp3: 3.2MB/9min.) Traditionally, the library catalog has not been an encyclopedia, but moving forward it could act more like one, at least in the way that it ties in with other systems to provide seamless access between users.
8 April 2008 | Dennis Meissner, Head of Collections Management, Minnesota Historical Society, an RLG partner institution Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | Access Improvement (.mp3: 6MB/15:07min.) How to invest resources wisely to best serve audience needs, and the importance of self-study.
25 January 2008 | RLG Programs partner Jeremy Frumkin, Head of Emerging Technologies, Oregon State University Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | Moving Toward the Network Level (.mp3: 9.6MB/28min.) What does "moving toward the network level" really mean, who is doing it and how will it impact libraries?
13 January 2008 | RLG Programs partner Mark Dimunation Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress Interviewed by Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research | The Value of Physical Artifacts in an Increasingly Virtual World (.mp3: 7.4MB/22min.) Special collections need to keep collecting and building collections of real things, but also need to be smart and be part of the digital conversation. How do libraries create a digital environment where researchers can derive the evidence they need to do their work?
## Webinars For online presentations about the latest RLG Programs work agenda updates, reports or project findings, check out our recorded webinars. Although participation in the live webinars is available exclusively to RLG Programs partners as a benefit of partnership, recordings of these presentations are made available afterward for the benefit of all libraries, museums and archives.
Date Recorded | Speaker | Title
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2 June 2009 | Brian Lavoie Research Scientist, OCLC Research | Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access This is a recording of an amplified session that was livecast from the 2009 RLG Partnership Annual Meeting. The introduction did not get captured so this recording begins on slide one. In this webinar, Brian Lavoie talks about the economic challenges of long-term digital preservation. He frames out digital preservation as an economic problem, describes the work of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access (which he co-chairs), and discusses some of the Task Force's findings to date. Participants also share their thoughts and perspectives in a discussion that follows the presentation. The goal of this session is to give participants a better understanding of the economic issues involved in building sustainable digital preservation activities. .wmv (105MB/1:20min.) .mp4 (176MB/1:20min.)
1 June 2009 | Constance Malpas and Dennis Massie Program Officers, OCLC Research | Managing Shared Print Collections This is a recording of an amplified session that was livecast from the 2009 RLG Partnership Annual Meeting. In this webinar, Constance Malpas and Dennis Massie review progress in several OCLC Research projects focused on collaborative management of library print collections, and highlight efforts that have been driven by institutions in the RLG Partnership. They also discuss a range of projects planned for the coming program year aimed at creating new operational efficiencies for research libraries. The session includes discussion and commentary by current participants and those who are interested to collaborate in upcoming initiatives. .wmv (100MB/1:16min.) .mp4 (164MB/1:16min.)
1 June 2009 | Ricky Erway Senior Program Officer, and Constance Malpas Program Officer, OCLC Research | Scholarly Information Practices in the Online Environment This is a recording of an amplified session that was livecast from the 2009 RLG Partnership Annual Meeting. The introduction did not get captured so this recording begins on slide two. In this webinar, Ricky Erway and Constance Malpas recap the findings from a literature review on scholarly information practices and some of the disciplinary differences. They also talk about a few activities that build on those findings that are underway (at RLG partner institutions and as RLG Partnership projects), then open the floor for discussion about what partners doing as well as possibilities for future collaboration. .wmv (82.8MB/1:11min.) .mp4 (160MB/1:11min.)
28 May 2009 | Jennifer Schaffner and Dennis Massie Program Officers, OCLC Research | Treasures on Trucks and Other Taboos: Rethinking the Sharing of Special Collections In this webinar, Program Officers Jennifer Schaffner and Dennis Massie present background information on the often controversial topic of loaning archives and special collections materials. In addition, two pairs of Special Collections and SHARES ILL librarians discuss issues and experiences. Naomi Nelson and Margaret Ellingson from Emory University speak from the perspective of an institution that's been loaning successfully for years. Cristina Favretto and Scott Britton from the University of Miami bring the perspective of being new to the discussion and just starting to consider the issues before coming to a decision about whether and how to make their materials more widely available. The phone and chat lines are then opened for frank conversation and compelling questions. Loan of special collections materials is a challenging topic, and this webinar helps move the conversation forward. .wmv (147MB/131min.) .mp4 (178MB/131min.)
16 October 2008 | Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research, and Bill Carney, Content Manager, OCLC | WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry In this webinar, Merrilee Proffitt and Bill Carney provide background on the work that has been undertaken to contribute to the development of the WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry. Merrilee and Bill also provide a demonstration of this pilot and talk about the current focus of establishing best practices for using the "rules engine" to codify determining what, for a given institution, is in or out of scope. The WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry will enable the creation and sharing of copyright evidence through a collaboratively created and maintained database. A side benefit of the project may be the community collaborating to define a consistent, accepted process for libraries to gather and document copyright evidence in order to provide access to digitized materials. .wmv (40.5MB/51min.) .mp4 (18.3MB/51min.)
27 August 2008 | Roy Tennant, Senior Program Officer, and Bruce Washburn, Consulting Software Engineer, OCLC Research | Using the WorldCat Search API In this webinar, Roy Tennant and Bruce Washburn provide an overview of WorldCat Search API features. Launched in August 2008, the WorldCat Search API provides OCLC libraries with new ways of taking advantage of the WorldCat database and features. With the API, you can build WorldCat search results, metadata, and links to library catalogs into your own systems. Supporting common search protocols like OpenSearch and SRU, and delivering data in standard formats like RSS, Atom, Dublin Core and MARC, the API is ready to be applied to a wide array of applications. Two versions of this webinar are available: Using the WorldCat Search API (with Q&A) is a recording of the 27 August webinar that includes questions from partners but in which technical difficulties prohibited Roy and Bruce from demonstrating current applications that use the API as originally planned. Because of this, an additional webinar was recorded, Using the WorldCat Search API (with Demos) that does contain these demonstrations but does not contain a question and answer session. This revised webinar is also available in the iTunes Store. Using the WorldCat Search API (with Q&A): .wmv (49.6MB/37min.) Using the WorldCat Search API (with Demos): .wmv (41.9MB/25min.) Using the WorldCat Search API (with Demos): .m4v (27.2MB/25min.)
14 August 2008 | Merrilee Proffit and Jennifer Schaffner , Program Officers, OCLC Research | Assessing the Impact of Special Collections In this webinar, Merrilee Proffitt and Jennifer Schaffner discuss metrics within special collections. Jen provides selected usage statistics gathered in special collections from 1995 to the present, and Merrilee covers the spectrum of possibilities for measuring use. Then they both raise some new issues and take comments and questions from participants to increase awareness about measuring special collections impact in libraries, archives and museums. .wmv (71.1MB/58min.) .m4v (42.3MB/58min.)
24 April 2008 | Constance Malpas, Program Officer, OCLC Research | Assessing Uniqueness in the System-wide Book Collection: Preliminary Results from a Study of WorldCat As space pressures on library print collections increase, and mass digitization efforts begin to challenge the primacy of locally-held print inventories, new attention has been directed to collection assessment in research libraries. Further, notions about the importance of and definitions for "uniqueness" have become discussion topics in a variety of venues, particularly in the context of long-tail economics. In this webinar, Constance Malpas gives an update on recent research on the distribution and content characterization of unique print books represented in the WorldCat database. RLG partners have been a critical part of this research project, contributing both local expertise and data, and providing insights on how different measures of "uniqueness" can shape local and group collection management efforts. .wmv (71.3MB/54min.) .m4v (41.9MB/54min.)
11 March 2008 | Ricky Erway and Jennifer Schaffner, Program Officers, OCLC Research | Out of the Stacks and onto the Desktop: Rethinking Assumptions about Access and Digitization Ricky Erway and Jennifer Schaffner provide a brief overview of the outcomes of two recent initiatives undertaken by RLG Programs with contributions from staff at many partner institutions that resulted in the following reports: Good Terms—Improving Commercial-Noncommercial Partnerships for Mass Digitization (D-Lib Magazine, 13,11/12.) Shifting Gears: Gearing Up to Get Into the Flow (.pdf: 86K/ 11pp.) Ricky and Jennifer also focus on several encouraging developments in the community, and then open the discussion for a conversation about what the future may hold. .wmv (73.5MB/54min.) .m4v (46.1MB/54min.)