# /research/publications/archive/releases/1994-09-16.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/releases/1994-09-16.htm

# U.S. Department of Education provides grant for catalog of Internet resources

DUBLIN, Ohio, Sept. 16, 1994--The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $62,000 College Library Technology and Cooperation grant to support the OCLC project, "Building a Catalog of Internet Resources."

The project initiates a nationwide, coordinated effort among libraries and institutions of higher education to create, implement, test and evaluate a searchable database of USMARC format bibliographic records, complete with electronic location and access information, for Internet-accessible materials.

The grant funds 58 percent of the $107,327 project; OCLC is contributing the balance of the costs. The 18-month project is funded from Oct. 1, 1994, to March 31, 1996, through the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, Title II-A.

> "We are pleased to be able to build upon the earlier efforts of the OCLC office of research and to continue extending the value of the nation's libraries, library systems and catalogs to include the rapidly growing world of networked information," said Martin Dillon, director, OCLC library resources management division, who will serve as project director. "It is essential that libraries and OCLC gain experience using library catalogs, methods and practices to include Internet materials."

In a volunteer effort, libraries participating in this project, in cooperation with representatives from their host institutions, will identify, select and catalog computer files available via the Internet.

OCLC will provide participants with cataloging guidelines and help-desk support, and facilitate the creation, searching and retrieval of bibliographic records through OCLC systems.

In addition to bibliographic description, records created in this effort will contain location and access information, and they will be accessible through the OCLC PRISM service and the FirstSearch WorldCat database. The collection of records also will be made available experimentally for general Internet access, and OCLC will test the technical feasibility of providing direct user access to remote materials based on encoded location and access information.

At the conclusion of the project, OCLC will host a colloquium and publish results in print and electronic format.