Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and Talis‘ work in this area have been all the buzz on the blogosphere recently — here and here and here for example. In a small, and we hope significant, way is RLG contributing to the Library 2.0 community by partnering with Talis. [press release]
Some months ago, we began discussions with our colleagues at Talis in the UK. They were interested in collaborating, and so were we. That partnership has taken the form of handing off the data that powers “Get It at your library” in RedLightGreen to power the Talis Directory Service.
What does this mean? The end of redundancy, for one thing. RLG and Talis will no longer maintain separate directories that perform essentially the same function. Instead, one open directory will be used by at least the two services — RedLightGreen and the Talis Library Platform — and hopefully many more as well. For another thing, the directory is truly open. Libraries included in the directory need not be RLG members or customers, or Talis customers. This distinguishes the Talis Directory Service from the “Find in a library” component of Open WorldCat (you will only “Find in a library” if that library is a FirstSearch subscriber).
Participation in the RedLightGreen “Get It at your library” component has always been available to any library, and of course will continue to be open. It will just be more robust, and more open.
As described in this Talis blog entry, we owe a debt of gratitude to John Udell, whose Library Lookup Service was the inspiration for the functionality in RedLightGreen. A tip of the hat goes to RLG’s Bruce Washburn, who implemented our “Get It at your library” service, and who has worked through the technical parts of the partnership with Talis.
RLG is pleased and proud to become, as the press release says, the “first global partner for the Talis Platform.”
Merrilee Proffitt is Senior Manager for the OCLC RLP. She provides community development skills and expert support to institutions within the OCLC Research Library Partnership.
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