Open WorldCat and Its Impact on Academic Libraries

This paper analyzes librarians' reactions to the Open OCLC WorldCat. A detailed survey was sent to ARL libraries to explore what, if anything, the libraries are currently doing to prepare for these changes and how they plan to cope with the probability of having all their records open to the whole world. Survey findings indicate that most of the ARL member institutions are not making immediate preparations to cope with issues that have not yet emerged and they will continue to provide access to materials based on priorities dictated by current needs and available resources.