DUBLIN, Ohio, 13 August 2020—OCLC and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) have completed a two-year project that has added support for the registration of serial retention commitments in OCLC's WorldCat database, improved discovery of shared print data, and enhanced CRL's Print Archives Preservation Registry (PAPR). The expanded functionality is a significant step forward in collectively managing the preservation of the scholarly record for future generations.

The Shared Print Data Infrastructure project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

OCLC and CRL worked together to enhance and simplify registration workflows, allowing shared print programs to quickly set up and then efficiently bulk register thousands of commitments in WorldCat in only a few steps. Serial commitments in WorldCat will be automatically synchronized to PAPR and are also discoverable through an enhanced OCLC Metadata API that provides systematic access to shared print data. This comprehensive shared print data will then be available to inform library decision-making, improving both retention and collection development strategies.

"As a result of this work, the library community will be able to build and manage a comprehensive global retention safety net in WorldCat for scholarly and cultural resources," said Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO. "We are grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its generous support to make this important work possible."

WorldCat, the world's most comprehensive database of information about library collections, now supports shared print registration of both monographs and serials for OCLC cataloging members and CRL's PAPR database provides open access to all serials data registered in either system.

"Enhancements to PAPR make retention commitments easier to collect, and support data-driven decisions for serial collections," said Greg Eow, President of CRL. "We are delighted with this meaningful step forward in creating the infrastructure to support the stewardship of the collective collection."

The Shared Print Data Infrastructure project ran from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020. To learn more about shared print and the collective collection, visit oc.lc/sharedprint.

About CRL

The Center for Research Libraries is an international consortium of university, college, and independent research libraries collectively building, stewarding, and sharing a wealth of global resources to support inspired research and teaching. CRL's deep and diverse collections and content are shaped by specialists and experts at the major U.S. and Canadian research universities, who work together to ensure its long-term integrity and accessibility to researchers worldwide. CRL is based in Chicago, Illinois, and is governed by a Board of Directors drawn from the library, research and higher education communities.

About OCLC

OCLC is a nonprofit global library cooperative providing shared technology services, original research and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC's WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world's collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff and partners make breakthroughs possible.