Changes certain, nature unknown
I don’t write about RLG (where I currently work and have worked for almost 27 years) all that often–for a variety of reasons.
There are exceptions. This is one of them.
We heard about this about 150 minutes ago as I write.
“This,” for those who don’t bother to click through, is the announcement that RLG and OCLC plan to merge.
And that, other than the title of this post, is all I can say at this point–not because I have any secret decoder ring, but because I don’t. Don’t bother to ask: I am devoid of insider information.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Wow.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:07 pm
I just hope that your job will stay secure and that OCLC will recongnize you for the resource that you are. Perhaps you could start contributing to “It’s All Good.”
Unless you *want* to be retired or do other work.
Take care during these uncertain times.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Wow, I just read about this myself and was posting something to librarian.net. I really hope this goes smoothly and winds up being some sort of positive change, though I can’t help feeling that it sounds a little ominous as well.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Thanks everyone (and others to come, if any). Daniel, I need to figure out why I didn’t get email notification for your comment (which is always supposed to happen), but in any case thanks for the specific good wishes. (I’m sure you have nothing to do with it; either the auto-email is slow in arriving or something else odd has happened.)
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Mergers always sound ominous. Hopefully they can lead to very little shakeup and a whole lot of great knowledge-sharing.
If they’d make WorldCat work more like Red Light Green I’d be happy.
Best wishes on this being an easy transition for you and your colleagues.
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:29 pm
I miss Hugh Atkinson.
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Why does this call me html version?
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Good luck with whatever the future brings. I trust we can still count on Cites & Insights.
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Kathleen: Somehow, WordPress believes you put in “html version” as
an email address.your name. I’ve fixed it.Laura: I have no current plans to discontinue it…and that’s as much as I can say (because it’s as much as I know).
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:07 pm
However this shakes out, I do hope it will be positive for you, Walt. I note they’re keeping the California office, so an immediate move to Ohio is doubtless not in the cards for you.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Whoof. That’s a shocker. Here’s hoping it’s a good thing.
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:28 pm
Amen to all the above!
May 4th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
I’ll echo Daniel’s comment re: It’s All Good and you’re contributing to it. Heck, that might be a sign of how well the OCLC/RLG merger is going
May 5th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
OCLC uber alles?
May 5th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Just a note in passing:
Thanks for all the kind words. (And thanks to the half-dozen OCLC folk who have variously welcomed me to the fold…although, as it turns out, none of them know any more than I do.)
Status at this point: Pretty much unchanged.
Except that I’ve finally been able to do a little writing at home this afternoon; Wednesday and Thursday, I was too shook up to make any progress at all. (Fortunately, two days of lost writing time make no difference in the overall scheme of things.)
If you don’t see any great posts for a few days, now I have an excuse, instead of the usual not-getting-around-to-it.
May 7th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
Hey, Walt. I heard about this on the code4lib IRC channel and immediately thought of you. Keeping an R&D group distant from the host organization is a good thing, if one is to believe Christensen’s “Innovator’s Solution”. Still, Ohio isn’t all that bad of a place to work…
-jester
May 9th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
after seeing the library link of the day, i went to your blog. i hope you’re ok.
i always wondered about the relationship between oclc and rlg, and never quite understood it because i’m so far away physically and professionally (i haven’t used their services at all).
is this like google merging with yahoo? i’ve been through a merger myself, and there were quite a few warning signs. i wonder how they kept this one so quiet…
May 10th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
vonjobi: I don’t really have answers to your questions, but you might check out my new post…
May 24th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Update: I’m OK. While there are still uncertainties, I believe everything will work out (and in my case at least, for the best). For a little more, here’s my new post.