Mr. Keys, who has announced his retirement from the network, was attending his final meeting as a delegate. Users Council also honored Liz Bishoff, former vice president, OCLC Member Services, for her work with OCLC and as a member of the American Library Association's executive board. A study group chaired by Merryll Penson recommended the establishment of a task force on OCLC WorldCat to consider issues related to the addition of complete holdings information to the database and the use of records. The task force will discuss these issues at the January Users Council meeting and make recommendations to the Users Council executive committee by May 1999. We need to recognize that there are a lot of new components.
Libraries are creatures of information policy.
It guides what they do from day to day. Policy shapes the technology and information services they use, and information policy is globalizing. In addition, Phyllis B. Spies, OCLC vice president, Worldwide Sales, updated delegates on OCLC's recent activities, and Rick Schwieterman, OCLC vice president, Finance and Human Resources, provided an overview of OCLC finances. In small groups, Users Council delegates discussed emerging global trends and developments affecting OCLC libraries. Jerry Stephens, librarian and director, Mervyn H. Sterne Library, University of Alabama-Birmingham, summarized those discussions in a general session for the delegates.