Sharon J. Rogers, chair of the OCLC Board of Trustees, introduced Mr. Jordan before his first report to the delegates. Mr. Jordan said that his immediate priorities are to learn OCLC's products and services, to meet OCLC member librarians, to engage employees in open dialog about the future, to review international initiatives, and to listen to the leadership of the library community. His long-term goal is to assure that OCLC continues to deliver increasing levels of value to the members. World Brain' might be too hyperbolic at the moment to describe OCLC's role, but it has the potential in the 21st century to become an even wider global source of information content and a facilitator of information from creators to publishers to libraries and end users. Phyllis Spies, OCLC vice president, Sales and International, gave a presentation on OCLC's Global Information Services.
Innovation is more important than mass production.
A world so different can only be described as a revolution. In small groups, Users Council delegates discussed emerging global trends and developments affecting OCLC libraries. Ian Mowat summarized those discussions in a general session for the delegates. Minutes from OCLC Users Council meetings, from October 1990 through the February 1998 meeting, are available on the Internet. Minutes from the May 1998 meeting will be available by June 15.