Thursday, 29th July 2010

Cataloging and ILS: SkyRiver Files Antitrust Suit Against OCLC; Innovative Interfaces is Also Part of Suit

UPDATED: ACCESS A FULL TEXT COPY OF THE COMPLAINT (39 PAGES; PDF) FILED BY SKY RIVER AND INNOVATIVE INTERFACES IN THIS POST.

From the Announcement:

In a move that could have far-reaching implications for competition in the library software and technology services industry, SkyRiver Technology Solutions, LLC has filed suit in federal court in San Francisco against OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. The suit alleges that OCLC, a purported non-profit with a membership of 72,000 libraries worldwide, is unlawfully monopolizing the markets for cataloging services, interlibrary lending, and bibliographic data, and attempting to monopolize the market for integrated library systems, by anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.

[Snip]

“OCLC started out 40 years ago as a library cooperative, but it has become a corporate monopoly.” said SkyRiver’s President Leslie Straus. “In the process OCLC has punished its own members who have tried to seek out lower cost alternatives like SkyRiver.”

SkyRiver is joined in the lawsuit by Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library automation company. The suit also addresses OCLC’s anticompetitive behavior in the integrated library systems market.

[Clip]

For more information about the SkyRiver’s lawsuit and the issue of choice for libraries in the marketplace for library software and services, visit www.choiceforlibraries.com. Twitter users are encouraged to use hashtag #skyoclc.

Source: SkyRiver Website
Hat Tip: P.B.

SkyRiver Users (Compiled Using News Releases on SkyRiver Website, Likely Not Comprehensive)

1. Minuteman Library Network (MLN)in Massachusetts

2. St. Lawrence University (NY), SAILS Consortium (MA), and Capital Area District Library (MI)

3. Des Moines Public Library

4. Scottsdale Public Library

5. West Bloomfield, MI Transitions to SkyRiver

6. Middle Country Public Library, Centereach NY

7. Michigan State University

See Also: SkyRiver at Michigan State University Libraries: A Brief Overview (via ALCTS Online Newsletter)

8. California State University, Long Beach

9. Vendor Partnerships (and Uses) with Baker & Taylor, Ingram Midwest Book Exchange, YBP Library Services, and "Others"

10. Marketing Partnerships with Lyrasis, Greater Western Library Alliance, and Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS)

See Also: NEW: SkyRiver Sues OCLC over Anti-Trust (Coyle's InFormation, 7/29/2010)

See Also: Yet More OCLC (Coyle's InFormation, 2/2010)

See Also: From November, 2009: Webcast: Richard Wallis Chats with OCLC’s Karen Calhoun About the Record Reuse Policy; New Competition; and the Blurring of Boundaries

In a summary of the discussion, Richard Wallis on Panlibus writes, "We then moved on to discuss how new entrants, Biblios and SkyRiver, in to the record supply sector may alter that landscape." Again, this interview took place in November, 2009.

See Also: New Company SkyRiver Sparks Cataloging Competition with OCLC (October, 2009)
by Marshall Breeding
Source: Library Journal

Views: 2575

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