Maelstrom Over Metadata

OCLC is definitely trying to pull a bit of a fast one with this metadata appropriation. The comments after the article give some additional information as well. OCLC's move is not unlike Wikipedia deciding to finally charge for people to access the records they originally helped to create, police and confirm. This move, at the very least, proves the value of information within our society. If nothing else the appropriation of what was/is public access information proves the monetarily and intrisic value of information to a corporation that takes precedent when they can make profit from it. If OCLC continues to go through with this, it will set a potentially mistrustful relationship with any other companies that gather information from public sources. Users/participants will require additional legalese to protect their investment of time and records challenging the perceived openess of the Web.