WebJunction Gains $12.6M from Gates for Upgrades

Lynn Blumenstein -- Library Journal, 07/05/2007

WebJunction, the online community for library staff that has gained significant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since it launched in 2003, has been awarded another Gates grant to ensure its future viability. The grant, for $12.6 million over four years, will be used to replace software, enhance site functionality, and provide for long-term sustainability of services. Many of the planned site enhancements are a response to user feedback and studies of the web site, where library staff visit to share ideas, solve problems, and do online coursework.
OCLC, which hosts the site, will implement a new learning management system, content management system and portal software, improving functionality and flexibility for WebJunction members and community partners. The grant also will provide support needed to help WebJunction become self-sustaining within OCLC by improving its current revenue-generating services and creating new services.
"We support WebJunction’s efforts to continually enhance and improve the services it provides to its growing user base," said Jill Nishi, manager of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Libraries initiative. "It is important for the library community to have reliable online educational, training, and technical assistance that will meet their needs now and into the future."