DURHAM, NC--(Marketwire - Jun 5, 2012) - MetaMetrics®, developer of The Lexile® Framework for Reading, and OCLC are pleased to announce that they have significantly expanded their relationship. For the past few years MetaMetrics' popular "Find a Book" tool has utilized OCLC's widely-used WorldCat.org to connect readers to libraries where books at their reading level can be found. OCLC and MetaMetrics have taken another big step in their literacy partnership by directly providing Lexile® measures for more than 125,000 titles in WorldCat.
WorldCat is the collective collection of the world's libraries, and a database of bibliographic information built continuously by OCLC libraries and their partners around the world. Thousands of libraries around the world are represented in WorldCat. Every 10 seconds, a new item is added to the 1.5 billion items currently available through participating WorldCat libraries.
"The importance of connecting individuals to libraries has never been greater," said MetaMetrics President and co-founder Malbert Smith III, Ph.D. "In the US, as well as across the globe, all countries realize the critical role of literacy in preparing all students for college and career readiness. This partnership helps facilitate the mission of promoting literacy by combining the unique benefits and assets of each organization."
"Our libraries can serve all readers more effectively with WorldCat and the Lexile measure," said Chip Nilges, OCLC Vice President, Business Development. "This popular tool, for students of all ages, offers particular value for those who rely most heavily on libraries, such as homeschoolers, international students and those working specifically on improving their reading skills. Our partnership brings together these two important resources online to help readers find the right book for their reading level at their local library."
"Lexile measures provide valuable information about the text complexity of a book," said Chip Nilges, OCLC Vice President, Business Development. "As students begin to think about what they should read, having Lexile measures only further enhances a library's ability to connect users to what they're looking for -- wherever they are, through whatever device -- now with indicators for their desired reading level."
The Lexile Framework is a unique tool for accurately matching readers with text. Unlike other measurement systems, the Lexile Framework evaluates reading ability and growth based on actual assessment results, rather than generalized age or grade levels. Lexile measures help librarians, teachers and parents find books, articles and other resources within a reader's recommended Lexile range: 100L below to 50L above his or her Lexile measure. Reading materials within this optimal Lexile range will challenge the individual's reading ability, while still maintaining interest and learning.
One of the many groups to benefit from this partnership is standardized test-takers. Millions of learners in the U.S. and around the world receive Lexile measures from test publishers. By adding Lexile measures to WorldCat, students get valuable information about potential key titles to access from the library and review, so they can better prepare for many standardized and formative assessments and reading programs.
In sum, the OCLC-MetaMetrics partnership enables students to connect to libraries, where literacy and the love of reading can be nourished and encouraged.
About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics is focused on improving education for learners of all ages and ability levels. The organization develops scientific measures of academic achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment results with real-world instruction. MetaMetrics' products and services for reading (The Lexile Framework for Reading, El Sistema Lexile para Leer), mathematics (The Quantile® Framework for Mathematics), and writing (The Lexile Framework for Writing) provide unique insights about academic ability and the potential for growth, enabling individuals to achieve their goals at every stage of development. Connect with the organization at: http://blog.lexile.com.
About OCLC
Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world's largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.
Contact Information:
For more information:
Elizabeth Lattanzio
919-354-3482