Online Computer Library Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Type | Nonprofit membership cooperative |
|---|---|
| Founded | Dublin, OH, U.S. (1967) |
| Headquarters | Dublin, OH, U.S. |
| Key people | Robert L. (Jay) Jordan (Pres and CEO) |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Active members | More than 60,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories around the world |
| Industry | Library services |
| Products | Worldcat, NetLibrary, FirstSearch, Dewey Decimal Classification, VDX, WebJunction, Questionpoint |
| Website | http://www.oclc.org |
The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is, according to its website, a "nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs". Founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, more than 60,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories around the world use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials.[1] The organization was founded by Fred Kilgour, and its offices are located in Dublin, Ohio.
OCLC acquired NetLibrary, the largest eContent provider, in 2002 and owns 100% of the shares of OCLC PICA, a library automation systems and services company, which has its headquarters in Leiden in the Netherlands, which was renamed into "OCLC" at the end of 2007.[2] In June 2006, the Research Libraries Group (RLG) merged into OCLC.
On January 11, 2008, OCLC announced that they have purchased EZproxy.
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[edit] How it works
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 OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) in the world. WorldCat contains holding records from most public and private libraries worldwide. WorldCat is available through many libraries and university computer networks.
The Open WorldCat program makes records of library-owned materials in OCLC's WorldCat database available to Web users on popular Internet search, bibliographic and bookselling sites. OCLC member libraries' catalogs are more accessible from the sites where many people start their search for information.
Open WorldCat records may be accessed through Google or Yahoo's advanced search features, by simply limiting the scope of a search to the site or domain "worldcatlibraries.org." In the fall of 2004, the Open WorldCat collection was expanded to include information about all WorldCat records.
In October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki-like project that allows readers and librarians to add commentary, and structured-field information, associated with any WorldCat record.
OCLC owns a preservation microfilm and digitization operation called the OCLC Preservation Service Center [1], with its principal office in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Libraries, museums, historical societies, colleges and universities utilize the OCLC Preservation Services to preserve printed works, books, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, etc. in microfilm format for future generations due to its 500-year life expectancy. In addition OCLC Preservation Services converts print and microfilm to digital objects for computer access.
[edit] Online database
OCLC maintains a database for cataloging and searching purposes which is used by librarians and the public. OCLC Passport was one of the computer programs used. Connexion was introduced in 2001 and replaced Passport when it was phased out in May of 2005.
This database contains records in MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC) format contributed by library catalogers worldwide who use OCLC as a cataloging tool. These MARC format records are then downloaded into the libraries local catalog systems to drive their online catalogs. This allows libraries worldwide to find and download records for materials they want to add to their local catalog without having to go through the lengthy process of cataloging them each individually.
As of February 2007, their database contains over 1.1 billion cataloged items. It remains the world's largest bibliographic database. Connexion is available to professional librarians both as a computer program or on the web at connexion.oclc.org.
WorldCat is also available to the public for searching through a web-based service called FirstSearch, as well as through the Open WorldCat program.
[edit] Dewey Decimal System
The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988.
[edit] WebJunction
WebJunction is a division of OCLC funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
[edit] Questionpoint
QuestionPoint reference management service provides libraries with tools to communicate with users in multiple ways. This around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries.
[edit] OCLC regional service providers
Regional service providers contract with OCLC to provide support and training for OCLC services. This chart represents only OCLC services.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ OCLC renames European division. Business First of Columbus (October 22, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
- ^ Michael Rogers (October 22, 2007). CLC/OCLC Pica Merge. Library Journal. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
