OCLC

Information about OCLC

OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Nonprofit membership cooperative
FoundedDublin, OH, U.S. (1967)
HeadquartersDublin, OH, U.S.
Key peopleRobert L. (Jay) Jordan (Pres and CEO), Fred Kilgour (Founder)
Area servedWorldwide
Active membersMore than 60,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories around the world
IndustryLibrary services
ProductsWorldcat, NetLibrary, Firstsearch, Dewey Decimal Classification, Webjunction
Website[1]


The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. It is 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. More than 57,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories around the world use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials. 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 OCLC PICA, a library automation systems and services company, which has its headquarters in Leiden in the Netherlands. In June 2006, the Research Libraries Group (RLG) merged into OCLC.

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 [2], 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.

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.

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.

WebJunction

WebJunction is a division of OCLC funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

OCLC Regional Service Providers

Regional service providers contract with OCLC to provide support and training for OCLC services. This chart represents ONLY OCLC services
Name Region Website
Amigos library servicesArizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texaswww.amigos.org
BCR (Bibiographic Center for Research)Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyomingwww.bcr.org
INCOLSAIndianawww.incolsa.net
ILLINETIllinoiswww.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/who_we_are/OCLC/home.html
MINITEX Library Information NetworkMinnesota, North Dakota, South Dakotawww.minitex.umn.edu
MLC (Michigan Library Consortium)Michiganwww.mlcnet.org
MLNC (Missouri Library Network CorporationMissouriwww.mlnc.org
NEBASENebraskawww.nlc.state.ne.us/netserv/nebase/nebserv.html
NELINETConnecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermontwww.nelinet.net
NylinkNew Yorknylink.org
OHIONETOhio, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvaniawww.ohionet.org
PALINETDelaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginiawww.palinet.org/
SOLINETAlabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Caribbeanwww.solinet.net/
WILSWisconsinwww.wils.wisc.edu/
FEDLINKU.S. Federal Librarieswww.loc.gov/flicc/
OCLC Service Centers
OCLC CAPCON Service CenterWashington D.C., Maryland and Virginia
OCLC Western Service Center
OCLC Asia Pacific
OCLC Canada
OCLC Latin America
OCLC Middle East and Northern Africa
OCLC PICA

See also

External links

A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance's Statement on the Co-operative Identity as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and
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City of Dublin

Seal
Motto: It's greener in Dublin.
Location of Dublin within Ohio.
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Ohio
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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City of Dublin

Seal
Motto: It's greener in Dublin.
Location of Dublin within Ohio.
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Ohio
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or chief executive, is the highest-ranking corporate officer, administrator, corporate administrator, executive, or executive officer, in charge of total management of a corporation, company, organization or agency.
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Frederick Gridley Kilgour (January 6 1914—July 31 2006) was an American librarian and educator known as the founding director of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), an international computer library network and database that changed the way people use libraries.
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Industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent, industrious"), is the segment of economy concerned with production of goods. Industry began in its present form during the 1800s, aided by technological advances, and it has continued to develop to this day.
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Aspinwall Classification System (Leo Aspinwall, 1958) classifies and rates products based on five variables:
  1. Replacement rate (How frequently is the product repurchased?)
  2. Gross margin (How much profit is obtained from each product?)

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WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of the more than 50,000 libraries which participate in the OCLC global cooperative. It is built and maintained collectively by the participating libraries from more than ninety countries.
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''For the similar-sounding numeral system see duodecimal system.


The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC, also called the Dewey Decimal System
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A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1964 1965 1966 - 1967 - 1968 1969 1970

Year 1967 (MCMLXVII
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library is a collection of information, sources, resources, and services: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books.
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Frederick Gridley Kilgour (January 6 1914—July 31 2006) was an American librarian and educator known as the founding director of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), an international computer library network and database that changed the way people use libraries.
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City of Dublin

Seal
Motto: It's greener in Dublin.
Location of Dublin within Ohio.
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Ohio
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OCLC PICA is a library automation systems and services company which originated from a co-operation of the Dutch Pica foundation (Stichting Pica) and the U.S. non-profit library company OCLC Online Computer Library Center.
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An integrated library system, or ILS, is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed.
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Leiden

Flag
Coat of arms

Coordinates:
Country Netherlands
Province South Holland
Area (2006)
 - Municipality 23.
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The Research Libraries Group (RLG) was a U.S.-based library consortium which developed the Eureka interlibrary search engine. RLG was founded by a group of major research libraries in 1974, two years after OCLC, another library consortium, was founded.
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Bibliography[1] (from Greek: βιβλιογραφία, bibliographia; lit. book writing) in its most general sense is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects.
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An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose.
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WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of the more than 50,000 libraries which participate in the OCLC global cooperative. It is built and maintained collectively by the participating libraries from more than ninety countries.
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An 'Online Public Access Catalog' or OPAC (aka iPAC for Internet/Intranet Public Access Catalogue) is a computerized online catalog of the materials held in a library, or library system.
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library catalog (or library catalogue) is a register of all bibliographic items found in a particular library or group of libraries, such as those belonging to a university system spread out over several geographic locations.
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Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Downtown Bethlehem in 2007

Seal
Location in Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:
Country United States
State
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MARC is an acronym for MAchine-Readable Cataloging. The MARC standards consist of the MARC formats, which are standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form, and related documentation.
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''For the similar-sounding numeral system see duodecimal system.


The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC, also called the Dewey Decimal System
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1985 1986 1987 - 1988 - 1989 1990 1991

Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII
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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Founder Bill & Melinda Gates

Founded 2000
Headquarters Seattle, Washington
Key people Bill Gates, Co-Founder and Co-Chair
Melinda French Gates, Co-Founder and Co-Chair
William H. Gates, Sr.
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