Welcome to Online Computer Library Center
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (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 information costs".online public access catalog (OPAC) in the world.
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History
It was incorporated on July 6, 1967 as the not-for-profit Ohio College Library Center.Dublin, Ohio, U.S.
Services
OCLC provides abstract and full-text information to anyone.
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 has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide. 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. In October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record.
Until August 2009, when it was sold to Backstage Library Works, OCLC owned a preservation microfilm and digitization operation called the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Online database
OCLC has a database for cataloging and searching purposes which is used by librarians and the public. The current computer program, Connexion, was introduced in 2001, and its predecessor, OCLC Passport, was phased out in May 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. This allows libraries to find and download records for materials to add to their local catalog without the lengthy process of cataloging each individually.
As of February 2007, their database contained over 1.1 billion cataloged items. It is the world's largest bibliographic database. Connexion is available to professional librarians as a computer program or on the web at connexion.oclc.org.
WorldCat is available to the public for searching a web-based service called Open WorldCat program.
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 is a division of OCLC funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
QuestionPoint reference management service provides libraries with tools to communicate with users. This around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries.
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 Services | Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas | www.amigos.org |
| Bibliographical Center for Research | Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming | www.bcr.org |
| ILLINET | Illinois | www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/who_we_are/OCLC/home.html |
| MINITEX Library Information Network | Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota | www.minitex.umn.edu |
| MCLS (Midwest Collaborative for Library Services) | Indiana, Michigan | www.mlcnet.org |
| MLNC (Missouri Library Network Corporation) | Missouri | www.mcls.org |
| NEBASE | Nebraska | www.nlc.state.ne.us/netserv/nebase/nebserv.html |
| NELINET | Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont | www.nelinet.net |
| Nylink | New York | nylink.org |
| OHIONET | Ohio, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania | www.ohionet.org |
| PALINET | Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia | www.palinet.org/ |
| LYRASIS | Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Caribbean | www.lyrasis.org |
| WILS | Wisconsin | www.wils.wisc.edu/ |
| FEDLINK | U.S. Federal Libraries | www.loc.gov/flicc/ |
| OCLC service centers | ||
| OCLC Eastern Service Center | Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia | |
| OCLC Western Service Center | Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Guam | |
| OCLC Asia Pacific | ||
| OCLC Canada | ||
| OCLC Latin America | ||
| OCLC PICA (OCLC Europe, Middle East and Africa) | ||
Company acquisitions
OCLC acquired OAIster. The process started in January 2009 and from 31 October 2009, OAIster records are freely available via WorldCat.org.
See also
References
- dead link
Further reading
External links
- Official website
- WorldCat
- Open WorldCat Program
- Netlibrary.org homepage
- WorldCat catalog)