OCLC
501(c)3 organization | |
31-0734115 | |
Headquarters | Dublin, Ohio, U.S. |
Coordinates | 40°06′09″N 83°07′37″W / 40.1025°N 83.1269°W |
Region | Worldwide |
Products |
|
Members | 30,000+ libraries in 100+ countries[2] |
President & CEO | Skip Prichard |
Revenue (2020–21) | $217.8 million[3] |
Website | www |
OCLC, Inc.,
History
OCLC began in 1967, as the Ohio College Library Center, through a collaboration of university presidents, vice presidents, and library directors who wanted to create a cooperative, computerized network for libraries in the state of
Kilgour and Ralph H. Parker, who was the head of libraries at the
Between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the governance structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States.[9]
As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with "networks", organizations that provided training, support and marketing services. By 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on the OCLC Members Council. During 2008, OCLC commissioned two studies to look at distribution channels; at the same time, the council approved governance changes that had been recommended by the Board of Trustees severing the tie between the networks and governance. In early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center.[10]
In July 2010, the company was sued by SkyRiver, a rival startup, in an antitrust suit.[11] Library automation company Innovative Interfaces joined SkyRiver in the suit.[12] The suit was dropped in March 2013, however, following the acquisition of SkyRiver by Innovative Interfaces.[13] Innovative Interfaces was bought by
In 2022, membership and governance expanded to include any institution with a subscription to one of many qualifying OCLC products (previously institutions qualified for membership by "contributing intellectual content or participating in global resource or reference sharing"), with the exception of for-profit organizations that are part of OCLC's partner program.
Presidents
The following people served successively as president of OCLC:[16]
- 1967–1980: Frederick G. Kilgour
- 1980–1989: Rowland C. W. Brown
- 1989–1998: K. Wayne Smith
- 1998–2013: Jay Jordan
- 2013–present: Skip Prichard
Services
OCLC provides
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.[5] WorldCat has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide.
The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988. A browser[17] for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013; it was replaced by the Classify Service.
Until August 2009, when it was sold to Backstage Library Works, OCLC owned a preservation microfilm and digitization operation called the OCLC Preservation Service Center,[18] with its principal office in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Starting in 1971, OCLC produced
QuestionPoint,[20] an around-the-clock reference service provided to users by a cooperative of participating global libraries, was acquired by Springshare from OCLC in 2019 and migrated to Springshare's LibAnswers platform.[21][22]
Software
OCLC commercially sells software, such as:
- CONTENTdm for managing
- Wise, an integrated library system and "community engagement system"[26][27]
- WorldCat Discovery, a bibliographic discovery system that allows library patrons to use a single search interface to access an institution's catalog, ebooks, database subscriptions and more[28][29]
- WorldShare Management Services, an electronic resource management system[30][29]
Research
OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications.[31] These publications, including journal articles, reports, newsletters, and presentations, are available through the organization's website.
- OCLC Publications – Research articles from various journals including The Code4Lib Journal, OCLC Research, Reference and User Services Quarterly, College & Research Libraries News, Art Libraries Journal, and National Education Association Newsletter. The most recent publications are displayed first, and all archived resources, starting in 1970, are also available.[32]
- Membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding.[33]
- Newsletters – Current and archived newsletters for the library and archive community.[34]
- Presentations – Presentations from both guest speakers and OCLC research from conferences, webcasts, and other events. The presentations are organized into five categories: Conference presentations, Dewey presentations, Distinguished Seminar Series, Guest presentations, and Research staff presentations.[35]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, OCLC participated in the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) project funded by the IMLS to study the surface transmission risks of SARS-CoV-2 on common library and museum materials and surfaces,[36] and published a series of reports.[37]
Advocacy
Advocacy has been a part of OCLC's mission since its founding in 1967. OCLC staff members meet and work regularly with library leaders, information professionals, researchers, entrepreneurs, political leaders, trustees, students and patrons to advocate "advancing research, scholarship, education, community development, information access, and global cooperation".[38][39]
WebJunction, which provides training services to librarians,[40] is a division of OCLC funded by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation beginning in 2003.[41][42]
OCLC partnered with search engine providers in 2003 to advocate for libraries and share information across the Internet landscape. Google, Yahoo!, and Ask.com all collaborated with OCLC to make WorldCat records searchable through those search engines.[38]
OCLC's advocacy campaign "Geek the Library", started in 2009, highlights the role of public libraries. The campaign, funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, uses a strategy based on the findings of the 2008 OCLC report, "From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America".[43]
Other past advocacy campaigns have focused on sharing the knowledge gained from library and information research. Such projects have included communities such as the
OCLC has collaborated with the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia volunteer community, through integrating library metadata with Wikimedia projects, hosting a Wikipedian in residence, and doing a national training program through WebJunction called "Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together".[44][45][46]
Online database: WorldCat
OCLC's WorldCat database is used by the general public and by librarians for cataloging and research. WorldCat is available to the public for searching via a subscription web-based service called FirstSearch, to which many libraries subscribe,[47] as well as through the publicly available WorldCat.org.[48]
Identifiers and linked data
OCLC assigns a unique control number (referred to as an "OCN" for "OCLC Control Number") to each new bibliographic record in WorldCat. Numbers are assigned serially, and in mid-2013 over a billion OCNs had been created. In September 2013, the OCLC declared these numbers to be in the public domain, removing a perceived barrier to widespread use of OCNs outside OCLC itself.[49] The control numbers link WorldCat's records to local library system records by providing a common reference key for a record across libraries.[50]
OCNs are particularly useful as identifiers for books and other bibliographic materials that do not have ISBNs (e.g., books published before 1970). OCNs are often used as identifiers for Wikipedia and Wikidata. In October 2013, it was reported that out of 29,673 instances of book infoboxes in Wikipedia, "there were 23,304 ISBNs and 15,226 OCNs", and regarding Wikidata: "of around 14 million Wikidata items, 28,741 were books. 5403 Wikidata items have an ISBN associated with them, and 12,262 have OCNs."[51]
OCLC also runs the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), an international name authority file, with oversight from the VIAF Council composed of representatives of institutions that contribute data to VIAF.[52] VIAF numbers are broadly used as standard identifiers, including in Wikipedia.[44][53]
Company acquisitions
OCLC acquired
On January 11, 2008, OCLC announced[58] that it had purchased EZproxy. It has also acquired OAIster. The process started in January 2009 and from October 31, 2009, OAIster records are freely available via WorldCat.org.
In 2013, OCLC acquired the Dutch library automation company HKA[59][60] and its integrated library system Wise,[27] which OCLC calls a "community engagement system" that "combines the power of customer relationship management, marketing, and analytics with ILS functions".[26] OCLC began offering Wise to libraries in the United States in 2019.[27]
In January 2015, OCLC acquired Sustainable Collection Services (SCS). SCS offered consulting services based on analyzing library print collection data to help libraries manage and share materials.[61] In 2017, OCLC acquired Relais International, a library interlibrary loan service provider based in Ottawa, Canada.[62]
A more complete list of mergers and acquisitions is available on the OCLC website.[63]
Criticism
In May 2008, OCLC was criticized by Jeffrey Beall for monopolistic practices, among other faults.[64] Library blogger Rick Mason responded that although he thought Beall had some "valid criticisms" of OCLC, he demurred from some of Beall's statements and warned readers to "beware the hyperbole and the personal nature of his criticism, for they strongly overshadow that which is worth stating".[65]
In November 2008, the Board of Directors of OCLC unilaterally issued a new Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records
See also
References
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- ^ a b "About OCLC". OCLC. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
- ^ a b "OCLC Annual Report 2020–2021". Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. December 20, 2021. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
- ^ a b "Certificate of Amendment of the Amended Articles of Incorporation of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc". Ohio Secretary of State. June 26, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2019. See also: "Amended Articles of Incorporation of OCLC, Inc" (PDF). OCLC. June 23, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
- ^ from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ a b "In the beginning". oclc.org. OCLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
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- ^ Coyle, Karen (July 29, 2010). "SkyRiver Sues OCLC over Anti-Trust". Karen Coyle. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ Breeding, Marshall (July 29, 2010). "SkyRiver and Innovative Interfaces File Major Antitrust Lawsuit Against OCLC". Library Journal. Archived from the original on August 2, 2010.
- ^ Price, Gary (March 4, 2013). "III Drops OCLC Suit, Will Absorb SkyRiver". Library Journal. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ Schonfeld, Roger C. (December 5, 2019). "What Are the Larger Implications of Ex Libris Buying Innovative?". sr.ithaka.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ a b "Membership and Governance Protocols" (PDF). www.oclc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ "OCLC Presidents". www.oclc.org. OCLC. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ "OCLC DeweyBrowser". deweybrowser.oclc.org. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- ^ "Preservation Service Center". OCLC. Archived from the original on December 29, 2003.
- ^ "OCLC prints last library catalog cards". www.oclc.org. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ "QuestionPoint". OCLC. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- ^ Gest, Jayne (June 3, 2019). "OCLC to sell QuestionPoint software to Florida company". Smart Business Dealmakers Columbus. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "Springshare Acquires QuestionPoint from OCLC". springshare.com. May 31, 2019. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "CONTENTdm". OCLC. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- S2CID 198349364.
- ^ a b "OCLC Wise: Community engagement system for public libraries". OCLC. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Ben (April 2, 2019). "OCLC Wise Reimagines the ILS". infotoday.com. Information Today. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "WorldCat Discovery". OCLC. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
- ^ a b Breeding, Marshall (January 2, 2019). "Discovery services: bundled or separate?". American Libraries. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
Should discovery services be bundled or acquired à la carte? Perspectives differ regarding the benefits of pairing a discovery service (for example, Ex Libris Primo or OCLC's WorldCat Discovery Service) with the resource management system from the same vendor (Ex Libris Alma or OCLC's WorldShare Management Services).
- ^ "WorldShare Management Services: An advanced, cloud-based library services platform". OCLC. Archived from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
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- ^ "OCLC Publications". www.oclc.org. Archived from the original on June 20, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "OCLC Membership Reports". www.oclc.org. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "OCLC Presentations". www.oclc.org. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ Smith, Carrie (January 4, 2021). "REALM test results: how long SARS-CoV-2 lives on common library materials". American Libraries. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- ^ "REALM project – Research". www.oclc.org. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
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- ^ "WebJunction". OCLC. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ Block, Marylaine (May 19, 2003). "Gates Foundation and OCLC announce WebJunction". infotoday.com. Information Today. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ Enis, Matt (September 7, 2012). "Grant to support OCLC WebJunction for five years". Library Journal. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "Advocacy: From Awareness to Funding, the next chapter". www.oclc.org. OCLC. July 18, 2018. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "Libraries Leverage Wikimedia". www.oclc.org. OCLC. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together". webjunction.org. Archived from the original on April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together: OCLC WebJunction". Internet Archive. August 22, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2020. Training curriculum and support materials.
- ^ "FirstSearch: Precision searching of WorldCat". OCLC. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ^ Hane, Paula J. (July 17, 2006). "OCLC to open WorldCat searching to the world". infotoday.com. Information Today. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ^ Wallis, Richard (September 24, 2013). "OCLC Declare OCLC Control Numbers Public Domain". dataliberate.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ "OCLC Control Number". Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ HangingTogether.org (October 11, 2013). "OCLC Control Numbers in the Wild". Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ "VIAF Council". www.oclc.org. OCLC. December 20, 2019. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- from the original on April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ Jordan, Jay (March 17, 2010). "Letter to members 2010". OCLC. Archived from the original on March 26, 2010.
- ^ Rogers, Michael (October 30, 2007). "CLC/OCLC Pica Merge". Library Journal. New York. Archived from the original on October 28, 2008.
- ^ Wilson, Lizabeth; Neal, James; Jordan, Jay (October 2006). "RLG and OCLC: Combining for the Future" (guest editorial). Library and Information Science. Vol. 6, no. 4. Retrieved via Project Muse database, 2017-06-21.
- ^ "RLG to combine with OCLC". worldcat.org. OCLC. May 3, 2006. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017. Press release.
- ^ "OCLC acquires EZproxy authentication and access software". www.oclc.org. January 11, 2008. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008.
- ^ "OCLC acquires Dutch library systems provider HKA". STM Publishing News. October 2, 2013. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ Breeding, Marshall (November 2013). "OCLC acquires the Dutch ILS provider HKA". Smart Libraries Newsletter. 33 (11): 2–6. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ Price, Gary (January 13, 2015). "Print Collections: OCLC Acquires Sustainable Collection Services". Infodocket. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- ^ "OCLC agrees to acquire Relais International to provide library consortia more options for resource sharing". www.oclc.org. January 17, 2017. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ "Mergers and acquisitions". www.oclc.org. OCLC. March 26, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- OCLC 173241123. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Mason, Rick (June 10, 2008). "OCLC: A Review (a review)". Libology Blog. Archived from the original on February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ "Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records". File_MARC package for PHP. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2020. Archived image of OCLC webpage dated November 2, 2008.
- ^ "OCLC Policy Change". Code4Lib wiki. 2008–2010. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ a b c McKenzie, Elizabeth (January 2012). OCLC changes its rules for use of records in WorldCat: library community pushback through blogs and cultures of resistance (Technical report). Boston: Suffolk University Law School. Research paper 12-06. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
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- ^ Vollmer, Timothy (August 14, 2012). "Library catalog metadata: Open licensing or public domain?". Creative Commons. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- ^ Price, Gary (February 14, 2014). "Metadata/Catalog Records: National Library of Sweden Signs Agreement With OCLC Re: CC0 License". Library Journal. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
Further reading
- Bénaud, Claire-Lise; Bordeianu, Sever (October 2015). "OCLC's WorldShare Management Services: a brave new world for catalogers". S2CID 62642181.
- Blackman, Cathy; Moore, Erica Rae; Seikel, Michele; Smith, Mandi (July 2014). "WorldCat and SkyRiver: a comparison of record quantity and fullness". Library Resources & Technical Services. 58 (3): 178–186. .
- Breeding, Marshall (May 2015). "Library services platforms: a maturing genre of products". Library Technology Reports. 51 (4): 1–38. doi:10.5860/ltr.51n4.
- OCLC 759584353.
- Maciuszko, Kathleen L. (1984). OCLC, a decade of development, 1967–1977. Littleton, Colo.: OCLC 10483157.
- Matthews, Joseph R. (July 2016). "An environmental scan of OCLC alternatives: a management perspective". Public Library Quarterly. 35 (3): 175–187. .
- Richardson, Ellen (January 2012). "Ain't no (Sky)River wide enough to keep me from getting to you: SkyRiver, Innovative, OCLC, and the fight for control over the bibliographic data, cataloging services, ILL, and ILS markets". Legal Reference Services Quarterly. 31 (1): 37–64. S2CID 62595756.
- Smith, K. Wayne, ed. (1998). OCLC, 1967–1997: thirty years of furthering access to the world's information. New York: OCLC 38732191.
- "WorldCat data licensing" (PDF). oclc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018. See also: "Data licenses & attribution". oclc.org. January 14, 2017. Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018. Information about licensing of WorldCat records and some other OCLC data.
External links
- Official website
- Hanging Together – the OCLC Research blog
- OCLC Annual Reports collection at the OCLC Archives