OCLC

Overview
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. 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", according to its website. It was 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. The organization was founded by Fred Kilgour, and its head office is located in Dublin, Ohio, United States.

OCLC acquired NetLibrary, the largest electronic content provider, in 2002. OCLC owns 100% of the shares of OCLC PICA, a library automation systems and services company which has its headquarters in Leiden in the Netherlands and which was renamed "OCLC" at the end of 2007. In June 2006, the Research Libraries Group (RLG) merged into OCLC. On January 11, 2008, OCLC announced that it had purchased EZproxy.

Services
OCLC provides bibliographic, abstract and full-text information to libraries, students, faculty, scholars, and other information seekers.

OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat&mdash;the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) 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.

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, with its principal office in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. 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 2005.

This database contains records in MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC standards) 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 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 contained over 1.1 billion catalogued 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.

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.

Regional service providers
Regional service providers contract with OCLC to provide support and training for OCLC services. This chart represents only OCLC services.