OCLC
American nonprofit library cooperative
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OCLC, Inc. is an American nonprofit library cooperative based in Dublin, Ohio. Founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, it provides shared cataloging, metadata, discovery, resource-sharing, and library-management services to libraries worldwide.[1] OCLC and its member libraries maintain WorldCat, a global union catalog that aggregates bibliographic and holdings records from libraries and other cultural institutions.[3]
OCLC headquarters in 2007 | |
| Predecessor | Ohio College Library Center; Online Computer Library Center |
|---|---|
| Formation | July 5, 1967 |
| Founder | Frederick G. Kilgour |
| Type | 501(c)(3) organization |
| 31-0734115 | |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ohio, United States |
| Coordinates | 40.1025°N 83.1269°W |
Region served | Worldwide |
| Products |
|
| Members | More than 30,000 libraries in more than 100 countries[1] |
President and CEO | Skip Prichard |
| Revenue | US$217.8 million[2] |
| Website | oclc |
OCLC began as a state-level effort to reduce duplicated cataloging work among Ohio academic libraries through a shared computerized system. It expanded nationally and then internationally as libraries adopted its online cataloging network, and its shared database developed into WorldCat. From the 1980s onward, OCLC broadened from cataloging infrastructure into classification, discovery, interlibrary loan, access authentication, digital collections, and linked-data services. The organization formally changed its legal name to OCLC, Inc. in 2017.[4]
History
Founding and shared cataloging, 1967-1977
OCLC began in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, a nonprofit cooperative created by Ohio college and university leaders to explore computerized library cataloging. The group signed articles of incorporation on July 5, 1967, at Ohio State University and hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, as its first executive director.[5][6]
Kilgour and Ralph H. Parker, head of libraries at the University of Missouri, had proposed a shared cataloging system in a 1965 report to the Committee of Librarians of the Ohio College Association. Kilgour later described the plan as an effort to combine computer-based information storage and retrieval with library cataloging in order to reduce duplication and improve access across institutions.[6] On August 26, 1971, Ohio University's Alden Library became the first library to perform online cataloging through OCLC.[5]
National and international expansion, 1978-2002
For its first decade, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio. In 1978, the organization adopted a governance structure that allowed institutions outside Ohio to join, and the name changed to the Online Computer Library Center.[7] As OCLC expanded outside the United States, its governance structure was modified again in 2002 to accommodate international participation.[8]
OCLC's shared cataloging database developed into WorldCat, a union catalog built from bibliographic records contributed by participating libraries. The growth of WorldCat made OCLC's original cataloging network a broader bibliographic infrastructure used for cataloging, discovery, and resource sharing.[3][8]
As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside Ohio, it worked through regional service providers known as networks, which supplied training, support, and marketing to participating libraries. OCLC later reorganized this arrangement: in 2008, its council approved governance changes that separated the networks from OCLC governance, and in 2009 the organization opened a centralized support center.[9]
Service expansion and governance changes, 2002-present
During the 2000s and 2010s, OCLC expanded beyond shared cataloging into discovery, resource sharing, electronic-resource management, access authentication, digital-collection hosting, and linked-data services. Acquisitions and product development added services such as EZproxy, CONTENTdm, WorldShare Management Services, WorldCat Discovery, and the Virtual International Authority File.[10][11][12]
In 2017, OCLC formally changed its legal name from OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. to OCLC, Inc.[4] In 2022, membership and governance rules expanded so that institutions subscribing to qualifying OCLC services could become members, replacing the earlier emphasis on membership through contributing intellectual content or participating in resource sharing.[13]
Funding and pricing model
OCLC is funded primarily through fees paid by participating libraries and other institutions for access to its services. Its revenue comes from subscriptions and service charges for cataloging, metadata, discovery, resource-sharing, authentication, and library-management products.[2] In 2022, OCLC revised its membership rules so that institutions subscribing to qualifying OCLC services could become members, reflecting the organization's shift from a cataloging-only cooperative toward a broader service provider for libraries.[13]
OCLC's pricing and data policies have been a recurring subject of discussion within the library community because many libraries both contribute records to WorldCat and pay to use OCLC services built on the shared database. Critics have argued that this structure gives OCLC substantial influence over bibliographic data infrastructure, while OCLC has described the fees as supporting the operation, maintenance, and development of shared library services.[14][15]
In July 2010, SkyRiver filed an antitrust lawsuit against OCLC, and Innovative Interfaces later joined the suit.[16][17] The suit was dropped in 2013 after Innovative Interfaces acquired SkyRiver.[18]
Presidents
The following people have served as president of OCLC:[19]
- 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 and systems
OCLC's services developed from its original shared cataloging network. The organization continues to provide cataloging and metadata infrastructure while also operating discovery, resource-sharing, authentication, digital-collection, and linked-data services for libraries.[1][13]
WorldCat
WorldCat is OCLC's global union catalog. It aggregates bibliographic and holdings records contributed by public, academic, school, special, and national libraries, and is used for cataloging, discovery, and resource sharing.[3] WorldCat is available through subscription services such as FirstSearch and through the public WorldCat.org interface.[20][21]
Cataloging and metadata services
OCLC provides shared cataloging and metadata services that allow libraries to create, reuse, and maintain bibliographic records. These services are the direct continuation of the cooperative cataloging model that led to OCLC's creation.[6][8] Starting in 1971, OCLC produced catalog cards for member libraries alongside its shared online catalog. The organization printed its last catalog cards on October 1, 2015.[22]
Library management and discovery systems
OCLC provides library-management and discovery systems, including WorldShare Management Services and WorldCat Discovery. These services support library functions such as acquisitions, circulation, electronic-resource management, interlibrary loan, and patron discovery.[11][23]
OCLC has also operated CONTENTdm for digital collections, EZproxy for access authentication, and Tipasa for interlibrary loan management. CONTENTdm has been discussed in library technology literature as a digital-collection management system, while EZproxy became part of OCLC through a 2008 acquisition.[24][25][10]
Dewey Decimal Classification
OCLC maintains the Dewey Decimal Classification system. The organization acquired the trademarks and copyrights associated with Dewey when it bought Forest Press in 1988.[26]
Identifiers and linked data
OCLC assigns a unique control number, called an OCLC Control Number, to each new bibliographic record in WorldCat. In 2013, OCLC declared the control numbers to be in the public domain, allowing wider reuse outside OCLC systems.[27][28]
OCLC also runs the Virtual International Authority File, an international name authority file overseen by a council of representatives from contributing institutions.[12] VIAF identifiers are used in authority-control systems, including Wikipedia and Wikidata integrations.[29][30]
In 2024, OCLC launched Meridian, a linked-data management tool for creating, curating, and connecting linked-data entities.[31]
Research and advocacy
OCLC Research has published reports, articles, and presentations on library operations, metadata, discovery, and information access. During the COVID-19 pandemic, OCLC participated in the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which studied surface transmission risks on library, archive, and museum materials.[32]
OCLC has also operated library training and advocacy programs. WebJunction, a training service for library staff, has operated as an OCLC program with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[33] OCLC has collaborated with the Wikimedia Foundation and volunteer Wikimedia communities through metadata integration, a Wikipedian-in-residence program, and the WebJunction training program Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together.[29]
Acquisitions
OCLC has used acquisitions to extend its services beyond shared cataloging into e-books, research-library infrastructure, authentication, library automation, collection analysis, resource sharing, and digital content platforms.
In 1988, OCLC acquired Forest Press, bringing the Dewey Decimal Classification system under OCLC management.[26] In 2002, it acquired NetLibrary, a provider of electronic books and textbooks, and sold the business to EBSCO Industries in 2010.[34] In 2006, the Research Libraries Group merged with OCLC, adding research-library programs and data services.[35]
OCLC acquired EZproxy in 2008, expanding its role in library access authentication.[10] In 2013, it acquired the Dutch library automation company HKA and its integrated library system Wise, which OCLC later offered in the United States.[36][37]
In 2015, OCLC acquired Sustainable Collection Services, a collection-analysis business focused on print collection management.[38] In 2017, it acquired Relais International, a provider of interlibrary-loan and resource-sharing services.[39] In 2024, OCLC acquired the cloudLibrary digital-content platform, adding an e-book, audiobook, digital magazine, and streaming-media lending service for libraries.[40]
Criticism and data-use policy
Market-share questions have also appeared in discussions of library technology. In a 2019 analysis for Ithaka S+R, Roger C. Schonfeld wrote that Ex Libris, following its acquisition of Innovative Interfaces, had become the dominant supplier of integrated library system services in the United States, with more than 70 percent market share among academic libraries and more than 50 percent among public libraries, compared with about 10 percent for OCLC in both sectors.[41]
OCLC has been criticized over competition and data-use policies. In 2008, librarian Jeffrey Beall criticized OCLC for monopolistic practices and other concerns in an essay in Radical Cataloging.[15] Other library commentators disputed parts of Beall's critique while acknowledging that some concerns about OCLC's role in library infrastructure were substantive.[42]
In November 2008, OCLC issued a proposed Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records that would have required member libraries to include an OCLC policy note on bibliographic records. The policy drew criticism from librarians and open-data advocates, including concerns that it would restrict projects such as Open Library, Zotero, and Wikipedia.[43][14] OCLC withdrew the proposed policy and created a review board after criticism from the library community.[14]
In 2012, OCLC recommended that member libraries use the Open Data Commons Attribution license when sharing library catalog data, although some member libraries have agreements allowing catalog data to be released under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.[44][45]
