OCLC
OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC,[4] is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large".[2] It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, then became the Online Computer Library Center as it expanded. In 2017, the name was formally changed to OCLC, Inc.[4] OCLC and thousands of its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world.[5] OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries pay (around $217.8 million annually in total as of 2021) for the many different services it offers.[3] OCLC also maintains the Dewey Decimal Classification system.
Founded
July 5, 1967 (as Ohio College Library Center)
31-0734115
Dublin, Ohio, U.S.
Worldwide
- WorldCat
- Amlib
- BIBLIOTHECAplus
- Capira
- CatExpress
- CONTENTdm
- Dewey Decimal Classification
- EZproxy
- FirstSearch
- LBS
- OLIB
- PiCarta
- Relais ILL & D2D
- SISIS-SunRise
- Syndeo
- Tipasa
- TouchPoint
- UnityUK
- VDX
- WebJunction
- Wise
- WorldShare
30,000+ libraries in 100+ countries[2]
$217.8 million[3]
OCLC commercially sells software, such as:
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.
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[edit]
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 Society of American Archivists, the Open Archives Initiative, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the International Organization for Standardization, the National Information Standards Organization, the World Wide Web Consortium, the Internet Engineering Task Force, and Internet2. One of the most successful contributions to this effort was the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, "an open forum of libraries, archives, museums, technology organizations, and software companies who work together to develop interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models."[38]
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]
Identifiers and linked data[edit]
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]
Criticism[edit]
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[66] that would have required member libraries to include an OCLC policy note on their bibliographic records; the policy caused an uproar among librarian bloggers.[67][68] Among those who protested the policy was the non-librarian activist Aaron Swartz, who believed the policy would threaten projects such as the Open Library, Zotero, and Wikipedia, and who started a petition to "Stop the OCLC powergrab".[69][70] Swartz's petition garnered 858 signatures, but the details of his proposed actions went largely unheeded.[68] Within a few months, the library community had forced OCLC to retract its policy and to create a Review Board to consult with member libraries more transparently.[68] In August 2012, OCLC recommended that member libraries adopt the Open Data Commons Attribution (ODC-BY) license when sharing library catalog data, although some member libraries have explicit agreements with OCLC that they can publish catalog data using the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.[71][72]
