OCLC- Its past, present and future direction

Abstract

The Ohio College Library Center, OCLC, established in 1967, has been expanding its services continuously. It has grown from a computerized system of academic libraries to a venture of international information network services of any library type. In 1981, the corporation was renamed az Online Computer Library Center. Its former purpose of shared cataloguing and coordination of library acquisitions has gradually outgrown its bibliographic limits, and has been introducing services satisfying changed information demands. Major tasks of the OCLC network include the maintenance of an extended Union Catalogue of OCLC member libraries coordinated by an online and CD-ROM cataloguing service, retrospective catalogue conversion. interlending services, online reference services covering numerous databases, OCLC's own Serials Tabie of Contents (STOC) databases growing at a rate of approximately one million new records each year, document delivery services, and primary journals online. According to OCLC's development strategy, its products and services have been adopted internationally starting with its first European office in Birmingham, England.