Success stories
University of North Carolina Library System
Cataloging pace never slows at nation's oldest public university
OCLC has helped the UNC library system with new cataloging and retrospective
conversion projects for more than six years. Read more…
Cleveland Public Library
Custom Cataloging accelerates access to new and unique materials
A 12-year relationship ensures new, local, and one-of-a-kind collections are available for users across Cuyahoga County and beyond. Read more…
University of Connecticut Library
What starts as a backlog problem turns into a 12-year cataloging relationship
OCLC Custom Cataloging becomes a virtual team for the UConn Library. Read more…
University of Tennessee
Campus initiative poses multi-language challenge for university library
OCLC Custom Cataloging service processes new language materials in a hurry to meet curriculum and budget requirements. Read more…
Conversion projects improve and extend access
From leading academic libraries to smaller and specialized libraries, administrators, catalogers, and technical staffs rave about the speed, commitment and attention to detail delivered by OCLC Custom Cataloging Services.
Until as recently as 1997, the University of Chicago Library’s then-approximately six million volumes were only partially represented online. About half the collection (titles cataloged before 1975) was represented in card catalogs alone. To tap the university’s collections comprehensively, students had to search both online and cards. Administrators determined that converting the records and integrating them into a single online catalog was critical to immediate student need and the long-term effectiveness of the institution.
The library turned to OCLC for integrated project management and expert, custom conversion. “Projects of this magnitude and complexity can bring institutional operations to a halt,” says Associate Director Judith Nadler. “The quality of our own staff and the help and unfailing support of the OCLC crew made our recon projects smooth and relatively painless.”
Today, the university continues to rely on OCLC for a variety of related projects. “OCLC services are the underpinnings for many of our library's operations,” says Nadler. The CJK conversion of 146,000 titles now underway, she adds, “will facilitate the use of our rich East Asian collections by bringing them to the attention of scholars on campus and around the world.”
The original retrospective conversion, and the more focused CJK project now in progress, “are just two of the highlights of successful cooperation between our institutions,” Nadler adds.
Smaller libraries benefit from OCLC Custom Services as well, and OCLC easily scales projects to best suit their requirements. “Our small, private school library was stuck in the pre-tech era,” says Rima Lockwood of The Cove School Library in Northbrook, Ill. “We’re now functioning on equal footing with everyone else. OCLC made our retrospective conversion easy, painless and quick.”
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