More content and a new platform announced for OCLC FirstSearch
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OCLC has expanded its offer to FirstSearch subscribers (to its base package) to include the OAIster, CAMIO and ArchiveGrid databases at no additional charge. CONTENTdm Quick Start, an entry-level, hosted version of the digital collection management software will also be included at no additional charge from 1st May 2009.
The announcement of these additions to the FirstSearch Base Package coincides with news that FirstSearch, NetLibrary, OCLC's eBook and eAudiobook service, CAMIO and ArchiveGrid digital collections will be discoverable through the WorldCat.org platform later this year.
Brian Cannan, OCLC's product manager for licensed content said "The delivery of eContent access through the WorldCat.org interface will simplify information retrieval for users by bringing together relevant content irrespective of format into a single result set. This development will deliver on the promise that we not only help users find what's in their library, but then help them get to it, in as few stages as possible."
OCLC has announced several agreements in recent months with the British Library, the Modern Language Association (MLA) and H. W. Wilson, and expect to make further announcements imminently. These organisations have allowed OCLC to index their article-level metadata in WorldCat.org to make it discoverable by users aligned to a library that maintains subscriptions to their databases.