OCLC and SWRLS announce major collaboration using WorldCat Local
OCLC and the South West Regional Library Service (SWRLS) have announced a collaboration that will initially see seven public library authorities in the South West of England using WorldCat Local as their shared end user discovery service in 2010.
Library authorities in Bournemouth, Bath & NE Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Plymouth are working with OCLC to implement a discovery interface that will enable users to search and place reservations on materials held across the South West region. The service is a replacement for Wisdom, formerly supplied by DS Ltd, now part of the Axiell Group. By adopting this approach, the libraries will also raise their profile on the Web by becoming visible in WorldCat.org, the Web destination for discovery of library resources.
Rob Froud OBE, Head of Cultural Service at Somerset County Council and Chairman of the SWRLS Management Board said of the announcement: “We opted to work with OCLC because we sought a service our library customers would view instantly as highly attractive and easy-to-use. Our library staff are also served by having a solution that is technically robust and simple to implement.” Asked whether he felt other libraries in the region might join at a later stage, Mr Froud said: “Other libraries have expressed an intention to join and it is our hope they will do so soon, but we are very happy with the initial roll-out as it is another demonstration that the model of collaborative working across public library authorities is thriving.”