Lynne Lysiak—OCLC agent for change

One of the first OCLC users shares her story, from day one to retirement

Nearly 40 years ago, when OCLC’s online system, now known as WorldCat, first went live, Lynne Lysiak had just started her career at Ohio University Libraries. Lynne recently retired as Coordinator of Systems and Technology Services, Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. We asked her to share her journey with us—from the early days of OCLC to the present.

After completing her sophomore year at Hofstra University in New York, Lynne and her husband moved to Athens, Ohio, where she completed her B.A. in English at Ohio University. The year was 1969, only two years after OCLC was founded, and Ohio University (OU) Libraries were hiring paraprofessional catalogers.

“There were nine of us who started around the same time,” Lynne recalls. “We became a pretty tight group, like members of a class. OU started using OCLC’s offline system in early 1970. We received IBM punch cards imprinted with the holding library’s symbol. We wrote down the LC card number on the punch card and mailed the cards to OCLC in Columbus, Ohio, where they were fed through a computer to generate catalog cards. I believe the only data in the system at that point were LC MARC records, and only a limited number at that.”

There were many manual steps and processes in the beginning. “As we started to use the offline system, we continued to maintain our battery of typists. When the cards came in, if we didn’t like something on them, the typists would take their hand-held electric erasers—erase and retype information. Stacked up, the books waited for the cards to arrive, and then we matched the cards and released them for physical processing.” And so it all began. Shortly after, OCLC’s online system became available and paraprofessionals and catalogers began their training side-by-side.

“Back then, professional catalogers were considered to be a world apart from paraprofessionals. As we began training on the new system, some people just ‘got’ MARC tagging instantly. Tags, indicators, what the data was supposed to look like… We frequently held group training sessions where we spent hours arguing about tags and other issues. The newness of the system broke down the traditional barriers between paraprofessionals and catalogers—as we all strived to master this new system.

“New Spiras terminals were installed for our use. The telecommunications during that time (by today’s standards) were pretty primitive and the terminals would frequently overheat. We could even predict the weather at OCLC—75 miles away from the OU campus based on when we lost communications.  As we viewed the records online, we filled stenographer’s notepads for about five weeks, writing down LC numbers, along with the changes we would later apply once we went live.”

On August 26, 1971, OU was the first library to go online—to press the button to produce catalog cards using the OCLC Online Union Catalog—now known as WorldCat. The cards weren’t produced that night (as they typically were not long after that first transmission), but printed in batch at OCLC over the weekend and then mailed to OU. Staff checked the records against their notes, then released the books to the shelves. 

“In October, our library’s holdings first appeared with the record. At that moment, this new system transformed from a simple card production system to a true union catalog. It allowed preorder searchers to start using the system—they could see whether or not we had already produced a catalog card for a particular item. It was also the beginning of interlibrary loan librarians using the OCLC system to search for books. 

“Next, we started adding records to the system and boy, that was a huge deal! Now we could share our cataloging with other institutions. Inter-collegiate conversations about standards and defining ‘cooperative cataloging’ immediately ensued. As with any cooperative endeavor, everybody’s got to give a little and identify certain standards as a group, which many of us know isn’t always easy.

“In retrospect, I have to say that in those early days, particularly for the paraprofessionals, I don’t think we really understood the enormity of the system that we were embarking upon, much less did we consider what the future possibilities might be. We did know that there were archive tapes; and we knew that our changes had been saved. In the 70s, most of the larger university libraries had their own programming staff who started to experiment with data extraction at the local level. All of this ultimately gave way to the creation of the local online catalogs.

“I was one of many paraprofessionals at Ohio libraries who entered the field during this incredible time. It was natural for many of us to go on and get our master’s degrees. And later, because we understood systems and the structure of the data, it paved the way for a lot of women to become systems librarians or heads of systems.”

When OCLC expanded beyond Ohio, Lynne had a chance to further her involvement as OCLC worked with the networks to help expand cooperative efforts. In 1975, she was borrowed from her library by SOLINET to help train member libraries. “We developed a curriculum of sorts—issues we needed to cover with all of OCLC’s and SOLINET’s members. Then the five of us (including two SOLINET employees) took our show on the road. We trained all of the SOLINET charter members in about three months.  

“That was fascinating. We got to see how other libraries were doing things. Before we arrived, libraries had their terminals installed and had reviewed training materials. We went in to teach them about terminal operation, MARC tagging, system use, and to go over their profiles—their card production profiles. I actually traveled with an airline pilot’s case that contained all of the profiles for all of the libraries I was visiting, which consisted of pre-PC sheets of paper that were then taped together with hand-drawn charts.

“Most of the libraries I visited were very enthusiastic. And the younger staff members were particularly enthusiastic and ready to jump in. By the time I left each library, they were ready to go into full production.
 
“Those were long days. The travel was difficult. There were no cell phones, no laptops, no e-mail, but it was this experience that made me many new professional friends and sparked my desire to establish the North Carolina OCLC Users Group, which I did in 1976. And soon more state users groups began to sprout up—forums for ideas, questions, training... In addition, I published several papers and co-edited a book, From Tape to Product, Some Practical Considerations on the use of OCLC MARC Tapes. I also moved into Library systems. Over the years, I was significantly involved in program planning and development at the state, regional and national levels for many library associations. That was my path, and it really all started with the OCLC experience.

“In terms of supporting library users throughout the years, I would have to say that in the early years we were probably more respondents than agents for change. As technology and the sophistication of our users grew, we started getting out in front of users more. With the advancement of PCs in the late ‘70s and early ’80s, users got to be pretty savvy and we developed applications to keep pace with them. And we’re still doing this today–we’re developing applications that have large implications.

“As OCLC forges ahead now with WorldCat Local and cloud-computing developments, they are embarking on a new era and suite of services for libraries and their users. It’s an exciting time.”

While Lynne continues to consult a handful of libraries in systems management, she is celebrating her retirement with loved ones and by working on her 50-acre farm in Trade, Tennessee. The farm is home to many geese, goats and a dozen cows, one of which has made a mischievous escape, bringing our interview to a close.

Congratulations on your retirement, Lynne, and many thanks for all of your contributions.

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(2009 11 17)