 OCLC
Group Services lets consortia package any combination of OCLC services to create
a custom solution for their libraries. The latest offering: group catalogs
By Bob Murphy
In 2003, OCLC launched a new initiative to help library groups control costs
and serve users more effectively by getting the most efficient use of OCLC cataloging
and resource sharing services. The group catalogs initiative requires no new
investment in hardware or software by libraries and features unlimited use and
fixed, subscription pricing of OCLC services. It also builds on the 30-year
investment libraries have made in WorldCat and OCLC online services.
Using a modular approach, each group selects and tailors the most appropriate
build, search and share components to design a custom solution that best meets
the needs of their libraries.
To date, nine groups are using group catalogs.
Illinois: A comprehensive solution for the state’s libraries
About 1,800 Illinois libraries of all types have unlimited use of OCLC cataloging
and resource sharing services—as well as FirstSearch reference services—as
part of a new, three-year group services agreement between OCLC and the State
Library of Illinois.
The agreement includes unlimited searching of the Statewide Illinois Library
Catalog (SILC), a customized group catalog created from bibliographic records
and holdings information in WorldCat from Illinois libraries that gives Illinois
residents access to the more than 66 million items held in libraries throughout
the state.
Jean Wilkins, Director of the Illinois State Library, said that the group services
agreement represents the culmination of much hard work, persistence and determination
on the part of many individuals. Its fixed annual subscription, she said, allows
libraries to budget and plan for the next three years.
“Our patrons will benefit enormously because they will have access to
more information available through the rich resources of Illinois libraries,”
said Wilkins.
Users of the SILC can use a single interface to search the holdings of all
Illinois libraries, or they can search one of several regional catalogs based
on geographic location. They also have the option to search by subject through
eight other views, giving them access to health science, law and theological
libraries, among others. If library users cannot find what they need in Illinois
libraries, they can seamlessly expand their searches to libraries worldwide
through the entire WorldCat database.
Illinois libraries can link from WorldCat holdings to the OPACs of thousands
of libraries for location, call number and shelf status. Authenticated users
can place holds in the local systems.
 The
centralized, shared union catalog of all the library holdings in the state facilitates
resource sharing and takes full advantage of Illinois libraries’ long-standing
commitment to shared cataloging through the OCLC cataloging system.
Illinois libraries that have not always cataloged with OCLC in the past can
batchload records into WorldCat. With unlimited cataloging, Illinois libraries
can continue to feed the statewide group catalog, as well as support OCLC cooperative
efforts worldwide.
Another part of the Group Services agreement includes plans to replace the
Illinois Digital Archives, the state’s proprietary digital collections
system, with CONTENTdm, OCLC’s solution for digital collection management.
Fifty CONTENTdm acquisition stations will rotate throughout the state to help
libraries create metadata for and provide access to unique Illinois digital
collections.
Transportation: Custom catalog brings life to a collection
A new library catalog, formed by bringing together resources from leading U.S.
transportation libraries, offers a single, subject-focused group of records
for finding information related to transportation.
The Transportation Libraries Catalog, coordinated by the National Transportation
Library through a Group Services agreement, was created from catalog records
and holdings information in WorldCat contributed by 15 original participating
transportation libraries with special collections. The customized union catalog
of bibliographic records is searchable through the OCLC FirstSearch service
and features special collections of rare and often unique items.
The OCLC group catalog provided a simple solution to a long-standing challenge
faced by the transportation libraries.
Participants in the Transportation Libraries Catalog are libraries widely dispersed
across the United States, with specialized, sometimes noncirculating collections
that hold important, rare items of interest. The libraries have, for some time,
shared a desire to create a union catalog to increase their visibility.
By bringing together holdings records already set in WorldCat, records added
to WorldCat through OCLC Contract Cataloging Services, and batchloaded recordsfrom
participating libraries that may not have cataloged with WorldCat in the past,
the OCLC group catalog makes it possible for users to search the collections
of all these special libraries at one time, through a single interface.
 “The
idea of creating a transportation resource like this has been discussed for
many, many years,” said Nelda Bravo, Director, National Transportation
Library. “We’re delighted with the way this project has come together.
The Transportation Libraries Catalog has exceeded the expectations of our participating
libraries, and we’re very pleased with the exposure this resource has brought
to our libraries.”
Users of the catalog can limit searches to a specific group of transportation
libraries, they can expand their searches to a larger group of transportation
libraries, or they can seamlessly expand their searches even further, using
the entire WorldCat database, to all types of libraries around the world.
The Transportation Libraries Catalog offers information related to a very broad
topic. Transportation issues cover a variety of subjects and disciplines including
engineering, geography, geology, safety, wildlife, the environment and others.
“Transportation is a field that involves so many areas of interest,”
said Bravo. “These transportation libraries have come together to provide
a rich and robust resource to ensure that researchers and professionals have
access to the best information possible.”
Missouri: Show me Missouri and the world
A group catalog for Missouri libraries became available in December 2003.
It is an extension of Missouri’s “Show-Me The World” project,
a virtual library program that uses WorldCat to connect users with information
in the state’s libraries—and beyond.
The goal is to create an online statewide union catalog so that every resident
will have access to all of Missouri’s public library resources, regardless
of the size of the library or geographic location. At the same time, librarians
bring the world to Missouri libraries and Missouri libraries to the world.
“Missouri libraries have a long history of cooperation and a commitment
to equal access to information across the state,” said Sara Parker, Missouri
State Librarian. “The Missouri group catalog will help us to build on the
progress we have already made.”
OCLC services included in the group agreement include record loading, OCLC
CatExpress, conversion, interlibrary loan and FirstSearch. Libraries participating
in OCLC Group Services do not have to invest in training because staff members
are already quite familiar with OCLC services. Parker said the ease of adoption
and use of OCLC Group Services will inspire Missouri libraries to be even more
innovative.
MERLN: Military topics made easy
The Military Education and Research Library Network (MERLN) was the first to
implement the OCLC group catalog model. The MERLN group catalog provides access
to more than 1.5 million items in the collections of 13 MERLN libraries through
a single database for easy identification of the materials group members need
from any of the participating MERLN libraries.
The MERLN group catalog provides easy access to the holdings of a variety of
military libraries, based nationally and internationally, on a variety of military
topics.
Florida: Making an investment work
Library users in Florida can search the collections of all public, community
college and state university libraries through the Florida group catalog, a
new addition to the Florida Electronic Library.
Florida libraries have been contributing holdings to WorldCat for 30 years,
so the creation of a Florida union catalog was the next logical step in making
the most of their work—and their investment.
Montana: Library Network Catalog
The Montana Library Network Catalog is a customized, statewide union catalog
that combines all the state’s bibliographic records into a single database.
Library users can request items from their home library, another Montana library,
or any OCLC library, and each library has unlimited access to cataloging and
resource sharing services at an annual fixed price. Resource sharing options
include mediated and unmediated requests, and cataloging services include online
cataloging and some batch processes.
ATLA: Delivering religious materials
OCLC and the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) member libraries
are building a group catalog to give librarians and users ready access to ATLA
member libraries’ resources. An ATLA group catalog provides a customized,
union catalog that merges bibliographic records from participating ATLA members
into a single, easy-to-search database.
The ATLA group catalog makes it possible for users to search at one time the
collections of ATLA libraries using a single interface—the FirstSearch
interface. Users also can limit searching to a regional group of ATLA libraries
or seamlessly expand searching to all of WorldCat.
Prior to implementing a group catalog, ATLA libraries had added more than 8.7
million holdings to WorldCat using OCLC cataloging services. The group catalog
was created using these records.
North Carolina: Community Colleges come together
Searchable through the OCLC FirstSearch service, the North Carolina Community
Colleges library holdings catalog provides an easy way for users to see and
search the collections of the North Carolina Community College libraries all
at once.
Air Force: Into the blue yonder
The Air Force Libraries Catalog gives librarians and users access to the resources
of base and branch libraries participating in the Air Force Library Information
System, including those in the United States and Europe. With more than 4 million
holdings, the catalog makes it easy for librarians and users to identify and
borrow materials at Air Force libraries. A special feature lets libraries add
a link from the group catalog to their library’s Web or Z39.50 catalog
to provide library users with item location and checkout status.
 Reaching
diverse clientele | Other services for
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