The Bibliothèque nationale de France adds 200 millionth bibliographic record to WorldCat

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 2 September 2010—The Bibliothèque nationale de France added the 200 millionth bibliographic record to the WorldCat database on August 27, 39 years after the OCLC online union catalog and shared cataloging system was launched.

The record describes "Je reviendrai à Montréal" ("I will return to Montreal"), a sound recording by Robert Charlebois made in 1993. The 200 millionth record was added to WorldCat on August 27, 2010, only one day after the 39th anniversary of the launching of the OCLC online union catalog and shared cataloging system on August 26, 1971.

WorldCat continues to grow faster than ever. In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, libraries added 56 million records to WorldCat. For comparison, it took the OCLC cooperative:

• 31 years, from 1971 to 2002, to add the first 50 million records
• six years (2002–2008) to add the next 50 million
• 1.5 years (2008–2009) to add the next 50 million
• 10 months (November 2009–August 2010) to add the next 50 million, for a total of 200 million.

The phenomenal growth rate for bibliographic records is being matched by that of holding symbols in WorldCat, which represent the libraries that hold the items cataloged. The number of holdings surpassed 1.6 billion on June 4, 2010. The OCLC cooperative hit 1 billion holdings on August 11, 2005. It took the cooperative 34 years to get to 1 billion. Since then, libraries have added more than half a billion symbols in less than five years.

"This is a significant milestone for OCLC members, service partners and OCLC staff," said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. "For nearly four decades, thousands of catalogers and librarians around the world have worked together on WorldCat, contributing records and holdings and enhancing their quality and accuracy. Over that same period, we at OCLC have maintained the infrastructure that supports WorldCat against a backdrop of continuous technological change. Working together, libraries, service partners and OCLC have created a unique and valuable resource for knowledge seekers everywhere."

The 200 millionth record was created by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and was added as part of a major record loading project to reflect all of the national library's holdings in WorldCat. There are currently 40 national libraries adding digital images, national files and bibliographies to WorldCat. Libraries worldwide benefit from the millions of records added to WorldCat from the world's great national libraries.

"The presence of the Bibliothèque nationale de France records in WorldCat has been a godsend to the University of Ottawa Libraries," said Mary Curran, Head, Cataloguing Services, University of Ottawa Libraries. "Our chances of finding and loading a complete MARC record for French-language titles are now much better."

About WorldCat
WorldCat is a database of bibliographic information built continuously by libraries around the world since 1971. Each record in the WorldCat database contains a bibliographic description of a single item or work and a list of institutions that hold the item. The institutions share these records, using them to create local catalogs, arrange interlibrary loans and conduct reference work. Libraries contribute records for items not found in WorldCat using the OCLC shared cataloging system.

Since 1971, 200 million records have been added to WorldCat, spanning more than 6,000 years of recorded knowledge, from about 4800 B.C. to the present. This unique store of information encompasses records in eight formats—books, serials, sound recordings, musical scores, maps, visual materials, mixed materials and computer files. Like the knowledge it describes, WorldCat grows steadily. Every second, library members add seven records to WorldCat.

About OCLC
Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 171 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat.org on the Web. For more information, visit the OCLC Web site.

Find out more about OCLC

OCLC, WorldCat and WorldCat.org are trademarks/service marks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks/service marks of their respective owners.