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About OCLC : History of OCLC

History of OCLC

In the beginning…

In 1967, the presidents of the colleges and universities in the state of Ohio founded the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) to develop a computerized system in which the libraries of Ohio academic institutions could share resources and reduce costs.

OCLC's first offices were in the Main Library on the campus of The Ohio State University (OSU), and its first computer room was housed in the OSU Research Center. It was from these academic roots that Frederick G. Kilgour, OCLC's first president, oversaw the growth of OCLC from a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges into an international network.

Expanding beyond Ohio

In 1977, the Ohio members of OCLC adopted changes in the governance structure that enabled libraries outside Ohio to become members and participate in the election of the Board of Trustees; the Ohio College Library Center became OCLC, Inc. In 1981, the legal name of the corporation became OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Today, OCLC serves more than 71,000 libraries of all types in the U.S. and 112 countries and territories around the world.

OCLC Europe, the Middle East and Africa

OCLC Inc. established OCLC Europe in Birmingham, in 1981, and later changed to OCLC Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2000, after the acquisition by OCLC of the majority share in Dutch Pica (founded in Leiden, in 1969), the operations merged with those of Pica, which then became OCLC PICA. In 2005, Fretwell-Downing Informatics (FDI) in Sheffield was acquired. In 2007, OCLC purchased the remaining share in OCLC PICA and the organization merged with that of OCLC.

OCLC Europe, the Middle East and Africa employs about 250 staff and has offices in Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland and United Kingdom.