Heritage

On August 26, 1971, the Alden Library at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, became the first library in the world to do online cataloging. That first day, Ohio University was able to catalog 133 books online on a SPIRAS LTE Terminal. That first night, back in Columbus, the OCLC computer room was struck by lightning. It was an auspicious beginning.

In this two-minute video clip from 1989, OCLC Founder Fred Kilgour talks about how librarians were willing to change and transform librarianship in the 1970s and 80s much more willingly than they were in the 1960s. He also talks about how providing users with information wherever they are and whenever they ask for it was the driving force in his professional career.

One of the most significant milestones in the history of the OCLC cooperative was the addition of the 1 billionth holding to WorldCat. The long march to 1 billion started on August 26, 1971 and concluded at 2:21:34 p.m. EDT on August 11, 2005, when Anne Slane of Worthington (Ohio) Libraries (right) cataloged the book, The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s Pop Sensation. Anne poses here with Meribah Mansfield, Director, Worthington Libraries.

Learn More

In 1979, the OCLC cooperative broke ground for a new facility on 40 acres of farm land in Dublin, Ohio. Hard to believe today, but there was not even a restaurant in Dublin in 1979, so the facility had to include an employee cafeteria. At the groundbreaking ceremony, OCLC Founder Fred Kilgour boldly stated that the new facility is not a base but a catapult into the future.