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OCLC made a foray into the online catalog arena with the launch of WorldCat Local, a version of WorldCat designed to replace the online catalog delivered as part of a library's ILS. WorldCat Local competes among the emerging genre of next-generation library interfaces that includes AquaBrowser from Medialab Solutions, Endeca ProFind, Primo from Ex Libris, and Encore from Innovative Interfaces, as well as the online catalogs delivered as part of each ILS.
OCLC has long been the major bibliographic data-base for libraries and currently represents the holdings of over 10,000 libraries throughout the world. OCLC members use OCLC as a source for catalog records as they add records to their local catalogs. Each record in the OCLC bibliographic database includes information on which libraries own that title. From the time that WorldCat first went online in 1971, this bibliographic database functioned as a behind-the-scenes tool for libraries, facilitating cataloging and interlibrary loan operations. More recently, OCLC has developed it as a product for library users.
OCLC launched WorldCat.org in August 2006, allowing users to conveniently search this vast database.1 WorldCat.org stands as the largest library-oriented bibliographic database in the world. WorldCat.org currently includes over 84 million records, representing about a billion individual library holdings.2 An important part of WorldCat.org involves its ability to direct users to local libraries. Once a user identifies an item of interest and enters a postal code or other geographic information, WorldCat.org will display where it might be available in nearby libraries. WorldCat includes links to the catalogs of local libraries, presenting a list of the libraries that own an item. Clicking on the library name will launch a search for that item in the local catalog, providing a convenient way to see the current status of that item in that library.
WorldCat Local makes use of the interface and database of WorldCat.org, customizing it for the users of a specific library or consortium. WorldCat Local prominently presents the logo and other branding of the local library, rather than OCLCs own branding carried by WorldCat.org. From the user's perspective, an instance of WorldCat Local functions as the catalog for that specific library. WorldCat Local Pilot Underway
Following a period of behind-the-scenes planning and development, OCLC launched the initial version of WorldCat...