OCLC and ALA Core, the newest division of the American Library Association, are partnering to provide free access to OCLC's WorldShare Management Services sandbox, the test environment for the platform. This partnership will allow Core members seeking professional development opportunities to work hands-on with a cloud-based library management system.
Formed through the merger of the Association for Library Cataloging and Technical Services (ALCTS), the Library Information Technology Association (LITA), and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), ALA Core members represent a broad group of library workers who engage with library systems in a variety of ways. Partnering with OCLC to provide members with access to a library system offers a unique learning opportunity, particularly for early career library workers, library workers seeking professional development in systems, and library administrators learning about systems.
WorldShare Management Services (WMS) is a cloud-based library services platform with WorldCat as its foundation. This allows library staff to draw on OCLC's shared data network and technology for more efficient workflows. WMS also enables staff to better manage resources in all formats and provide their users with improved access to the library's collections and the world's knowledge.
The ALA Library has been a WMS user since 2015. OCLC has created a sandbox based on the ALA WMS subscription that will work from the ALA Library's collection and data.
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