Library information provider OCLC, US, has announced that it has completed beta testing of the new OCLC WorldShare Interlibrary Loan service and is moving forward with an 18-month phased migration to the new service. The new service is scheduled to replace WorldCat Resource Sharing in 2013 as part of libraries' existing subscriptions. It will seek to centralise workflows now managed in multiple systems, and provide new functionality that speeds fulfillment of interlibrary loan requests, saving time for library staff and library users.
Librarians from 20 OCLC member libraries participated in a six-month beta test of WorldShare Interlibrary Loan. Librarians from these institutions provided input that helped shape the development of the service. Many beta testing participants will continue their roles as advisors to OCLC on development of the new service as members of a new WorldShare Interlibrary Loan Advisory Group.
The release of WorldShare Interlibrary Loan represents the first large migration of OCLC member libraries to the OCLC WorldShare Platform, where they will benefit from expanded integration across a growing number of services. The platform will enable library staff and others to develop applications that will help them connect the service with other services in use within their libraries. They may also use the new service in conjunction with other components of OCLC WorldShare Management Services.
The phased rollout of the service has begun and will continue through December 2013. Open migration for all WorldCat Resource Sharing users will begin in February 2013 and continue until the end of access to WorldCat Resource Sharing on December 31, 2013.
OCLC has invited a small group of libraries with a low volume of borrowing-only interlibrary loan activity to participate in the initial 90-day managed migration currently in progress. Participation in the next managed migration group, scheduled to begin in October 2012, will be open to interested WorldCat Resource Sharing librarians whose normal interlibrary loan activities can be supported by available functionality in the service before its full release in February.
