OCLC, the non-profit computer library service and research organisation, has printed its last library catalogue cards, officially closing the book on what was once a familiar resource for generations of information seekers who now use computer catalogues and online search engines to access library collections around the world.
The final print run marked the end of a service that has steadily decreased over the past few decades as libraries have moved their catalogues online.
OCLC provides the shared technology services, original research and programs libraries need to better fuel learning, research and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services.
OCLC built the first online shared cataloguing system in 1971 and, over decades, merged the catalogues of thousands of libraries through a computer network and database. The database, now known as WorldCat, not only made it possible for libraries to catalogue cooperatively, but also to share resources held in other libraries on the network. It also made it possible for libraries to order custom-printed catalogue cards that would be delivered to the library already sorted and ready to be filed.
OCLC began automated catalogue card production in 1971, when the shared cataloguing system first went online. Card production increased to its peak in 1985, when OCLC printed 131 million. At peak production, OCLC routinely shipped 8 tons of cards each week, or some 4,000 packages. Card production steadily decreased since then as more and more libraries began replacing their printed cards with electronic catalogues. OCLC has printed more than 1.9 billion catalogue cards since 1971.
At present, most libraries use online public access catalogues (OPACs) as part of an integrated library system, or a cloud-based library management system like OCLC's WorldShare Management Services, where the library catalogue and services are hosted and maintained outside the library, in the cloud.
WorldCat represents a 'collective collection' of the world's libraries. WorldCat connects library users to hundreds of millions of electronic resources, including e-books, licensed databases, online periodicals and collections of digital items. As the needs of libraries and their users expand, OCLC works with libraries to collect, manage and share new types of library data to ensure libraries are meeting the expectations of users.
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