Library information provider OCLC, US, has announced that the University of Nebraska Omaha is now live with OCLC WorldShare Management Services. The University of Nebraska Omaha is 100th institution worldwide to fully implement the new Web-based, cooperative library management and discovery services.
WorldShare Management Services provide a Web-based environment that streamlines cataloguing, acquisitions, license management and circulation workflows, and offers the WorldCat Local discovery service for library users. WorldShare Management Services (WMS) were released for general availability in the US in July 2011. Twenty months later, 100 libraries on three continents - Australia, Europe and North America - are already using the services and some 65 more are in the implementation process to begin using the services in the future.
Working together with WorldShare Management Services, libraries can share data, applications and workflow improvements with peer institutions, end users and partners. Since WorldShare Management Services are built on an open, collaborative platform, libraries can add the features and functions needed to support their unique communities. Libraries without development resources can take advantage of applications developed by others in the library community.
That spirit of cooperation in the WMS community was a key to the decision to move to WorldShare. The move to WorldShare Management Services has already generated cost and time savings for the Criss Library. According to Steve Shorb, Dean of the Criss Library at the University of Nebraska Omaha, the move has helped the library to acquire 300,000 e-book titles for the campus, and in the future they plan to reallocate library staff to create an institutional repository for the university.
