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WorldCat
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WorldCat is an online catalog stystem which lists the combined collections of 70,000+ libraries in 170 countries.[1]
WorldCat was built by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), which is a global cooperative of libraries. WorldCat is maintained by the group of libraries.[2]
History
In the 1970s, OCLC grew from a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges into an international network.[3]
In 1979, the first Canadian and the first international library joined OCLC.[3]
Timeline
On August 26, 1971, the OCLC Online Union Catalog, now called WorldCat, went online.[4]
- 1975 -- Library and Archives Canada begins adding records
- 1978 -- Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands) begins to participate
- 1985 -- British Library begins adding UKMARC records
- 1987 -- National Library of Scotland begins adding
- 1987 -- National Library of Wales begins contributing
- 1987 -- National Central Library, Taiwan begins adding
- 1991 -- Six staff members from the National Library of China help OCLC to add a computerized catalog of Chinese books
- 1991 -- National Library of Turkey becomes an OCLC member
- 1992 -- The National Library of Australia begins contributing
- 1992 -- National and University Library of Iceland begins adding
- 1995 -- National Library of the Czech Republic begins contributing
- 1997 -- National Library of New Zealand begins contributing
- 1998 -- National Library of Ireland begins adding
- 1999 -- National Diet Library of Japan begins adding records for Western-language materials
- 1999 -- National Library of Lithuania begins contributing
- 1999 -- National Library of South Africa begins adding
- 2002 -- Singapore National Union Catalog is added
- 2003 -- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library), the Library of Congress and OCLC agree to develop a Virtual International Authority File
- 2003 -- Chilean Directorate of Libraries, Archives, and Museums (DIBAM) of the National Library begin contributing
- 2004 -- Bibliothèque nationale de France begins contributing
- 2005 -- National Library of Finland begins adding
- 2005 -- Iraqi National Library and Archive begins adding
- 2006 -- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek adds 4 million new records
- 2006 -- Dutch Union Catalog is added
- 2007 -- National Library of Mexico begins adding
- 2007 -- Swiss National Library adds
- 2007 -- Kungliga biblioteket (National Library of Sweden) adds
- 2008 -- National Library Service, Barbados adds
- 2008 -- National Library of Israel adds
- 2008 -- National Library of Spain adds
- 2008 -- Royal Library of Denmark and Danish Bibliographic Centre add
- 2009 -- National and University Library of Slovenia begins adding
- 2010 -- National Library of Serbia begins adding
- 2012 -- National Library of Norway begins adding
References
- ↑ Online computer Library Center (OCLC), "WorldCat facts and statistics"; retrieved 2012-10-19.
- ↑ OCLC, "Vision, the world's libraries connected"; retrieved 2012-10-19.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 OCLC, "History of OCLC; retrieved 2012-10-19.
- ↑ OCLC, "Brief history of OCLC activities with national libraries outside the U.S."; retrieved 2012-10-19.
More reading
- Wendy M. Grossman (21 January 2009). "Why you can't find a library book in your search engine: Finding a book at your local library should just involve a simple web search; but thanks to a US cataloguing site, that is far from the case". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/22/library-search-engines-books.
