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The OCLC Online Union Catalog developed by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. is a useful tool that has been slow to be used by reference searchers because of its limited and cumbersome search interface. With the debut of its EPIC online service, OCLC greatly expands the search and retrieval capabilities of the database. Searching the OCLC database with EPIC provides subject access to the OCLC database for the first time. The OCLC database contains over 20 million records from books, serials, scores, sound recordings, maps, machine-readable files, and media. EPIC uses command structures that are similar to other online search protocols. The system can be used more efficiently by limiting searches with restrictors, such as publication type, year or range of years, or language. Future plans for EPIC include adding new databases and alternative search interfaces.