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ABSTRACT
This article describes the Online Computer Library Center's (OCLC) Open WorldCat program. WorldCat is a worldwide union catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. Open WorldCat seeks to make library collections and services visible and available through popular search engines such as Yahoo! and Google and other heavily used sites on the open Web. In this capacity, Open WorldCat provides an important central connection between the shared information of the library network and the Web. The article describes the history and rationale of the project; explains how Open WorldCat works for information seekers, participating libraries, and partners; and reports on what OCLC has learned from the program to date.
INTRODUCTION
Today's Web users expect information at their fingertips, regardless of where they are searching. Libraries can meet this expectation only by reaching further into the network of information resources that their patrons use and delivering content and services to users at the point of need. Satisfying patron expectations means reaching beyond the library portal and into the commercial search engines, vertical information portals, and e-commerce sites that have become such an integral part of patron workflow.
The Online Computer Library Center's (OCLC) Open WorldCat program is one approach to integrating access to library collections and services into the "flows" of Web users. WorldCat is a worldwide union catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. With more than 60 million online records representing almost 1 billion items held by member institutions, it is the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind. Open WorldCat seeks to make library collections and services visible and available through popular search engines such as Yahoo! and Google and other heavily used sites on the open Web. In this capacity, Open WorldCat provides an important central connection between the shared information of the library network and the Web.
Through Open WorldCat, OCLC partners with search engines and other Web sites to link from their search results to a "find in a library" service managed by OCLC and powered by the WorldCat database. The "find in a library" service provides the user with a list of nearby libraries with holdings in WorldCat. OCLC also manages a registry of Online Public Access Catalogue...