OCLC and EBSCO Partnership Will Improve Access to Libraries’ Electronic Collections

BIRMINGHAM , Alabama , U.S.A. , June 25, 2005 – OCLC and EBSCO are partners in a pilot project established to facilitate access to libraries’ electronic content. During the pilot, OCLC will add and maintain electronic holdings information from participating libraries’ EBSCO A-to-Z ® lists to OCLC’s WorldCat.  

EBSCO will provide monthly updates to OCLC on behalf of pilot libraries so that their holdings remain current in WorldCat. While library staff will save valuable time through the automated process, library patrons will discover electronic content more readily through all OCLC services, including OCLC WorldCat on FirstSearch, the OCLC Open WorldCat program, OCLC Resource Sharing and the new WorldCat Collection Analysis service.

EBSCO’s A-to-Z service provides library patrons with a single, comprehensive list of the electronic titles to which they have access. A library’s print titles can also be included. With A-to-Z, users can quickly locate and link to journals of interest. Users can search for journals by keyword or browse an alphabetical list by title or subject. Built-in administrative tools allow customization of the list including extensive branding options that allow the list to match the colors and style of the library’s other Web-based services. The master A-to-Z title database provides link and coverage information to more than 88,000 unique titles from more than 800 database and e-journal packages from approximately 169 different providers. All major database vendors and publishers are represented.

For more information about the OCLC pilot, A-to-Z and other EBSCO solutions for e-resource access and management, visit booth #716 at ALA.

About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services provides libraries and research centers with online and print journal subscription services, e-resource access and management services, full-text and secondary database development and access, an OpenURL-compliant link resolver, online book purchasing and related information services. EBSCO maintains a title database of more than 298,000 serial titles and upholds relationships with more than 78,000 publishers around the world.

EBSCO’s 32 Regional Offices worldwide are staffed with personnel who speak the local language and understand the particular challenges faced by librarians in their areas, offering a uniquely personal level of service. Specialized divisions serve academic, biomedical, government, public, school and special libraries as well as corporations.

About OCLC
Headquartered in Dublin , Ohio , OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit library computer service and research organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing and preservation services to 52,000 libraries in 96 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.