Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!pw0l+ From: pw0l+@andrew.cmu.edu (Paul Christopher Workman) Newsgroups: comp.graphics Subject: Re: Online Computer Library Center Message-ID: Date: 12 Jan 91 02:42:33 GMT References: <1990@enuxha.eas.asu.edu> Organization: Hunt Library, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 36 In-Reply-To: <1990@enuxha.eas.asu.edu> > ASU uses a database that is known as the Online Computer Library >Center, which is based in Ohio. It has 22 million records and is used in >10,000 libraries in 38 countries. The OCLC is available as a service >to any institution and charges subscription, connect and service rates. >However, after speaking to one of the people there, many libraries that >use this service provide public access to this information. If you're >interested in this sort of service, give them a call at 1-800-848-5878. >According to the person I spoke to, they should be able to point you to a >library in your area that uses their service. I'd like to point something out here. It's true that many libraries use their service, but these libraries do not (as far as I know, anyway) duplicate the OCLC database. (The OCLC database has records on most books ever published, as well as info about journals, publishers, authors' names, etc etc etc.) Libraries that subscribe to OCLC should have access to the full OCLC database, but when a library creates a database of their own -- that is, a public-access index of their materials, an electronic card catalog -- they'll only duplicate OCLC records for books they hold. So if you use the database that a library makes publicly available, and you don't find a record for a particular title, it doesn't mean that the OCLC bibliographic database doesn't include the title; if you wanted to find this info you should ask the reference librarian for additional help. It's a subtle point, but it could lead to misunderstanding at times, so I thought I'd try to clarify it. thanks, --paul PS: a LOT of libraries use OCLC!