About OCLC Services

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OCLC, a nonprofit membership organization, offers computer-based products, services, and systems to more than 41,000 libraries, educational institutions, and their users worldwide. Most of OCLC's products and services are built around WorldCat, a database of more than 52 million bibliographic records representing information resources in 400 languages dating from 2000 BC to the present. WorldCat grows by approximately two million bibliographic records each year. OCLC also provides access to over 70 other reference databases through the OCLC FirstSearch service.

OHIONET members who use OCLC products and services rely on OHIONET for:

OCLC access
Implementation and start-up training services
Ongoing technical assistance and support
Continuing education and training
Administrative and fiscal services for OCLC billing

Cataloging and Metadata

Collection Management

Digital Collection & Preservation

eContent

Forms

Frequently Asked Questions

Local Holdings Maintenance

Discussion List
Sign up for the UL-L discussion list for issues and concerns about Local Holdings Maintenance.
Known Issues
Pending and resolved issues with Local Holdings Maintenance.
Local Holdings Maintenance Quick Reference
Procedures for maintaining local holdings information via Connexion browser.
Local Holdings Offline Product Quick Reference
A Quick Reference guide that walks the library through the order process, how to download the file, and information on how to import the file into Microsoft Office Excel.
MARC 21 Format for Holdings Data Primer
General information on the MARC 21 Format for Holdings Data (MFHD).
OCLC-MARC Local Holdings Format Tag Chart
Brief, general information on each tag and subfield.
Statistics
Local Holdings Maintenance reports include information about online edits to local holdings records and are sorted by Creates, Modifications and Deletes.

Updating Local Holdings
Add or update your OCLC local holdings records (LHRs) in WorldCat through batch processing.

General Guidelines for LHR Updating Projects
Specifications for Batch Processing of Local Holdings Records
Local Holdings Record Updating order form
For LHR Updating projects only.

OCLC Documentation

OCLC News & Events

OCLC Publications

OCLC Research

Reference

Resource Sharing Using OCLC WorldCat

Direct Request

OCLC ILL Direct Request Planning Guide

OCLC FirstSearch/ILL Direct Request Link Quick Reference [PDF]

Quick reference guide to setting up the link that allows end users to generate requests for materials cited in FirstSearch databases
Direct Request Planning Guide

An extensive guide to using the Direct Request feature of WorldCat Resource Sharing, with an explanation of the three processing options provided by the service, plus instructions for implementing the Direct Request link with FirstSearch, technical specifications, and examples and worksheets for creating profiles of borrowing criteria that define eligible requests.

Discussion List
Sign up for the OCLC-SHARING-L list to receive announcements, changes and enchancements to OCLC resource sharing services.
IFM (Interlibrary Loan Fee Management)
Reduce administrative costs by reconciling ILL charges automatically through your monthly invoice rather than sending invoices or paying for individual ILL requests.
- What is IFM? Clearing up the Confusion!
ILL Policies
Accurate policies let other libraries quickly determine if and how a resource you hold can be borrowed.
- Polices Directory Quick Reference card (pdf)
- The Importance of ILL Policies
Known Issues
Pending and resolved issues with OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing.
LVIS Participation (Libraries Very Interested in Sharing)
LVIS is an OCLC Union List group of libraries that have agreed to a reciprocal borrowing / lending agreement. Participation in this group is open to libraries that borrow and lend. Please refer to the LVIS Agreement below for details on this reciprocal arrangement.
- LVIS Agreement
  Reciprocal Borrowing / Lending agreement for libraries participating in the LVIS union list group.
- Join the LVIS Group (pdf only)
  This form is used to request participation in the LVIS (Libraries Very Interested in Sharing) union list group. Libraries joining this group must be a Lender and agree to reciprocal borrowing guidelines in the LVIS Agreement (above). The order form needs to be completed and returned to Carol Ritzenthaler, OHIONET via fax at 614-486-1527.
Overview of OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing
View the video tutorial to get a glimpse of WorldCat Resource Sharing.
Reference Cards
- OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing: The Basics
  Basic procedures in WorldCat Resource Sharing.
- WorldCat Resource Sharing Quick Reference
  Quick reference guide to WorldCat Resource Sharing.
Understanding the Request Manager Categories
Usage Statistics
Available at no charge, log on with your OCLC authorization and password to access resource sharing reports that include information about borrowing and lending transactions, IFM, turn-around time, and more. Data is available on the 10th of the month for the previous month activity and can be exported into Excel or received regularly via email.
Tutorials
A series of tutorials for getting started with WorldCat Resource Sharing.

Services for Groups

Training & Workshops