OCLC and Orbis Cascade Alliance to develop new consortial borrowing solution

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  Bernie Sloan

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OCLC and Orbis Cascade Alliance to develop new consortial borrowing solution
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DUBLIN, Ohio, April 14, 2008—The Orbis Cascade Alliance and OCLC are
working together to migrate the Alliance’s Summit union catalog to a
consortial borrowing solution based on the integration of WorldCat.org,
VDX, WorldCat Resource Sharing and a new circulation gateway in time for
the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic school year.

The Orbis Cascade Alliance will implement a WorldCat Group Catalog with
an interface based on WorldCat.org. This union catalog will present the
28-million-volume collections of the 35 Alliance member institutions at
the top of results sets, followed by results from the rest of WorldCat,
the world’s largest online database for discovery of items in libraries.

“We are excited to be working with OCLC to develop a next generation
technical platform for Summit,” said John F. Helmer, Executive Director,
Orbis Cascade Alliance. “OCLC’s vision for the future is an ideal fit
with the Orbis Cascade Alliance’s strategic agenda, which calls for
implementation of a next generation discovery and delivery platform and
a commitment to standards-based cross-platform functionality. Alliance
libraries are very clear in their user-centered approach to service and
we view OCLC as an ideal partner for the long haul—a partner that shares
our values and excitement about the development of first-rate services
to students and faculty.”

The migration of Summit to OCLC’s consortial borrowing solution will
include an immediate initiative to increase the accuracy and
comprehensiveness of member library holdings in WorldCat and the
implementation of a resource sharing system that combines the best of
ILL and circulation capabilities and workflows.

Alliance member libraries also will have the option to implement
WorldCat Local, a new service that combines the cooperative power of
OCLC member libraries worldwide with the ability to customize
WorldCat.org as a solution for local discovery and delivery services.

“OCLC and the Orbis Cascade Alliance share a commitment to move library
services to the network level,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO.
“This new consortial borrowing solution will offer proven services to
facilitate resource sharing on a platform based on WorldCat.org, the
most dynamic library discovery resource in the world. We look forward
to continuing our work with the Orbis Cascade Alliance in developing a
consortial borrowing solution that will serve as a model for library
groups worldwide.”

“This initiative will offer our users a better discovery experience and
allow them to move seamlessly from our collections to the even larger
collections available in WorldCat through Inter Library Loan services,”
said Lee Lyttle, Chair, Orbis Cascade Alliance. “We also look forward
to a better discovery experience with enhanced searching and social
networking functionality. All of this is an important strategic
direction of the Alliance moving our members closer towards becoming
part of a more global library. These are exciting developments that we
know will benefit all faculty, students and staff of our member
institutions.”

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to help write the next chapter
in the evolution of OCLC and its collaborative efforts to assist
individual libraries and library consortia in exciting new ways,” said
Deborah Dancik, Alliance Chair-elect. “Together we will improve the
efficiency and productivity of our students and faculty through their
more effective use of the universe of information resources.”

About the Orbis Cascade Alliance
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The Orbis Cascade Alliance is a consortium of academic libraries in
Oregon and Washington. The Alliance supports the popular Summit union
catalog that allows students, faculty, and staff to easily search and
request library materials owned by member libraries. Through its
resource sharing, courier, electronic resource, and archives programs
the Alliance serves approximately 250 libraries in Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii. For more information, visit
www.orbiscascade.org.

About OCLC
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Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC is a nonprofit
library service and research organization that has provided
computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, eContent,
preservation, library management and Web services to 60,000 libraries in
112 countries and territories. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide
have created and maintain WorldCat, the world’s richest online resource
for finding library materials. WorldCat.org is a Web destination with
search and social networking features that allow information seekers to
discover, localize and personalize content from a library’s collections
and those of 10,000-plus WorldCat libraries globally. For more
information, visit www.oclc.org.

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OCLC, WorldCat.org and WorldCat are trademarks and/or service marks of
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
VDX is a trademark/service mark of OCLC EMEA, B.V.
Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks and/or
service marks of their respective owners.
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