OCLC

OCLC, Inc.
FoundedJuly 5, 1967; 57 years ago (1967-07-05) (as Ohio College Library Center)
FounderFred Kilgour
Type501(c)3 organization
31-0734115
HeadquartersDublin, Ohio, U.S.
Coordinates40°06′09″N 83°07′37″W / 40.1025°N 83.1269°W / 40.1025; -83.1269
Region
Worldwide
Products
[1]
Members
30,000+ libraries in 100+ countries[2]
President & CEO
Skip Prichard
Revenue (2020–21)
$217.8 million[3]
Websitewww.oclc.org Edit this at Wikidata

OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC,[4] is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large".[2] It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, then became the Online Computer Library Center as it expanded. In 2017, the name was formally changed to OCLC, Inc.[4] OCLC and thousands of its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world.[5] OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries pay (around $217.8 million annually in total as of 2021) for the many different services it offers.[3] OCLC also maintains the Dewey Decimal Classification system.

  1. ^ "OCLC Qualifying Subscriptions for Membership" (PDF). oclc.org. OCLC. February 15, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "About OCLC". OCLC. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "OCLC Annual Report 2020–2021". Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. December 20, 2021. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Certificate of Amendment of the Amended Articles of Incorporation of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc". Ohio Secretary of State. June 26, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2019. See also: "Amended Articles of Incorporation of OCLC, Inc" (PDF). OCLC. June 23, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  5. ^ Oswald, Godfrey (2017). "Largest unified international library catalog". Library world records (3rd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 291. ISBN 9781476667775. OCLC 959650095. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2019.