OCLC's WorldShare Management Services turns 5

DUBLIN, Ohio - June 23, 2016 - PRLog -- July 1, 2016 will mark the 5th anniversary of the general release of OCLC WorldShare Management Services, the first-ever cloud-based cooperative library management system. More than 500 libraries spanning 6 continents-Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America-have selected WorldShare Management Services as their library management system since its introduction.

WorldShare Management Services (http://www.oclc.org/en-US/worldshare-management-services.html) (WMS) is a complete, cloud-based library management system that offers all the applications needed to manage a library, including Acquisitions, Circulation, Metadata, Resource Sharing, License Management and a single-search Discovery interface for library users. WMS also includes a range of Reports (http://www.oclc.org/en-US/worldshare-management-services.html#analytics) that help libraries understand their activities and track key metrics over time.

As part of the OCLC library cooperative, WMS libraries work together through the WorldShare (http://www.oclc.org/worldshare.en.html) environment. Librarians are able to connect with one another, exchange best practices, share experience and expertise, and contribute ideas in a web-based OCLC Community Center, which is available 24/7. Librarians can also connect via in-person and virtual WMS Community Meetings.

"OCLC and member libraries worked together to build WorldShare Management Services, a cooperative effort to create the next-generation library services platform," said Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO. "It's not that often that we can affect real change in library automation systems, but WMS was the catalyst for real change. The unprecedented growth and adoption of WMS is due to the hard work and collaborative engagement of OCLC's dedicated membership."

"WMS is truly a library system for the 21st century," said Lynne Jacobsen, Associate University Librarian for Information Resources, Collections and Scholarly Communication at Pepperdine University, which was among the earliest adopters of WMS. "WMS has enabled us to efficiently acquire, manage and provide access to electronic resources which now outnumber our print resources. We're able to effectively manage licenses that affect interlibrary loan. We're able to conduct sophisticated collection analysis, compare with peer institutions, and compile statistics for comprehensive library assessment."

"We've thoroughly enjoyed our participation in the development of WMS," said Jacobsen.

In the United States and Canada, more than 80 libraries of all types have joined the WMS community in the last year, including 4-year colleges such as Babson College, community colleges such as Weatherford College, and specialized academic institutions such as the Medical University of South Carolina.

Also in the United States, groups such as the West Virginia University Libraries, Potomac State College, WVU Institute of Technology, West Virginia Northern Community College and West Liberty University have joined the WMS community.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, noteworthy additions to the WMS community include several firsts: the Münster University of Applied Science was the first academic institution in Germany to join the WMS community; the College of Europe was the first institution in Belgium, the University of KwaZulu-Natal was the first in South Africa, and the American University of Sharjah in United Arab Emirates was the first in the Middle East.

In Australia and New Zealand, this past year Scion became the first institution in New Zealand to join the WMS community. Most recently, The Northern Territory Library, a major reference and research institution in Australia, selected WMS for more than 50 libraries in the region.

Libraries worldwide are using WMS to share bibliographic records, publisher and knowledge base data, vendor records, serials patterns and more. With WorldCat at its foundation, WMS enables libraries to draw on the collaborative data and work of libraries worldwide for more efficient workflows. WMS also provides libraries with the unique opportunity to share innovation, applications, infrastructure, vision and success in serving their users.

More about WorldShare Management Services (http://www.oclc.org/worldshare-management-services.en.html) is on the OCLC website.

About OCLC

OCLC (http://www.oclc.org/) is a nonprofit global library cooperativeproviding shared technology services, original research and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat (http://www.oclc.org/worldcat.en.html), the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC's WorldShare (http://www.oclc.org/worldshare.en.html), a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world's collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff and partners make breakthroughs possible.