World Libraries: OCLC to launch UK’s national library e-catalogue

Plans to launch a web-based UK national public library catalogue have been announced by The Combined Regions and the Online Computer Library Center.

The two organisations said the catalogue will contain bibliographic data from 80 percent of the UK's public libraries and enable web users to search nine million bibliographic records and 50 million books and other stock items.

The first phase of the project, an initial proof of concept, will be available for review by libraries in March 2011.

Taking information already indexed in WorldCat, an online resource for finding library materials, the new UK catalogue should provide a view of library materials held by the 149 local authorities with a current full subscription to UnityUK. This is a resource-sharing and inter-library loan service provided by The Combined Regions.

Rob Froud, chair of The Combined Regions said: "It is one of the biggest developments for public libraries since the People's Network. It's the big idea that public libraries need to demonstrate their combined value, their relevance and accessibility at a time when resource sharing is more important than ever."

The Combined Regions is a membership organisation to enable co-operation between libraries across the UK. Its members include the British Library, the National Library of Scotland as well as regional groups of local libraries. Its partner, the Online Computer Library Center, aims to improve access to information by reducing library costs.