Interlibrary loan is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies of documents that are owned by another library. The user makes a request with a library, which identifies libraries with the desired item, places the request, receives the item, gives it to the user, and arranges for its return. In some cases, fees accompany interlibrary loan services.
An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature.
This page is a glossary of library and information science.
The online public access catalog (OPAC), now frequently synonymous with library catalog, is an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries. Online catalogs have largely replaced the analog card catalogs previously used in libraries.
OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, 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". 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. OCLC and thousands of its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog (OPAC) in the world. OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries pay for the many different services it offers. OCLC also maintains the Dewey Decimal Classification system.
Mississauga Library is the public library system of Mississauga, Ontario. The system has 18 branches, consisting of the Mississauga Central Library and 17 smaller neighbourhood libraries.
Frederick Gridley Kilgour was an American librarian and educator known as the founding director of OCLC, an international computer library network and database. He was its president and executive director from 1967 to 1980.
A union catalog is a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries. Union catalogs have been created in a range of media, including book format, microform, cards and more recently, networked electronic databases. Print union catalogs are typically arranged by title, author or subject ; electronic versions typically support keyword and Boolean queries. Union catalogs are useful to librarians, as they assist in locating and requesting materials from other libraries through interlibrary loan service. They also allow researchers to search through collections to which they would not otherwise have access, such as manuscript collections.
The Texas A&M University Libraries support the teaching, research, and outreach missions of Texas A&M University through leadership in acquiring, managing, and delivering information in an environment that fosters learning and inquiry. In particular, Texas A&M is nationally and internationally recognized for many research collections, including:
The Peter White Public Library is a public library and community center in the City of Marquette, Michigan. The library building has stood at 217 North Front Street since 1904. An extensive renovation and addition was completed in 2000. The building also houses the Marquette Arts and Culture Center. The library is named after Peter White, a local businessman, postmaster, real estate developer, Michigan state legislator, and philanthropist who lived from 1830 until 1908.
For the public library in the city of Newport, South Wales see Newport Central Library
The Eastern Shores Library System (ESLS) was one of 17 public library systems in Wisconsin. Founded in 1987, it had 13 member libraries, with five in Ozaukee County and eight located in Sheboygan County, in addition to a bookmobile. Sheboygan's Mead Public Library served as the resource library for the system. The last director of ESLS was Amy Birtell.
An inventory is the one method that libraries and archives use to determine whether some items in their collection are in need of preservation or conservation activities. A modern inventory might involve examining item by item with a barcode scanner and a laptop, with the objective of adjusting bibliographic and item records in theirs and OCLC's WorldCat databases. Using a laptop and handheld bar code reader will "reduce human error and inconsistencies, while helping to maintain staff concentration and enthusiasm for the project".
MichiCard was a voluntary program between Michigan libraries that was the first step in developing a statewide library card for the residents of Michigan. The program was proposed and established by the Library of Michigan Board of Trustees' Task Force on Interdependency and Funding. This led the Michigan state legislature to approve funding in 1989 for the MichiCard program. The program was established as a universal program for statewide access to the large network of resources throughout the state in local libraries where residents from another community may not be able access these resources otherwise. The program is coordinated by the Library of Michigan. The program is a form of interlibrary loan which allows the patron to visit another library and check out material directly from another library in another community from which they live.
Vaughan Public Libraries (VPL) is a public library system consisting of twelve libraries in the city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It has a collection of more than 534,000 items and serves over 1.7 million visitors a year. VPL has twelve branch locations, including three resource libraries. The Bathurst Clark Resource Library opened in 1994. Pierre Berton Resource Library opened in 2004. The newest resource library, Civic Centre Resource Library, opened in May 2016, and houses VPL’s administration offices. The latest branch, VMC Library, opened to the public in June 2022. VPL serves the growing multicultural community of Vaughan by offering collections in Chinese, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Malayalam, Portuguese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu, and Vietnamese, in addition to French and English.
The Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) was a "non-scheduled agency" of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture in the Canadian province of Ontario. Established in 1989, SOLS delivers programs and services to Ontario public libraries in the southern half of the province, in a geographic area bounded by Windsor in the south, to Ottawa and the Quebec border in the east, and as far north as Muskoka. Almost 200 library systems are included in this group, ranging from libraries in small communities to libraries in cities with populations in the hundreds of thousands. The Ontario Library Service North (OLS-North) performs equivalent service for the northern portion of the province.
The Portage County Public Library (PCPL) consists of four branch locations primarily serving the population of Portage County in central Wisconsin. The Main branch public library is located in downtown Stevens Point, WI. The other branches are located in Plover, Almond, and Rosholt. The PCPL is a member of the South Central Library System (SCLS). This membership allows for the sharing of resources between member libraries through a delivery service.
The Navy Department Library is the official library of the United States Department of the Navy. Located at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., it is part of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
The SAILS Library Network, formerly Southeastern Automated Integrated Library Services, is a non-profit library consortium of 70 member libraries in 39 communities located throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. SAILS was founded in 1995 to link the ABLE and SEAL library networks, which were later dissolved into SAILS in 2000. The network provides library patrons with access to check out and return items at member libraries, interlibrary loans through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners' Commonwealth Catalog, mobile app access, and access to electronic collections. Member libraries are provided customized online catalog services, digital collections storage, internet and telecommunications services, email and Google Apps accounts for library staff, access to SirsiDynix software, and staff training.
Virginia Boucher is a former librarian and professor emerita at University of Colorado Boulder. She was a pioneer in the field of interlibrary loans. The annual Virginia Boucher/OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award, delivered by the American Library Association (ALA) and OCLC to librarians for "outstanding professional achievement, leadership and contributions to ILL and document delivery through publication of significant professional literature, participation in professional associations, and/or innovative approaches to practice in individual libraries," was established in her honor in 2000.
