Telecommunications Options Connect OCLC and Libraries to the Future: The Co-Evolution of OCLC Connectivity Options and the Library Computing Environment

The success and sustained growth of OCLC reflects the value of OCLC's systems and services to libraries. OCLC's online products such as WorldCat (the OCLC Online Union Catalog) the Interlibrary Loan system, and the OCLC FirstSearch service have all proven themselves as valuable resources. The success of these resources to a large extent can be attributed to the effectiveness of the methods that OCLC provides for accessing its online systems. Its systems would be of little value if libraries lacked adequate access mechanisms.