LEIDEN, Netherlands, 4 June 2013—OCLC announced today that Axel Kaschte has joined OCLC as Product Strategy Director, EMEA, with immediate effect. Dr. Kaschte has 20 years of experience working with library management systems and the library community throughout Europe.
In this new position at OCLC, Dr. Kaschte will be responsible for product strategy in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and will be focused on OCLC's solutions in support of library management workflows in the region. OCLC has an established reputation and client base in EMEA and this new role will be instrumental in the ongoing development of new OCLC WorldShare services.
Dr. Kaschte has previously held positions at SirsiDynix, where he was responsible for the roadmap of localisation requirements for libraries outside the United States, and most recently at Ex Libris, where he was Strategy Director for Europe and played a key role in the introduction of their product strategy to launch cloud-based solutions like Alma.
"Axel Kaschte has in-depth knowledge and understanding of the needs and interests of libraries in multiple locations around the world, and especially in Europe," said Robin Murray, OCLC Vice President, Global Product Management. "OCLC EMEA libraries will benefit from his vast experience as we continue to advance our cloud-based library services in the region."
Stating his reasons for joining OCLC, Dr. Kaschte said: "Firstly, OCLC as a membership organisation has a unique and close relationship with libraries, which allows for a very open and direct discussion about their requirements and strategies. Secondly, OCLC is very resourceful and they can deliver solutions that are innovative and really push the boundaries. I'm looking forward to working with a talented team of individuals at OCLC to put the OCLC WorldShare strategy into practice in EMEA."
Eric van Lubeek, Managing Director, OCLC EMEA added: "We welcome the wealth of experience Axel Kaschte is bringing with him to further our development of innovative new services to libraries. We very much look forward to his contribution."
Dr. Kaschte will be based in Germany.
About OCLC
Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing library costs. More than 74,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world's largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat.org on the Web. For more information, visit the OCLC website.
