DUBLIN, Ohio, 29 January 2015—Twenty-two member libraries of the American Theological Library Association are now using OCLC WorldShare Management Services as their library management system.
WorldShare Management Services (WMS) provide cloud-based library management and discovery applications in an integrated suite. WMS offers librarians a cost-effective way to manage workflows efficiently, and improve access to library collections and services for their users.
The American Theological Library Association (ATLA) is a professional association of individual, institutional and affiliate members providing programs, products and services in support of theological and religious studies libraries and librarians. ATLA's ecumenical membership represents many religious traditions and denominations.
"The ATLA membership covers a wide variety of types and sizes of libraries—from very large research libraries to much smaller institutions and seminaries," said Brenda Bailey-Hainer, Executive Director, ATLA. "WMS is a cost-effective solution for a lot of our libraries. With WMS, libraries don't have to dedicate IT staff to manage a system, and they don't have to invest in servers. WMS is hosted for them in the cloud, and they can take advantage of economies of scale."
Bailey-Hainer said that WMS helps libraries gain efficiencies so that staff can refocus efforts to higher value services. She said WMS also enables directors, who in many cases are playing greater leadership roles beyond the library, to feel confident that the library is well supported.
"In 2013, Luther Seminary implemented WorldShare Management Services as part of a strategy to save money, reduce demands on our limited IT infrastructure, and consolidate a number of disparate library systems," said Andrew Keck, Director of Library Services and Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Luther Seminary. "WMS is an ideal solution for many ATLA libraries needing to leverage a cooperative library system in order to focus limited resources in supporting our users."
ATLA and OCLC are partnering to offer ATLA libraries Worldshare Management Services to gain efficiencies and take advantage of greater value available to libraries that select WMS as part of a group. Among the ATLA libraries using WMS:
- Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Inc.
- Biblical Theological Seminary
- Christian Theological Seminary Library
- Claremont School of Theology
- Concordia Theological Seminary
- Earlham College
- Fuller Theological Seminary
- Grace Theological Seminary
- Lexington Theological Seminary
- Luther Seminary
- Nashotah House
- Oblate School of Theology
- Saint Meinrad School of Theology
- St. Thomas University
- Tyndale University College & Seminary
- United Theological Seminary
- United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
- University of Dubuque
- Wartburg Theological Seminary
- Westminster Seminary California
Today, more than 300 libraries worldwide are using WorldShare Management Services to share bibliographic records, publisher and knowledge base data, vendor records, serials patterns and more. WMS also provides libraries with the unique opportunity to share innovation, applications, infrastructure, vision and success in serving their users.
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.