Dublin, OH -- 5 December 2024. Ten libraries from the NEOS Library Consortium in Alberta, Canada, are moving to OCLC's WorldShare Management Services, the fully integrated library services platform designed to meet the needs of modern libraries.
NEOS is a consortium of government, health, college, and university libraries that cooperate to share library resources, technology, collections, and workflows. Consortium libraries work together on learning initiatives, document delivery, and a range of core library activities.
"Red Deer Polytechnic Library was seeking a cloud-based library platform that provided excellent value, and WMS met all our criteria," said Kristine Plastow, Dean of Students at Red Deer Polytechnic. "Our students, faculty, and staff will benefit from a modern library catalogue that accurately displays our library holdings, provides seamless access to our collection, and allows for more sophisticated search options. In addition, our members will benefit from a new and larger pool of Interlibrary Loan partners, increasing the number of resources which they can access."
In addition to Red Deer Polytechnic, libraries moving to the OCLC WorldShare platform include: Alberta Innovates, Burman University, Concordia University of Edmonton, Keyano College, The King's University, Northern Lakes College, Northwestern Polytechnic, Olds College, and Vanguard College.
Staff, students, and faculty of any of these libraries may borrow from others in the group, hundreds of other libraries in Canada, and libraries worldwide using OCLC's WorldShare ILL services.
WorldShare Management Services (WMS) is the first cloud-based library services platform and only WMS is built with WorldCat as its foundation. By focusing on library efficiency, WMS allows library staff to better meet the learning and research needs of on-site, hybrid, and remote users. With cataloging, circulation, acquisitions, e-resource management, and resource sharing capabilities, WMS makes it possible for libraries to direct their limited resources to create the greatest impact and easily extend their reach beyond their own electronic and print collections.
"We're excited to welcome these libraries to the WorldShare community," said Mary Sauer-Games, OCLC Chief Product Officer. "WMS will make it possible for these libraries in Canada to work together more efficiently. They will also be able to tap into OCLC's worldwide network of libraries for greater efficiencies for staff, students, and faculty."
More than 50 libraries in Canada have joined the WMS community, including Libraries and Archives Canada.
More about WorldShare Management Services is on the OCLC website.
About OCLC
OCLC is a nonprofit global library organization providing shared technology services, original research, and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research, and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC's WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world's collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff, and partners make breakthroughs possible.