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Frederick G. Kilgour, founder and architect of the On‐line Computerized Library Center (OCLC), and his wife Eleanor were special guests of the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies at its 1994 Alumni Day, 21 October 1994. The Kilgours toured the Library School, including its typesetting, bindery and computer laboratories, and electronic classrooms. Dr Kilgour spoke at the School's annual alumni day luncheon and made another formal presentation that evening. The evening lecture originated from the Tuscaloosa campus of the University of Alabama and was broadcast by the University's two‐way, interactive television system to audiences at sites in Auburn, Birmingham and Huntsville (points lying approximately at the vertices and centre of a triangle with sides 250, 265 and 330 kilometres long). Because of the interactive nature of the television system, Kilgour and his audience were able to see each other and to speak to each other.

An analysis of library use studies previously published by this author (Kilgour 1989) revealed that of every hundred user requests for a book, seven are not satisfied because the library has not acquired the book, eleven because there is a defect in the catalog or error in its use (3.45 to deficiency and 7.55 to user error), and twenty‐three because the book is not on the shelf. This paper demonstrates types of online catalog access that can reduce the failures caused by card catalog flaws or by user search errors by half.

The advent of the computer in the academic library promises revolution in library objectives and economics, and the extent of the revolution will be as great in acquisitions as in other library areas. This paper will examine the probable effects of computerization in the foreseeable and distant futures and will establish academic and economic targets at which to aim to avoid an inefficient wandering forward. The first section of the paper will inquire into the characteristics of the new technology; the second will delineate academic objectives and new techniques for reaching those objectives; and the third will discuss the economic goals of acquisitions computerization.

This paper presents a historical overview of technological developments and their use in libraries and argues that librarians have always been amongst the first to adapt to, and use, the latest information handling and communications technologies. Points made are supported by many citations to the relevant literature of the time.

Introduction This paper will examine the possibility of constructing an online international union catalog from machine readable entries originating in different countries. Benefits of such a union catalog would be extensive, since it would greatly increase availability of library resources internationally and reduce rates of rise of processing costs in participating libraries. The discussion of catalog entries will be limited to descriptive cataloging and will include only title and author elements, only catalog entries originating in different language regions, and only catalog entries in machine readable form.

The term ‘obsolescence’ occurs frequently in the literature of librarianship and information science. In numerous papers we are told how most published literature becomes obsolete within a measurable time, and that an item receives half the uses it will ever receive (‘half‐life’) in a few years. ‘Obsolescence’ is however very rarely defined, and its validity, interest, and practical value are often assumed rather than explained. Before reviewing studies on ‘obsolescence’, therefore, it is necessary to look at the concept and to identify the reasons why it should be of interest.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that electronic interlinking of two computerized library networks is an extremely difficult task requiring resolution of at least thirty‐six problems of various types even when both networks are within the same country, and resolution of another twelve if the link is to be international. During the past several years interlinking has been widely discussed, but the vast majority of discussants possessed little or no understanding of the problems involved. For them, the simple question was, “why can't I get a catalog record from another network?” This paper answers that question with a delineation of the unresolved problems that stand in the way of interlinkage.

This paper describes the governance, organization, and activities of OCLC. In particular, it reports on the processes and products of OCLC's online shared cataloging system, the online union catalog, as well as training, marketing, and prices related to shared cataloging. The paper also describes the computer‐communications system including general design, hardware, software, telecommunications, and terminals.

The Lending Division of the British Library continues to assemble at Boston Spa as comprehensive a collection as possible of the world's worthwhile serial literature in all languages and subject fields. Its current holdings are listed in its annual directory Current Serials Received. For the last few years there has been a remarkably uniform net increase of 4% in the number of titles received, and in August 1978 the total exceeded 50,000 for the first time. The graph (Figure 1) shows how the collection of current serials has grown over the years. The relatively steep parts of the curve around 1967 and 1972 are the result of a broadening of the library's scope to include firstly social science and secondly humanities. 37% of the titles come from just two countries — the USA (20.3%) and GB (16.8%). Only two other countries, Germany (8.3%) and the USSR (6.4%), are responsible for more than 5%. The complete breakdown is shown in the following table.

On August 26, 1971, OCLC introduced the online union catalog and shared cataloging system. During the 1970s, OCLC focused its efforts on creating and expanding the online cataloging system and telecommunications network. It added an online interlibrary loan system in 1979. In the 1980s, OCLC began adapting distributed computing and microcomputing technologies as its product and service lines expanded to some 60 offerings. The organization also began looking at ways to move beyond bibliography by furnishing information not only to library staffs, but also to library patrons. In the 1990s, OCLC launched a new core business in reference services. (Smith, 1998, pp. 251–252). Now, in the 21st century, OCLC is introducing tools, services and infrastructure to manage the life cycle of digital content in libraries.