OCLC Partner Programs
OCLC is a global library cooperative representing 85,400 institutions in more than 123 countries. On behalf of the cooperative, OCLC manages WorldCat, the largest, most authoritative and most consulted bibliographic database in the library industry.
Creating value for you and your customers
OCLC partners with hundreds of the leading publishers and application service providers in the information industry through the following partner programs.
Record creation and metadata services
OCLC is the leading authority on library data and metadata creation. Learn how to license WorldCat data and outsource your cataloging needs, including record delivery to your customers.
Discovery and syndication services
OCLC’s syndication program is designed to drive traffic back to the content that OCLC libraries purchase or license, which supports your bottom line.
APIs and web services
Whether your business is serving libraries or end users, integrate a wealth of library data into your application quickly and easily through OCLC's APIs and web services.
Improve usage, discovery and access of e-content
Success Strategies for Electronic Content Discovery and Access, a cross-Industry White Paper, provides practical recommendations for improved usage, discovery and access of e-content.
What our partners are saying
- “Libraries' situations vary so greatly that the over-arching need is for options and customization. [Our OCLC] partnership allows libraries using WorldCat Local and OCLC WorldShare Management Services to customize the approach to discovery and collection utilization for their institutions, while exposing an even broader array of content available via EDS.” Tim Collins
President of EBSCO Publishing - “WorldCat provides us with a great way to send people to the library for books they want. It gives us really great coverage...you almost never see a book on Goodreads that can't be found in WorldCat. The service works well with our site and is easy for our members, too, being able to click right through to libraries.” Patrick Brown
Director of Community at Goodreads
Record creation and metadata services
OCLC is the leading authority on library data and metadata creation. Learn how to license WorldCat data and outsource your cataloging needs, including record delivery to your customers.
Contract Cataloging for Publishers
Outsource your metadata needs to OCLC. Our team of professional catalogers will convert your data into multiple formats, create high quality MARC records describing your content and deliver MARC records to your library clients for a true end-to-end custom solution.
Metadata Services for Publishers
Get more value from your content through the Metadata Services for Publishers program. OCLC will enrich your title data with WorldCat metadata elements, including subject headings, name authorities, and control numbers. Jobs can be completed in as few as three days.
Custom Data Feeds
Aggregating bibliographic data is time-consuming and ties up your development resources. If you are looking to license a large number of bibliographic records, OCLC will work with you to understand your needs and to issue your custom quote.
Discovery and syndication services
OCLC’s syndication program is designed to drive traffic back to the content that OCLC libraries purchase or license, which supports your bottom line. Here’s how it works.
1) Content registration
Register the content that you sell to libraries with OCLC, including:
- Descriptive data (title, author, etc.)
- Linking data (for e-content)
- Holdings data (what libraries buy)
2) Syndication
Your content will get greater visibility, reach and usage within:
- OCLC applications
- Library OPACs and discovery engines
- Third-party applications
3) Usage reports
OCLC will produce monthly usage reports tracking:
- Visibility of your content
- Volume of usage
- End users' applications
OCLC can process your discovery and holdings data from just about any format. OCLC can also accommodate different business models for e-content—e.g. PDA or DDA—so that you can get the most out of syndication. Find out how easy it is to join the program.
APIs and web services
Whether your business is serving libraries or end users, integrate a wealth of library data into your application quickly and easily through OCLC's APIs and web services. OCLC organizes its web services into three broad areas: Discovery and delivery, WorldShare Management Services and other OCLC services.
Discovery and delivery APIs
The WorldCat Search API helps your end users find books, movies and music available from thousands of library collections. The WorldCat KB and Article Exchange APIs direct end users to full text content available through their libraries.
Metadata services APIs
OCLC offers a range of metadata APIs that help you find and retrieve specific types of data from a record, including identifiers, subject headings and authority names—metadata that you can use to enhance or transform your own data.
WorldShare Management Services
WMS, a cloud-based management application, publishes APIs covering a range of core WMS functions (e.g., item availability) so that third-party application service providers can better serve their library clients.
Contact OCLC
Publishers, library service vendors and consumer web services all work with OCLC to increase sales, improve information services, save on infrastructure costs and get access to high-quality library data. If your organization would benefit from a similar partnership with OCLC, we’d love to hear from you.
Become an OCLC partner like these industry leaders
