OCLC PICA

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OCLC EMEA, Leiden

OCLC PICA was a European provider of library software and services based in Leiden , the result of a collaboration between the Dutch Pica Foundation and the US Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The acronym PICA stands for Project of Integrated Catalog Automation . In 2007, OCLC PICA was completely taken over by the Online Computer Library Center. Since then, the business has been operated under the name OCLC EMEA Regional Council (EMEARC), the English abbreviation “EMEA” standing for “Europe, the Middle East and Africa”.

history

The Pica Foundation was launched in 1969 as an initiative of the Leiden University Library , the Royal Library of the Netherlands and other university libraries to promote joint cataloging and automation. In 1986, Pica received its own legal status as a foundation center for library automation, which was converted into a foundation in 1997. In December, together with OCLC, Pica BV (roughly comparable to a German GmbH ) was founded, from which the organization OCLC PICA emerged in January 2002 through a merger with the OCLC department responsible for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2005, OCLC owned a majority of 60% of the shares in OCLC PICA, while the Pica Foundation held 40%. The Pica Foundation was in turn supported by the NBLC Association and the SURF Foundation. In 2005 OCLC PICA took over further service providers and software manufacturers from the library sector with the former Siemens subsidiary Sisis Informationssysteme GmbH (Germany) and the Fretwell-Downing Informatics Group (Great Britain). In mid-2007, OCLC acquired the remaining shares in OCLC PICA and is now the sole owner of the organization. At the end of 2007, all OCLC PICA offices were renamed OCLC. In 2011 the company BOND was taken over.

OCLC PICA's product range had expanded considerably as a result of the takeovers in 2005. In addition to the classic local system (LBS) and network system (CBS), it also includes software and solutions in the areas of interlibrary loan , portals and link resolvers . OCLC PICA is also responsible for the distribution of OCLC services and products ( WorldCat , CONTENdm, Netlibrary) in Europe, among others.

In German-speaking countries, OCLC PICA was best known for its Pica software for central and local library databases (among other things as OPAC ). In Germany, the software is used by the German National Library and the library networks GBV , HeBIS and SWB . Further partners are the National Library of Australia , the interlibrary loan system V3 in Great Britain, the French general catalog SUDOC and the Dutch union catalog, which is operated at the same time by OCLC PICA. The data format used as standard in the Pica software is internally Pica + or its representation Pica3 for cataloging. Every data record that is cataloged in one of the specified library networks bears a nine or ten-digit PICA production number (PPN for short) and can be clearly identified by it.

OCLC EMEA employs more than 250 people in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and France, of which around 170 are employed in development and support.

The main competitor of OCLC EMEA is the Ex Libris Group , which offers products comparable to Aleph and MetaLib , among others .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. OCLC acquires BOND library systems .