In February 1991, OCLC began testing its newly developed product—the FirstSearch™ Catalog. Designed distinctly for the end‐user, FirstSearch is an online computer system providing…
Abstract
In February 1991, OCLC began testing its newly developed product—the FirstSearch™ Catalog. Designed distinctly for the end‐user, FirstSearch is an online computer system providing access to a variety of databases, most notably the OCLC Online Union Catalog. By October 1991, the system was made commercially available to all OCLC member libraries with a pricing structure different from any previously marketed system. As a test site, the Ohio State University has had experience with the system for several months, and has now made the transition from test site to customer.
Sandra Moline, James Cogswell, Phyllis Reich, Kathryn Robbins and M.J. Rossman
In October 1991, the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) introduced FirstSearch, an online reference product designed for the end‐user. Through a menu interface, which features…
Abstract
In October 1991, the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) introduced FirstSearch, an online reference product designed for the end‐user. Through a menu interface, which features extensive online help, more than thirty databases, covering a range of subject areas, are currently available. Among these are three unique to OCLC: WorldCat (the OCLC online union catalog), Article1st, and Contents1st. The latter two offer bibliographic citations to articles in more than 11,000 journals, primarily in the English language, in the areas of science, technology, medicine, social science, business, the humanities, and popular culture. Several authors have described the searching, printing, and pricing options available for the system.