Before the '80s, the process for a student finding and checking out a book at Alden Library included using physical cards to locate it on the shelf. That process was forever changed Aug. 24, 1971, though.
On that day, Alden became the first library to utilize an online catalog, marking it as influential in both Ohio University’s history and college library history worldwide, according to the university website.
The switch from card catalogs to information in databases was just the first step in a process that led to students attaining books through the online catalog today. While it may seem routine for the library staff now, the online catalog was, at first, a very foreign idea at Alden.
“The staff had to become more technically capable,” Janet Hulm, assistant dean of Collections and Digital Initiatives, said. “Using computers at that level at that time, it was a huge change in the way that we did work.”
The online catalog technology, which functioned through a telecommunications system, predated the internet, which was proposed in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee according to The World Wide Web Foundation. A librarian would use a terminal to transport data to a telecommunications company, the Online Computer Library Center, who would then type the data into the system, Damon DeBorde, head of metadata services at Alden, said.
The online catalog expanded as other libraries outside of Ohio began to input books into the database, and eventually the system, created by Online Computer Library Center, became a resource not only used in Ohio but at the national and international level.
Students at OU started to enjoy the benefits of using the online catalog to locate books in the early '80s, which had a lasting impact, Deborde said.
“Students saw improvement in their research and their library experience. It happened over a number of years, (but the biggest impact) in the beginning would have been getting materials through our area faster,” Deborde said.
Students today use the online catalog as a resource in finding, ordering and checking out books through Alden. If students needs a book that Alden does not have, they can order the book and then pick it up at Alden through the OhioLINK or Interlibrary Loan services, Hulm said.
The application of the technology allows students to explore books from libraries outside of Alden and use them to their benefit here in Athens. The online catalog also allows students to access electronic versions of books, further expanding their resources, Hulm said.
“The online catalog can make it so you don’t even have to come into the library because if the book is electronic, you could possibly just even access it straight from wherever you are off campus,” Hulm said. “You get what you need when you need it.”
Some students find the online catalog useful for locating sources for research projects and thesis papers.
“I’ve used it for class, and I think it’s decent. It’s a little hard to get through the different sections, but overall it’s a good tool and it’s helpful,” Jeffrey Wolcoski, a senior studying sociology and criminology, said.
Just as the catalog went through changes and improvements through history to reach the capabilities it has today, the catalog will continue to adapt with the time and benefit students in their academics, Hulm said.
“(Online Computer Library Center revolutionized) scholarship by being the first way to connect libraries so that we know what each other had,” DeBorde said. “When that opens up to scholars they can learn what not only your local library has but a library now all across the world, what they have.”
