Broad-gauge railway
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge broader than the 1,435 mm standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge was first used in Great Britain in Scotland for two short, isolated lines, the Dundee and Arbroath Railway and the Arbroath and Forfar Railway. Both the lines were built in 5 ft 6 in. Both the lines were subsequently converted to standard gauge and connected to the emerging Scottish rail network; the Great Western Railway, was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in 1838, with a gauge of 7 ft 1⁄4 in, retained this gauge until 1892. Some harbours used railways of this gauge for construction and maintenance; these included Portland Harbour and Holyhead Breakwater, which used a locomotive for working sidings. As it was not connected to the national network, this broad-gauge operation continued until the locomotive wore out in 1913; the gauge proposed by Brunel was 7 ft but this was soon increased by 1⁄4 in to 7 ft 1⁄4 in to accommodate clearance problems identified during early testing.
While the parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was prepared to authorise lines built to the broad gauge of 7 ft, it was rejected by the Gauge Commission in favour of all new railways in England and Scotland being built to standard gauge of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in, this being the gauge with the greatest mileage. Railways which had received their enabling Act would continue at the 7 ft gauge. Ireland, using the same criteria, was allocated a different standard gauge, the Irish gauge, of 5 ft 3 in, used in the Australian states of South Australia and Victoria. Broad-gauge lines in Britain were converted to dual gauge or standard gauge from 1864, the last of Brunel's broad gauge was converted over a single weekend in 1892. In 1839 the Netherlands started its railway system with two broad-gauge railways; the chosen gauge of 1,945 mm was applied between 1839 and 1866 by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij for its Amsterdam–The Hague–Rotterdam line and between 1842 and 1855, firstly by the Dutch state, but soon by the Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij, for its Amsterdam–Utrecht–Arnhem line.
But the neighbouring countries Prussia and Belgium used standard gauge, so the two companies had to regauge their first lines. In 1855, NRS regauged its line and shortly afterwards connected to the Prussian railways; the HSM followed in 1866. There are replicas of one broad-gauge 2-2-2 locomotive and three carriages in the Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht; these replicas were built for the 100th anniversary of the Dutch Railways in 1938–39. Ireland and some states in Australia and Brazil have a gauge of 5 ft 3 in, but Luas, the Dublin light rail system, is built to standard gauge. Russia and the other former Soviet Republics use a 1,520 mm gauge while Finland continues to use the 5 ft gauge inherited from Imperial Russia. Portugal and the Spanish Renfe system use a gauge of 1,668 mm called Ancho Ibérico in Spanish or Bitola Ibérica in Portuguese. In Toronto, the gauge for TTC subways and streetcars was chosen in 1861. Toronto adopted a unique gauge of 4 ft 10 7⁄8 in, an "overgauge" stated to "allow horse-drawn wagons to use the rails", but with the practical effect of precluding the use of standard-gauge equipment in the street.
The Toronto Transit Commission still operates the Toronto streetcar system and three subway lines on its own unique gauge of 4 ft 10 7⁄8 in. The Scarborough RT, uses standard gauge, as will the future light rail lines of the Transit City plan. In 1851 the 5 ft 6 in broad gauge was adopted as the standard gauge for the Province of Canada, becoming known as the Provincial gauge, government subsidies were unavailable for railways that chose other gauges; this caused problems in interchanging freight cars with northern United States railroads, most of which were built to standard gauge or a gauge similar to it. In the 1870s between 1872 and 1874, Canadian broad-gauge lines were changed to standard gauge to facilitate interchange and the exchange of rolling stock with American railroads. Today, all Canadian railways are standard-gauge. In the early days of rail transport in the US, railways tended to be built out from coastal cities into the hinterland, systems did not connect; each builder was free to choose its own gauge, although the availability of British-built locomotives encouraged some railways to be built to standard gauge.
As a general rule, southern railways were built to one or another broad gauge 5 ft, while northern railroads that were not standard gauge tended to be narrow gauge. Most of the original track in Ohio was built in 4 ft 10 in Ohio gauge, special "compromise cars" were able to run on both this track and standard gauge track. In 1848, Ohio passed a law stating "The width of the track or gauge of all roads under this act, shall be four feet ten inches between the rails." When American railroads' track extended to the point that they began to interconnect, it became clear that a single nationwide gauge was desirable. Six-foot-gauge railroads had developed a large regional following in New York State in the first part of the 19th century, due to the influence of the New York and Erie, one of the early pioneering railroads in
Cricklade
Cricklade is a small Cotswold town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first town on the Thames; the parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. Cricklade's Latin motto In Loco Delicioso means "in a pleasant place". In 2008 the town was awarded Best Small Town in UK in the Royal Horticultural Society's Britain in Bloom Finals and in 2011 the Champion of Champions award in the Britain in Bloom competition, it hosts the annual Cricklade Show. The large Jubilee Clock was erected in 1898 in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in the preceding year, it stands outside the Vale Hotel in High Street. There are two sculptures of the Holy Cross in Cricklade, one in the churchyard of St Sampson's, the other at St Mary's. There is local rivalry about, believed to be older. Cricklade was founded in the 9th century by the Anglo-Saxons, at the point where the Roman road Ermin Way crossed the River Thames, it was the home of a royal mint from 979 to 1100.
The Domesday Book records Cricklade as the meeting place of Cricklade Hundred in 1086. It is one of thirty burhs recorded in the Burghal Hidage document, which describes a system of fortresses and fortified towns built around Wessex by King Alfred. Recent research has suggested that these burhs were built in the short period 878–79, to defend Wessex against the Vikings under Guthrum, to act as an offensive to the Viking presence in Mercia, it is argued that the completion of this system – of which Cricklade was a key military element, being a short distance down Ermin Street from Cirencester, the Viking base for a year – precipitated the retreat of the Vikings from Mercia and London to East Anglia, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in late 879. The square defences of the fortification were laid out on a regular module, they have been excavated in several places on all four of its sides since the 1940s, making this is the most extensively sampled fortification of the period. In the initial phase, a walkway of laid stones marked the rear of a bank of stacked turfs and clay, derived from the three external ditches.
In the second phase, the front of the bank, which after only a short period of time had become somewhat degraded, was replaced by a stone wall. This encircled the defences on all four of its sides; the manpower needed to build this was similar to what was needed to build the original turf and clay defences. It would have strengthened the defensive capabilities of the burh, it has been suggested that it was inserted in the 890s. Other burhs of the Burghal Hidage were strengthened with stone walls, which suggests this was part of a systematic upgrade of the defensive provisions for Wessex, ordered at the time by the king; the third phase is marked by systematic razing of the stone wall, pulled down over the inner berm. Stones from it were used to fill the inner two ditches. A similar phase can be seen in the archaeological record at Christchurch, another burh of the Burghal Hidage. Observations at other burhs suggest that this phase of destruction was implemented over the whole of Wessex, must therefore have been the result of a concerted policy, again by inference on the part of the king.
The most reasonable historical context for this seems to be accession of King Cnut in the early 11th century, to prevent the burhs being seized and used against him by his rivals. The fourth phase is marked by reuse of the original Anglo Saxon defences by inserting a timber palisade along the line of the original wall; this marks a renewal of the defences of the town during the civil war of 1144 under King Stephen. There is little archaeological evidence of the community protected by these defences in the Saxon period. There is some sign that streets were laid out in a regular fashion behind the main north–south High Street; this led through a gate in the northern line of the defences to a causeway over the flood plain of the Thames to a bridge over the river, of a defensive nature. On John Speed's map of Wiltshire, the town's name is recorded as Crekelade. Cricklade Museum houses several publications recounting further historical details of the town and its people; the civil parish elects a town council.
It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which performs most significant local government functions. Outlying hamlets in Cricklade parish are Calcutt, Chelworth Lower Green, Chelworth Upper Green, Hailstone Hill and Horsey Down. There is an electoral ward with the name of Cricklade and Latton, which combines Cricklade parish with its neighbours to the north east: Latton and Marston Maisey; the population of the ward recorded in the 2011 census was 4,982. The parish is in the North Wiltshire parliamentary constituency. From 1295 the Cricklade constituency returned two members of parliament; this parliamentary borough represented just the town until 1782, when its boundaries were extended into the surrounding countryside. It came to include Swindon a village. In 1885, Cricklade became a county constituency electing a single member. Cricklade constituency was abolished in 1918, with the town joining Chippenham, renamed to North Wiltshire in 1983 and had its boundaries redrawn in 2010, when Chippenham was given its own seat.
The club was founded in 1992 by ex-school players from many schools, meeting at the bar of the Vale Hotel, Cricklade owned by ex-President and life members the Ross family. Players wer
British Rail Class 47
The British Rail Class 47 is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive, developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British mainline diesel locomotive, they were fitted with the Sulzer 12LDA28C twin-bank twelve-cylinder unit producing 2,750 bhp – though this was derated to 2,580 bhp to improve reliability – and have been used on both passenger and freight trains on Britain's railways for over 50 years. Despite the introduction of more modern types of traction, a significant number are still in use, both on the mainline and on heritage railways; as of September 2018, 80 locomotives still exist as Class 47s, with further examples having been converted to other classes. The Class 47 history begins in the early 1960s with the stated aim of the British Transport Commission to remove steam locomotives from British Rail by a target date of 1968.
It therefore required. This required locomotives producing at least 2,500 bhp but with an axle load of no more than 19 long tons. However, the BTC was not convinced that the future of diesel traction lay down the hydraulic transmission path of the Western Region, began looking at various diesel-electric designs; the BTC invited tenders to build 100 locomotives to the new specification. The following responses were received: A consortium of the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, Associated Electrical Industries and Sulzer offered a production version of their D0260 Lion prototype under construction at the time, with both steam and electric heating Brush Traction offered three options. Bidding for this new order went in favour of Brush; this initial build of 20 locomotives were mechanically different from the remainder of the type, using Westinghouse-supplied brake systems, would be withdrawn earlier than the rest of the class which used Metcalfe-Oerlikon brakes. However, based on these and the success of LION, an order for 270 locomotives was made, revised upwards a number of times to reach the final total of 512.
Five locomotives, Nos. D1702 to D1706, were fitted with a Sulzer V12 12LVA24 power unit and classified as Class 48s. 310 locomotives were constructed by Brush in Loughborough, the remaining 202 at BR's Crewe Works. The first 500 locomotives were numbered sequentially from D1500 to D1999, with the remaining twelve being numbered from D1100 to D1111; the locomotives went to work on freight duties on all regions of British Rail. Large numbers went to replace steam locomotives on express passenger duties; the locomotives, bar a batch of 81 built for freight duties, were all fitted with steam heating boilers for train heat duties. The initial batch of twenty, plus D1960 and D1961, were fitted with electric train heating. With this type of heating becoming standard, a further large number of locomotives were fitted with this equipment. In the mid 1960s, it was decided to de-rate the engine output of the fleet from 2,750 bhp to 2,580 bhp improving reliability by reducing stresses on the power plant, whilst not causing a noticeable reduction in performance.
In the early 1970s, the fleet was renumbered into the 47xxx series to conform with the computerised TOPS systems. This enabled a number of recognisable sub-classes to be created, depending on the differing equipment fitted; the original series were as follows. Class 47/3: Locomotives with no train heating. Class 47/4: Locomotives with dual or electric train heating. However, this numbering system was disrupted as locomotives were fitted with extra equipment and were renumbered into other sub-classes. For an overview of the renumbering see the British Rail Class 47 renumbering page; this section summarises the main sub-classes. TOPS numbered from 47001 to 47298, these locomotives were the "basic" Class 47 with steam heating equipment fitted. In the 1970s and 1980s, with steam heating of trains being phased out, all locomotives fitted with the equipment had their steam heating boilers removed; some were fitted with ETH and became 47/4s, whilst the others remained with no train heating capability and were therefore used on freight work.
In the 1990s, the class designation 47/2 was applied to some class 47/0s and class 47/3s after they were fitted with multiple working equipment. The locomotives involved had their vacuum braking systems removed or isolated, leaving them air braked only; this was a paper exercise
Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992; the Region consisted principally of ex-Great Western Railway lines, minus certain lines west of Birmingham, which were transferred to the London Midland Region in 1963 and with the addition of all former Southern Railway routes west of Exeter, which were subsequently rationalised. The Great Western Railway was established during the 19th century. Although run down by the Second World War, its management opposed its nationalisation into British Railways. After nationalisation under the Transport Act 1947 and amalgamation with the other railway companies as British Railways, the new Region continued its enmity with its powerful neighbour, the London Midland Region, born out of the London and Scottish Railway. There were few incomers to the Region at senior level: for example, the Chairman of the Regional Board from 1955, Reggie Hanks, came from the motor industry but had been a Swindon Works apprentice.
In the 1956–1962 period, a range of express trains were named and their coaches given GWR-style chocolate and cream colours. Major changes came on the appointment from outside as Regional Managers Stanley Raymond and Gerry Fiennes; some revenues were increased. Adjusted for transfer of Banbury northward to LMR and Dorset and Cornwall from SR, the assets of WR reduced over the decade 1955–1965 and from 1963 to 1965:- Major new investment in infrastructure did not go ahead until after 1955; the earliest projects included the rebuilding of stations at Banbury and Plymouth, both postponed since the 1940s. Bristol Parkway station opened in 1972; the Western Region built a large number of steam locomotives to GWR designs including 341 pannier tanks after the advent of diesel shunters. Both 2-6-0 tender and 2-6-2 tank engine variants of the BR Standard Class 3 were built by the Western Region, it was the first region of BR to eliminate steam traction under the 1955 Modernisation Plan. While the other BR regions introduced diesel-electric locomotives the Western Region went its own way by purchasing a complete range of diesel-hydraulic locomotives covering the type 1 to type 4 power requirements.
These included the Warship locomotives, which were based on proven West German designs, the British-designed Class 14, Hymek and Western types. One of the major improvements on the Western Region, on the Eastern Region East Coast Main Line, was the introduction on the Great Western main line of the InterCity 125 trains in 1976/7 bringing major accelerations to the timetables. Allen G. Freeman, The Western since 1948, Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-0883-3
Texas and New Orleans Railroad
The Texas and New Orleans Railroad was a railroad in Texas and Louisiana. It operated 3,713 miles of railroad in 1934; the Texas and New Orleans Railroad was chartered as the Sabine and Galveston Bay Railroad and Lumber Company in 1856, was formed to build a railroad from Madison in Orange County to tidewater at Galveston Bay. Groundbreaking was on August 27, 1857 outside Houston and real construction work began in April, 1858. Shortly thereafter some work was transferred to Beaumont and railroad construction went east and west. By this time many people started to figure out the builders of the railroad wanted to see a railroad connecting Houston with New Orleans. In the following year rails and equipment were received. By 1860 30 miles of right-of-way was graded and 12 miles of track was laid. In late 1859 the name of the railroad was changed to the New Orleans Railroad Company. By early 1861, track was laid for 80 miles west of Beaumont and the trackage to Houston was complete. In spring 1862 the President of the Railway, Abram M. Gentry, stated that the 110-mile line from Houston to Orange was open, but some of the track was temporary for military needs due to the Civil War.
Scheduled service was operated from Houston to Orange from 1862 to mid-1863 and irregular service until early 1864. Work on the line to Louisiana continued; the Trinity River Bridge washed out in 1867 and the Texas and New Orleans continued to offer service between Houston and Beaumont until spring 1868, at which time the company was forced into receivership. From 1870 to 1871 limited service operated between Houston and West Liberty until the railroad was sold; the purchaser was John F. Terry of the New York banking firm of Company. A new Texas and New Orleans Railroad company was chartered in 1874 and Terry was named president; the first train from Houston to Orange in over a decade ran in late 1876. It was during this time. In 1878 the Texas and New Orleans, Charles Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company, the Louisiana Western Railroad Company reached an agreement and the line was finished from Orange to New Orleans; the Louisiana Western Extension Railroad Company was chartered in Texas to build from Orange to the Louisiana boundary and the first through train ran from Houston to New Orleans on August 30, 1880.
In 1881 C. P. Huntington, acting for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, bought the Texas and New Orleans as well as many other railroads in the southern United States; as a result of this acquiring of railroads by Southern Pacific, The Texas and New Orleans Railroad found itself as part of a major transcontinental route. In 1882, The T&NO made over $1,500,000 and owned 36 locomotives as well as over 1000 pieces of rolling stock. In 1882 the T&NO acquired the 103-mile Sabine and East Texas Railway Company. Many more companies were merged into T&NO from 1880 to 1900. In the early years of the 20th century The Texas and New Orleans built over 160 miles of track, much of it between Cedar and Rockland, opening up a through route from Dallas to Beaumont. In 1921, the Texas State Railroad was leased in. At the end of 1925 T&NO operated 545 miles of railroad. On November 1, 1961 the remaining 3,385 miles merged into the Southern Pacific and the T&NO ceased to exist. Many people like to model the T&NO.
Named passenger trains operated on T&NO rails included: Sunset Limited Argonaut Sunbeam Hustler Owl Border Limited Rabbit Alamo
Great Western Railway (train operating company)
First Greater Western Limited, trading as Great Western Railway, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city services along the Great Western Main Line to and from South West England and South Wales, as well as the Night Riviera sleeper service between London and Penzance, it provides commuter/outer-suburban services from its London terminus at Paddington to West London, the Thames Valley region including parts of Berkshire, parts of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. GWR was due to begin operating the Heathrow Express service under a management contract on behalf of Heathrow Airport Holdings from August 2018; the company began operating in February 1996 as Great Western Trains, as part of the privatisation of British Rail. In December 1998 it became First Great Western after FirstGroup bought out its partners' shares in Great Western Holdings.
In April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains were combined into the new Greater Western franchise and brought under the First Great Western brand. The company adopted its current name and a new livery in September 2015 to coincide with the start of an extended franchise, due to run until April 2020; as part of the privatisation of British Rail, the Great Western InterCity franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to Great Western Holdings in December 1995 and began operations on 4 February 1996. Great Western Holdings was owned by some former British Rail FirstBus and 3i. In March 1998, FirstGroup bought out its partners' stakes to give it 100% ownership. In December 1998, the franchise was rebranded as First Great Western. On 1 April 2004, First Great Western Link commenced operating the Thames Trains franchise, it operated local train services from Paddington to Slough, Henley-on-Thames, Didcot, Newbury, Worcester, Hereford and Stratford upon Avon.
It operated services from Reading to Gatwick Airport, from Reading to Basingstoke. On 1 April 2006, the Great Western, Great Western Link and Wessex Trains franchises were combined into a new Greater Western franchise. FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach were shortlisted to bid for this new franchise. On 13 December 2005, it was announced. First planned to subdivide its services into three categories based on routes. Following feedback from staff and stakeholders, the decision was taken to re-brand and re-livery all services as'First Great Western'. In May 2011, FirstGroup announced that it had decided not to take up the option to extend its franchise beyond the end of March 2013. FirstGroup stated that, in the light of the £1bn plan to electrify the Great Western route from London via Bristol to Cardiff, it wanted to try to negotiate a longer-term deal. CEO Tim O'Toole said: "We believe we are best placed to manage these projects and capture the benefits through a longer-term franchise."By not taking up the option to extend its original franchise contract for a further three years, FirstGroup avoided having to pay £826.6m to the government.
In March 2012 Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach were shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. The winner was expected to be announced in December 2012, with the new franchisee taking over in April 2013; the ITT ran from the end of July until October 2012. The winner would have been announced in March 2013, taken on the franchise from 21 July 2013 until the end of July 2028; the new franchise would include the introduction of new Intercity Express Trains, capacity enhancements and smart ticketing. The award of the franchise was again delayed in October 2012, while the Department for Transport reviewed the way rail franchises are awarded. In January 2013, the government announced that the current competition for the franchise had been terminated, that FirstGroup's contract had been extended until October 2013. A two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013, subsequently extended until March 2019. A further extension to April 2019 was granted in March 2015.
The refurbishment of first class carriages in 2014 included interiors that featured a new GWR logo and no First branding. The whole company was rebranded as Great Western Railway on 20 September 2015 and introduced a green livery in recognition of the former Great Western Railway; the new livery was introduced when HST interiors were refurbished, on sleeper carriages and Class 57/6 locomotives. Great Western Railway is the primary train operator in Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. Great Western Railway operates commuter services between London and destinations such as Slough, Reading, Oxford, Bedwyn, Hereford and Banbury. There are services between Reading and Basingstoke. Trains run on various north-south routes from Cardiff and Worcester to Taunton, Salisbury, Southampton and Brighton. Many of these run via Bristol; the company runs trains on local routes including branch lines in Devon and Cornwall, such as the Looe, Newq
OCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Incorporated d/b/a OCLC is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs". It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. OCLC is funded by the fees that libraries have to pay for its services. OCLC maintains the Dewey Decimal Classification system. OCLC began in 1967, as the Ohio College Library Center, through a collaboration of university presidents, vice presidents, library directors who wanted to create a cooperative computerized network for libraries in the state of Ohio; the group first met on July 5, 1967 on the campus of the Ohio State University to sign the articles of incorporation for the nonprofit organization, hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, to design the shared cataloging system.
Kilgour wished to merge the latest information storage and retrieval system of the time, the computer, with the oldest, the library. The plan was to merge the catalogs of Ohio libraries electronically through a computer network and database to streamline operations, control costs, increase efficiency in library management, bringing libraries together to cooperatively keep track of the world's information in order to best serve researchers and scholars; the first library to do online cataloging through OCLC was the Alden Library at Ohio University on August 26, 1971. This was the first online cataloging by any library worldwide. Membership in OCLC is based on use of services and contribution of data. Between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the governance structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States.
As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with "networks", organizations that provided training and marketing services. By 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on the OCLC Members Council. During 2008, OCLC commissioned two studies to look at distribution channels. In early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center. OCLC provides bibliographic and full-text information to anyone. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat—the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest online public access catalog in the world. WorldCat has holding records from private libraries worldwide; the Open WorldCat program, launched in late 2003, exposed a subset of WorldCat records to Web users via popular Internet search and bookselling sites.
In October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record. WikiD was phased out; the Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988. A browser for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013; until August 2009, when it was sold to Backstage Library Works, OCLC owned a preservation microfilm and digitization operation called the OCLC Preservation Service Center, with its principal office in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The reference management service QuestionPoint provides libraries with tools to communicate with users; this around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries. Starting in 1971, OCLC produced catalog cards for members alongside its shared online catalog. OCLC commercially sells software, such as CONTENTdm for managing digital collections.
It offers the bibliographic discovery system WorldCat Discovery, which allows for library patrons to use a single search interface to access an institution's catalog, database subscriptions and more. OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications; these publications, including journal articles, reports and presentations, are available through the organization's website. OCLC Publications – Research articles from various journals including Code4Lib Journal, OCLC Research, Reference & User Services Quarterly, College & Research Libraries News, Art Libraries Journal, National Education Association Newsletter; the most recent publications are displayed first, all archived resources, starting in 1970, are available. Membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding. Newsletters – Current and archived newsletters for the library and archive community.
Presentations – Presentations from both guest speakers and OCLC research from conferences and other events. The presentations are organized into five categories: Conference presentations, Dewey presentations, Distinguished Seminar Series, Guest presentations, Research staff
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