RLG Proposal to Combine with OCLC–Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the proposal?
RLG‘s Board of Directors and OCLC‘s Board of Trustees have recommended that RLG be combined with OCLC, effective July 1, 2006. The RLG Board is asking the RLG membership to vote on and affirm this decision.

How does the combining of RLG and OCLC further the two organizations’ goals?
As RLG and OCLC have grown, a significant overlap has developed between the two organizations, most notably with their respective catalogs, RLG’s Union Catalog and OCLC’s WorldCat. Rather than expend resources developing redundant services in parallel, OCLC and RLG believe it is in the best interests of both of their constituencies to combine these services. We can achieve significant economies of scale by combining the RLG Union Catalog and WorldCat. Other RLG online products and services will also be combined. Research can become a collaborative effort. The efficiencies gained through this combination will better enable both organizations to advance the interests of libraries, archives, museums and other research organizations.