Wednesday, April 16, 2025

No FIRST SEARCH option

 I should have known but OCLC First Search Borrowing is switched off, probably because OCLC shunted everyone to use OCLC Worldshare over a decade ago.  And FBCL confirmed to me we cannot afford a stand alone subscription to OCLC Worldshare because OCLC insists on bundling it with a host of other software we DO NOT NEED.  They probably couldn't switch on FIRST SEARCH borrowing for us on the side even if they wanted to cut a special deal.

 






This means we're reduced to using the ALA ILL request form, sending by email or snail mail sequentially.  Which is MORE primitive than 2010 when I started.

 


That will be the state of play if the IMLS funds go away for ever after December 2025.

 

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