Tilburg University moves library workflows to the cloud with OCLC

Tilburg University is now running OCLC WorldShare Management Services live, in production, making Tilburg the first European library to adopt the cloud-based library management solution. Tilburg, ranked among the top 500 universities in the world in 2012, is a public research university in the Netherlands with approximately 12,500 students.
OCLC and Tilburg University (TiU) worked closely together to achieve ambitious targets in both function and performance. "TiU and OCLC worked successfully together in an intensive period of cooperation," said Marc van den Berg, Library Services and IT Director at Tilburg University. "We are now starting to feel at home in this cloud-based world and believe that these services will steadily grow and improve, as other university libraries follow our lead and switch to WorldShare Management Services."

"We are indebted to TiU for their commitment to this project," said Eric van Lubeek, Managing Director, OCLC EMEA. "Libraries that have chosen to work with WorldShare Management Services are entering a new world of library cooperation ‘in the cloud.' This will create network effects that will benefit all participating libraries exponentially. We are delighted that TiU has blazed a trail in Europe for this type of cooperation."

In the United States, there are currently 93 libraries already using the new OCLC WorldShare Management Services. In Australia, 12 libraries are piloting the services. OCLC WorldShare Management Services are gaining momentum in Europe as well. In addition to Tilburg University, libraries in Spain, France and the United Kingdom will soon switch on WorldShare Management Services as their sole library management solution.

Today's announcement comes just as the OCLC EMEA Regional Council Meeting gets under way in Strasbourg, 26 and 27 February 2013. Some 300 library professionals from OCLC member institutions are expected to gather for a program of presentations and events on the theme, "Dynamic data: a world of possibilities." The EMEA Regional Council Meeting will include a session given by member libraries that are adopting WorldShare Management Services.