library Archive

  • Point, Shoot, Reserve: OCLC brings library information to RedLaser

    Point, Shoot, Reserve: OCLC brings library information to RedLaser

    A rainbow of colorsThe Online Computer Library Center is one of those quiet organizations making a huge difference in the world. They don't attract a lot of attention to themselves, normally, and much of what they do is plumbing that helps other organizations. They've recently partnered with Occipital, creators of the iPhone barcode scanning app RedLaser, to bring access to their enormous database of books to your iPhone. Just how big is OCLC's database? It indexes "more than 165,000,000 books at more than 75,000 libraries in 112 countries." That represents "more than 5,000 years of human history in a single, searchable database" -- that's a lot of books! Now you can snap a picture of a book's barcode, and within moments find out whether your local library has that book in stock, and whether it's currently checked out or sitting on the shelf. Yay technology!

    Full Story