n. (abbr. RLIN)the bibliographic utility of the Research Libraries Group’s union catalog from 1980 to 2006Samuels 1986, 113, fn. 11RLG is a membership organization with four main programs: a bibliographic utility entitled the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN), shared resources, cooperative collection development, and preservation.Kaplan, Holden, and Ludwig 1991, 544Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) ¶ Includes 50 million cataloging records for books; serials and their contents; musical scores; sound recordings; archival collections; maps; computer files; visual materials, such as films and photographs; and art sales catalogs.Spindler and Pearce-Moses 1993, 331Archivists and manuscript curators have established a significant base of USMARC Archival and Manuscripts Control (MARC AMC) descriptions in bibliographic utilities: In 1992 the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) system contained almost 170,000 MARC AMC records and by 1993 the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) boasted more than 380,000 such records.Hensen et al. 2011, 7–8When the MARC AMC format was introduced, RLG saw it as an important opportunity to add archives and manuscripts materials to its online catalog, the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN), which serves the academic community and many universities with significant holdings of manuscripts and special collections.OCLC 20201980: While expanding its membership to include key university research libraries across the country, RLG builds a unique shared cataloging database: the RLIN Union Catalog.Smith-Yoshimura, Schuitema, and Harcourt 2020, 218In July 2006, RLG and OCLC announced their merger and RLG’s online catalog, RLIN, became part of OCLC WorldCat.
Notes
The Research Libraries Group merged with OCLC in 2006, and OCLC WorldCat acquired the RLIN data.
