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OCLC FirstSearch Service
Pricing to Change on July 1

By James Speed Hensinger

OCLC has announced its annual price changes for the OCLC FirstSearch service, effective July 1. Although subscription rates for some non-OCLC subscriptions will decrease, most FirstSearch users will pay higher costs after July 1.

As of July 1, OCLC will implement the following per-search prices in FirstSearch:

  • The price of per-search searches will rise from $.67 to $.85 for OCLC members (OCLC Cataloging and ILL users only). For non-OCLC members (all non-cataloging and non-ILL users) the price will increase from $.77 to $1. Libraries are encouraged to purchase blocks of searches now, before the new price increases go into effect on July 1.

  • A full-text article purchased with five per-search searches will, therefore, increase from $3.35 to $4.25 for members (OCLC Cataloging and ILL users only) and from $3.85 to $5 for nonmembers.

  • Searches will continue to expire two years following the date of a library's last purchase of searches.

OCLC has indicated that subscription prices to OCLC packages and individual databases via FirstSearch will increase an average of approximately 6 percent. Stand-alone subscriptions to WorldCat will be adjusted to be more in line with group pricing for the database.

For most non-OCLC content in FirstSearch, OCLC is lowering prices at the higher access levels. Some third-party databases will show significant percentage price reductions where OCLC has been able to negotiate more favorable contract terms. Some rates for non-OCLC content databases, however, will increase in the 1 percent-to-6 percent range. Databases with increases greater than 6 percent include: ABI/INFORM, Business and Industry (new and renewing subscriptions), Business Dateline, Chemical Abstracts nonsubscriber, DataTimes, H.W. Wilson Select Plus, INSPEC, Periodical Abstracts A&I with full text and Wilson Packages 1 & 2 (1-2 simultaneous user levels).

Public libraries that are first-time subscribers may purchase selected database subscriptions at discounted prices during 2002. These databases are: WorldCat, OCLC NetFirst, PAIS International, Alternative Press Index, ATLAS: ATLA Serials database, MDX Health Digest and RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.

For more information, contact BCR's Jim Hensinger (jhensing@bcr.org) or Karen Graham (kgraham@bcr.org).


Comments to: shoffhin@bcr.org
February 27, 2008
Copyright © 2002 BCR