Only ten weeks after signing a letter of intent, OCLC and WLN announced their merger, effective January 1, 1999. The merger will boost OCLC's membership by 550 libraries in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. It expects to benefit from WLN's expertise in authority control and collection analysis and, as a benefit, WLN members may see lower costs. It will be at least a year before the full impact of the merger will be known.
[Contact: OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017; telephone 614-764- 6000; fax 614-764-6096; URL www.oclc.org.
