The AIRS Committee has been hard at work negotiating best pricing for a new package, with strong support from the Colorado State Library, Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) and Amigos Library Services.

Here is everything you need to know about the new package, including:

 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Full listing of databases available along with descriptions

Pricing Tiers for different types of libraries

Full lists of  libraries participating in 2011-2012 with their new 2012-2013 price

An ONLINE order form, which ALL libraries are required to fill out. If you’d like to see that form BEFORE going to fill it out, we’ve made this “order form in pictures” advance view available to you.

Information about whom to contact with ANY question you might have

 Please read the AIRS / OCLC Fact Sheet which highlights key aspects of FirstSearch and the impacts on Colorado libraries if the FirstSearch contract is not renewed.

Please read these two OCLC-supplied documents [Colorado Renewal 2013] and [Why Does AIRS Subscribe to FS WorldCat]. Also, here’s a list of libraries that catalog through OCLC. Check: is your library listed?

 We need libraries to fill out this short OCLC FirstSearch Interest Form. Each library need only submit one form.

Quick Background: A non-renewal of the statewide OCLC FirstSearch contract would not affect subscribers to the OCLC cataloging service, the OCLC ILL subsystem or those that use other discrete OCLC services (e.g. VDX/ZPortal – the SWIFT ILL system).

But non-renewal of the statewide contract would have several impacts. Please read about those in the AIRS/OCLC Fact Sheet and then indicate your library’s interest or lack of interest for participation in a FirstSearch license.

OCLC has supplied us with two documents to explain its perspective on FirstSearch, WorldCat, WorldCat.org and other details.