The Ohio Web Library is a large collection of over 280 electronic information resources, or online

databases In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...

, provided by

Libraries Connect Ohio {{unreferenced, date=December 2010 Libraries Connect Ohio (LCO) is an internet resource provided by all libraries in the state of Ohio. LCO provides premium subscription databases for use of all Ohioans with a library card/school ID. Libraries Conne ...

(LCO), which is composed of four major Ohio library networks —

OPLIN The Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) is a state agency that provides Internet access to the 251 Ohio public libraries for use by the residents of Ohio. OPLIN also provides Ohioans with free home access to high-quality, subscription ...

OhioLINK The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Serving more than 800,000 students, faculty, and staff at 88 institutions with 117 libraries, OhioLINK ...

INFOhio INFOhio, the Information Network for Ohio schools, is the state's virtual PreK-12 library that uses the existing school telecommunications infrastructure to address equity issues by providing electronic resources, library automation Automatio ...

, and the

State Library of Ohio The State Library of Ohio is a state agency that provides services to state government and all types of libraries to ensure that all Ohio residents, rich or poor, rural or urban, receive the best possible library service and are able to engage in ...

. Within these licensed databases are almost 31,000 individual electronic serial titles (i.e., publications with ISSN), and the databases are accessed through a

federated search Federated search retrieves information from a variety of sources via a search application built on top of one or more search engines. A user makes a single query request which is distributed to the search engines, databases or other query engines ...

tool or meta search engine with a simple interface. LCO can cooperatively purchase access to these statewide resources at a cost-effective rate whereas most individual libraries would not be able to afford them on their own. These subscription-based research databases are available for free to all Ohio residents regardless of their location, age, education, or economic status and include online publications and research resources, such as

scholarly journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

s, popular

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

trade publications A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for thi ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s (Ohio and nationwide), encyclopedias, dictionaries, and educational/training tutorials.

Funding and Governance

The Ohio Web Library is funded by a federal

IMLS The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mis ...

Library Services and Technology Act The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) was signed on October 1, 1996, by United States President Bill Clinton. LSTA is a United States federal library grant program. Its roots come from the Library Services Act that was first enacted in 1 ...

(LSTA) grant through the State Library of Ohio, which provides about $1.5 million per year. The three LCO library networks — OPLIN, OhioLINK, and INFOhio — provide an additional $3 million in state funds each year from their budgets. The federal LSTA grant that helps fund the Ohio Web Library is a temporary funding measure that expires every June 30. No permanent funding is in place to sustain these resources or to expand them. The Ohio Web Library resources are purchased by Ohio libraries and library organizations for exclusive use by Ohio residents. This system uses IP address recognition to verify whether someone is located in Ohio, but these resources can also be accessed by providing an Ohio

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

card number for user authentication.

Collaborative Library Organizations

The Ohio Web Library is a

collaborative Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

effort of Ohio libraries and the following library organizations: *

* Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) *

Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) The Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) is a state agency that provides Internet access to the 251 Ohio public libraries for use by the residents of Ohio. OPLIN also provides Ohioans with free home access to high-quality, subscription ...

* State Library of Ohio (SLO)

Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN)

The

Ohio Public Library Information Network The Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) is a state agency that provides Internet access to the 251 Ohio public libraries for use by the residents of Ohio. OPLIN also provides Ohioans with free home access to high-quality, subscription ...

(OPLIN) provides

broadband Internet In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

connections and related information services to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

public libraries A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamenta ...

. Its primary mission is to ensure that all Ohio residents have free public Internet access through the 251 independent local public library systems in Ohio, as well as the use of research databases not freely available on the World Wide Web. As a state government agency, OPLIN receives extensive fiscal support services from the State Library of Ohio and contracts with the Ohio Office of Information Technology for assistance with network management. Most of the budget is used to purchase the services provided to Ohio public libraries, primarily Internet access and information databases. Because OPLIN provides these services, public libraries do not need to pay for them from their individual budgets.

Statewide Research Databases

Genealogy

* Explore Ohio , OPLIN * Ohio Death Certificate Index (1913–1944) * Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Magazines & Newspapers

* All EBSCOhost Databases * MasterFILE Premier ,

EBSCOhost EBSCO Information Services, headquartered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a private company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. EBSCO provides products and services to libraries of very many types around the ...

* NewsBank (Ohio's Newspapers) * Newspaper Source , EBSCOhost

Reference & Research

* Academic Search Premier * Explore Ohio , OPLIN * Ohio History Central , , Online Encyclopedia * Oxford Reference Online * Student Research Center * World Book Hispanica * World Book Spanish * World Book Online

Students & Homework

* Kids Search , EBSCOhost * Searchasaurus , EBSCOhost * Student Research Center , EBSCOhost * World Book Kids

Books, Arts, & Literature

* About:Books * American and English full text literature collections * ART Collection * Oxford Reference Online

Business & Government

* Business Source Premier , EBSCOhost * Explore Ohio , OPLIN * Ohio.gov: Government Information & Services * Regional Business News , EBSCOhost

History & Biography

* Biography Reference Bank * Explore Ohio , OPLIN * Ohio Death Certificate Index (1913–1944) * Ohio History Central , , Online Encyclopedia * Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook * Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps