The Missouri Library Network Corporation (MLNC) was a

library consortium A library consortium is any cooperative association of libraries that coordinates resources and/or activities on behalf of its members, whether they are school, public, academic, special libraries and/or information centers. Consortia exist on a v ...

founded on October 19, 1981 by the representatives of thirty-one

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

libraries. In July 2012, MLNC merged with Amigos Library Services of Dallas Texas.

History and purpose

The Missouri Library Network Corporation (MLNC) was founded on October 19, 1981 by the representatives of thirty-one Missouri libraries. The mission of the Missouri Library Network Corporation (MLNC) was to organize and deliver to its member libraries and other contracting entities

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...

-based information services, related electronic services and content, and training in the management and use of information. MLNC's primary role from 1983 to 2009 was to provide OCLC services to Missouri libraries. They were an active OCLC partner that provided billing, marketing, and training services to libraries throughout the Midwest region. In addition, MLNC provided discounts on a variety of library-related products and services, including electronic reference databases from vendors such as

LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

, and others as well as library supply catalogs (such a
Demco
and

Brodart Brodart Company is an international products and services company that serves libraries. Brodart is made up of three divisions: Books & Automation, Contract Library Furniture, and Supplies & Furnishings. History Brodart was established as Library ...

Continuing education

MLNC offered workshops on library-related topics including: * OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing * OCLC Connexion client and browser * Descriptive cataloging * Library management and administration * Digitization * Emerging technologies * Collection management MLNC staff contracted with libraries and statewide organizations for keynote and professional speaking engagements such as in-house training, staff development events, and other library programs.

Membership

MLNC was a membership organization. There were three levels of membership: * ''Participant:'' Enabled a library to participate in MLNC Cooperative Purchasing/Electronic Resources Programs (Library Supplier Discounts, e-Resources, etc.) * ''Associate:'' Included all the benefits of the "Participant" level, as well as receiving discounts on workshop registrations, and access to the MLNC Custom Cataloging service. * ''Full:'' Included all the benefits of the "Participant" and "Associate" levels, as well as institutional credits for training, and the right to participate in the governance of the organization.

Media outlets and social networking

In addition to their website, MLNC had a presence o
Facebook
an
Twitter
a monthly newsletter
QuickFlash
and the organization maintained
Listserv
for corporate and product news.

References

{{Reflist Library-related organizations Organizations based in St. Louis Organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Missouri 2012 disestablishments in Missouri Library consortia in Missouri