Update catalog links in your WorldCat Registry profile with new auto-suggest

It's now easier to control how Web users get from WorldCat to your content.

WorldCat libraries and other institutions that maintain an institutional profile in the WorldCat Registry now have an easier way to input a key piece of information: the Registry now automatically suggests URLs for "deep" links to online catalog records. The feature simplifies the task of manually constructing these complex links, which often include numerous parameters that vary based on local system configuration.

Suggestions are based on a URL copied from any individual record in a library's Web OPAC. The Registry interprets the structure or "syntax" of the supplied URL and pre-fills important fields within the profile. These fields record the book catalog system (ILS) in use at your library, as well as several URLs used to query the system for a record via a standard number such as ISBN.

The key to broader Web discovery of your resources

Deep-link syntaxes maintained in the WorldCat Registry are used on WorldCat.org to connect Web users to local catalog records for physical and electronic content at thousands of participating institutions. It's part of a unique platform that distributes WorldCat information across major search engines and other popular Internet environments, pointing Web users to the collections of nearby libraries.

If your library's holdings are discoverable via WorldCat.org, keeping your catalog links current in the Registry allows people to reach your item records directly without having to repeat their search. If your library isn't yet eligible to have its holdings exposed, there's still value in maintaining catalog links in the Registry: OCLC syndicates this information across the Web through other WorldCat-based Web services, including xISBN and LibX.

Haven't been to the WorldCat Registry? Find out how to get started managing your online catalog links for WorldCat.org and other information about your institutional identity.

(2008 07 31)