Now, more than ever, a window to the world’s libraries

By Chris Galvin

For more than 30 years, WorldCat—created by OCLC member libraries in a true spirit of cooperation—has functioned as the most comprehensive database of library-owned materials. Now, WorldCat is being transformed into a full-fledged “service platform”: a Web-based structure that libraries can use to manage their entire collections across a broadening range of functions.

What will WorldCat do next? Add new value in a world where requirements are expanding, but funding is not. Provide a single point of entry for libraries seeking wider exposure for their entire collections. Attract business partners who want the holdings of thousands of libraries as part of their search mechanism or other resource. Expand the promise of the library to include 24/7, customer-driven, personalized service on the open Web.

As WorldCat evolves, it continues to be the ultimate showcase of what libraries can do when they combine their resources and work toward a common goal. As a result of the contributions of libraries to WorldCat for the last 30 years, WorldCat now provides the means by which libraries are able to connect directly to information consumers on the open Web, where learners don’t just passively consume information, but help create it.

Search, find...get!

Until recently, searching WorldCat meant using FirstSearch on-site or as a validated user. Now a broad Internet audience can use Open WorldCat to “Find in a Library” through Web partners like Google, Yahoo! and many bookselling and bibliographic sites. Search results deep-link directly to libraries’ online catalogs.

Digitized materials, such as eBooks and eAudiobooks, linked through WorldCat and the “Buy it Now” pilot are ways that connect users directly to the materials they’re searching for. WorldCat in this framework becomes more than a map: it’s the transportation.

Build, create…connect!

The ability for online users to create identities, do their own work and even contribute to the library experience makes them stakeholders in their institutions. WorldCat enhancements are encouraging this behavior, with user accounts in FirstSearch allowing saved searches and do-it-yourself resource sharing requests. User-contributed ratings and reviews can also be added to WorldCat. In the future, WorldCat might absorb data from Web users via other “social networking” tools, such as RSS feeds or blogs.

Contact with a helpful research expert over the Web—through e-mail, IM, chat or even voice—will be a persuasive way to build library usage. A WorldCat pilot is presently testing links to “Ask a Librarian” services, including OCLC’s QuestionPoint.

Link, view…expand!

Library usage improves when linking into WorldCat increases. OCLC is working to add name-brand business partners to WorldCat; has helped create browser toolbars that make library searching an “always-on” option; and has released an easy-to-use syntax that lets anyone—researchers, bloggers, literary fans—link to a “Find in a Library” lookup for a particular title.

Library groups that have already cataloged their materials in WorldCat can now leverage that investment with a group catalog that lets users start a search locally and expand outward to the group, region and beyond. A future enhancement could allow the creation of unique “views” of WorldCat data: mini-WorldCats organized around a subject, time period or virtually any limiter, so libraries can cater to specific audiences or needs.

And OCLC is expanding WorldCat as a global resource, so that it represents more languages, more content and more formats—especially electronic ones.

Scan, share…study!

OCLC has recast existing library services and created new ones with WorldCat at the core. WorldCat now lets catalogers quickly synchronize new holdings with bibliographic records. Broad exposure to digitized items improves visibility to funding bodies and communities. Resource sharing tools support and foster an international resource sharing network to get materials into users’ hands quickly. And WorldCat Collection Analysis truly leverages the power of WorldCat—allowing libraries to better understand how their materials measure up to similar institutions and best plan how they will make strategic growth decisions.

Point, lead…simplify!

WorldCat is always striving to take in as much metadata as possible—in the future, not just captured from our member libraries’ collections, but also from external sources. OCLC is aggressively pursuing partnerships and technologies that will set the standards for rich, clean metadata importation.

While absorbing massive amounts of metadata, WorldCat will also become more intuitive. Multiple records representing different manifestations of the same work (translations, audiobooks, different editions, etc.) will automatically be collapsed into a single entity using the principles of FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records). As search results become easier to use and reveal evaluative information earlier, WorldCat will become an even more valuable tool for research.

A pewter lapel pin of the WorldCat logo was part of the celebration of the 1 billionth holding entering WorldCat. OCLC sent pins to member libraries as a reminder of their individual contributions to WorldCat, and for all those yet to come. Libraries can order additional pins from the OCLC online store.

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