Request Types

Direct Linking

You can link to Identities directly by using an LCCN

Examples:

• http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79-6533 - George Bernard Shaw
• http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-sh87-7920 - Secretariat (Race horse)

or for people that do not have an LCCN, you reference them directly:

• http://worldcat.org/identities/np-levan,+ralph+r

OpenURL

You can also build an OpenURL request to access an Identity. This is how people are linked to from WorldCat.org. To build an OpenURL request you minimally need either an ARN (authority record number) or both an OCLC Number and the author's last name. This should take you directly to the Identity record. However, if a match cannot be made then you will be directed to a NameFinder results set.

Example:

• http://worldcat.org/identities/find?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:identity&rft.namelast=Shaw&rft_id=info:oclcnum/30702926

If you want you can build a more complete OpenURL request like the following:

• http://worldcat.org/identities/find?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:identity&rft.namelast=Shaw&rft.namefirst=Bernard&rft.nameinit=G&rft.nameinit1=G&rft.nameinitm=&rft.namesuffix=&rft.nametitle=&rft.date=1856-1950&rft.name=&rft.birthdate=1856&rft.deathdate=1950&rft.arn=240672&rft.title=Pygmalion&rft_id=info:oclcnum/30702926

NameFinder searches

The name finder service gives back a list of candidate names with URI's, ranking information, a sample title and other information about the name. NameFinder Search results are organized by Type of Name Match

Example:

• http://worldcat.org/identities/find?fullName=George+Bernard+Shaw

SRU searches

You can perform an SRU search of the Identities database or any of the component four databases:

• http://worldcat.org/identities/search/Identities - The whole identities dataset
• http://worldcat.org/identities/search/CorporateIdentities - Corporate Identities
• http://worldcat.org/identities/search/PersonalIdentities - Personal Identities
• http://worldcat.org/identities/search/SubjectIdentities - Subject Identities
• http://worldcat.org/identities/search/AbandonedIdentities - Abandoned Identities ( more on Abandoned Identities)

These links take you to an screen based on SRU Explain

AutoSuggest searches

You can perform a simple query of the Identities database to make suggestions about possible matching Identities

http://worldcat.org/identities/AutoSuggest?query=[searchTerms]&callback[optionalCallbackName]