Find a Library Near Me
This request type can be used to find libraries near a given location in two ways: geolocation with radius or by country/state.
Geolocation request with radius:
- Exactly one of the following parameters is specified: long + lat, postalCode, ip
- Radius and units both apply (defaults are used if omitted from the request)
- A countryCode OR stateCode may be supplied. If so, the results are filtered to include entries only in those locations regardless of radius.
Country or state only request:
- Only a countryCode or stateCode are supplied. If both are supplied, the countryCode should match the state code or else zero results are likely.
- Radius and units do not apply.
- The search results will return libraries in the state/country in alphabetical order by name. The response will not contain a distance value.
Available Parameters:
| Name | Description | REquired ? |
|---|---|---|
| long | longitude (-180 thru 180) | |
| lat | latitude (-90 thru 90) | |
| postalCode | The postal code/zip | |
| ip | An IP address to use to determine geolocation | |
| countryCode | The ISO-3166 A2 country code (e.g. US) | |
| stateCode | The ISO-3166-2 state/province code (e.g. US-OH) | |
| radius | The radius in miles/kilos etc, valid values: 1-100, default=20 | |
| units | The units for the radius ("miles", "kilos", "nauticalmiles"), default=miles | |
| instTypes | Comma separated list of institution type integers to include (e.g. 1,10,18) | |
| omitInstTypes | Comma separated list of institution type integers to omit (e.g. 2,12) | |
| wskey | An OCLC web service key | Required |
| maximumRecords | Integer - Maximum record to retrieve, valid values: 1-100, default=20 | |
| startRecord | Integer - The starting record number to retrieve, default=1 |
Output Formats
The service is capable of outputing data in both XML and JSON formats. This is done by changing the extension on the end of the url
XML
http://www.worldcat.org/libraries/geosearch.xml?
JSON
http://www.worldcat.org/libraries/geosearch.json?
Examples
Find all the libraries within a 30 mile radius of Madison, WI (43.073465,-89.40112)
http://www.worldcat.org/libraries/geosearch.xml?lat=43.073465&long=-89.40112&radius=30&units=miles&wskey=[yourkey] http://www.worldcat.org/libraries/geosearch.json?lat=43.073465&long=-89.40112&radius=30&units=miles&wskey=[yourkey]
Find all the public libraries within the state of Rhode Island
http://www.worldcat.org/libraries/geosearch.xml?countryCode=US&stateCode=US-RI&instTypes=3&wskey=[yourkey] http://www.worldcat.org/libraries/geosearch.json?countryCode=US&stateCode=US-RI&instTypes=3&wskey=[yourkey]
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