Querying OCLC Web Services for Name, Subject, and ISBN

Using Web services, search terms can be sent to WorldCat’s centralized authority and identifier files to retrieve authorized terminology that helps users get a comprehensive set of relevant search results. This article presents methods for searching names, subjects or ISBNs in various WorldCat databases and displaying the results to users. Exploiting WorldCat’s databases in this way opens up future possibilities for more seamless integration of authority-controlled vocabulary lists into new discovery interfaces and a reduction in libraries’ dependence on local name and subject authority files.