WorldCat.org enhancements in October 2009

This month’s enhancements include a new apply for a library card link, recent items breakouts, new Elsevier content, Goodreads reviews and the new WorldCat Page on Facebook.

Library info pages now show library card sign up link and recent lists breakouts

Two new features were added to WorldCat.org this month that enhance the usefulness of your library info page on the site: the "Apply for a library card" link and new breakout categories on lists of recently-added items.

The "Apply for a library card" link (circled) is drawn from your library's WorldCat Registry profile in the "Name and Location" section, and the Recent items list breakouts (highlighted) are automatically generated for you each month, from your previous month's WorldCat holdings.

• Apply for a library card link
  Once you add a link to your online library card sign-up form through the WorldCat Registry, now WorldCat.org will display it for your users. So anyone who finds your library through WorldCat can immediately become an online borrower.

• Fiction/Juvenile breakouts on recent items lists
  Your library's monthly auto-generated list of items recently added to WorldCat just got even better—now there are 4 separate sublists for fiction, nonfiction, juvenile and nonjuvenile materials. You can point to this page from blog posts, newsletters—anywhere you want to highlight new content for specific readers. (Note that the "All items" list has an RSS feed on it. Soon the breakout categories will have individual RSS feeds, too.)

See both of these enhancements in action from the Huntington Beach Public Library's "info" page on WorldCat.org

More WorldCat news

Elsevier ScienceDirect articles now on WorldCat.org

Elsevier metadata for SCOPUS and ScienceDirect collections from 2006 to the present have now been indexed in WorldCat.org search results. This article-level metadata joins similar content such as the GPO Monthly Catalog, ArticleFirst, Medline, ERIC and the British Library Inside Serials. The ScienceDirect content corresponds to 1,800 journals, 150 book series and more than 1.3 million records.

Goodreads reviews are in

WorldCat has now added Goodreads reviews to help users evaluate materials with fellow readers' comments. You'll find Goodreads reviews in the "Reviews" section alongside WorldCat, WeRead, and Amazon reviews.

On Facebook? Become a Fan of WorldCat on the new WorldCat Page. Then upload a photo, start a discussion, or post a question to the wall.

(2009 10 22)