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Research : Activities : WorldMap

WorldMap

The OCLC WorldMap is a prototype system that provides an interactive visual tool for selecting and displaying international library holdings represented in WorldCat, and publishing, library, cultural heritage, and collection data.

Background

Why we developed this prototype
People can be inundated by an overwhelming amount of information. One method for organizing and retrieving geographically-based information is to use maps for data visualization. Multiple data sets can be displayed and viewed based upon individual needs, creating a picture that is more explanative and concise than text.

WorldMap will generate interactive graphs that compare several different kinds of data for up to four countries at a time. The data includes the number of:

  • Holdings in WorldCat for titles published in each country,
  • Languages represented in WorldCat for titles published in each country,
  • Titles in WorldCat published in each country; or
  • Libraries in each country (broken down by type of library),
  • Library volumes in each country (broken down by type of library),
  • Certified/degreed librarians in each country (broken down by type of library),
  • Registered library users in each country (broken down by type of library),
  • Library expenditures (in US $), for each country (broken down type of library),
  • Cultural heritage institutions (museums and archives) in each country, and
  • Publishers in each country.

Results are displayed on a new screen. In addition, the tabs for each country on the new screen allow viewing of the complete dataset for each country, and the sources for the data (N/A indicates no data are available). A key to the display (.pdf: 607K/6 pp.) is available.

Impact

Data such as those presented in this prototype can be used to provide information for decision making in regards to remote storage, collection management, marketing, and cooperative collection development, preservation, and digitization.

Additional information

In addition to the stand-alone WorldMap prototype, aggregate data from the OCLC WorldMap will be available in the prototype WorldCat Publisher Pages.

Outputs

  • Lynn Silipigni Connaway and Timothy J. Dickey. 2008. "Beyond data mining: Delivering the next generation of service from library data." Presented on panel, "Transforming Data into Services: Delivering the Next Generation of User-Oriented Collections and Services" at the American Society for Information Science & Technology 2008 Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH, October 28, 2008.
  • Lynn Silipigni Connaway and Larry Olszewski. 2008. "OCLC WorldMap: Visualizing Information About Collections and Libraries Worldwide." OCLC Inclusion Council Presentation, 31 January, Dublin, Ohio (USA). Available online at: http://www.oclc.org/research/presentations/connaway/worldmapfinal2008-01-31.ppt (.ppt: 9.29MB/35 slides)
  • Lynn Silipigni Connaway and Larry Olszewski. 2006. "A Geographical Representation of WorldCat Resources: A Decision-Making Tool for Acquisitions and Collection Management." Presented at the XXVI Annual Charleston Conference, 10 November, Charleston, South Carolina (USA). Available online at: http://www.oclc.org/research/presentations/connaway/20061110-charleston-worldmap.pdf (.pdf: 1.1MB/26 pp.)
  • Mary Jackson, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Edward T. O'Neill, E. T., and Eudora Lohr, E. 2006. Changing Global Book Collection Patterns in ARL Libraries. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries. [Available online at: http://www.crl.edu/grn/papers/grn_global_book.asp]
  • Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Clifton Snyder, and Larry Olszewski. 2005. "Geographical Representation of Library Collections in WorldCat: A Prototype." Presented at the poster session at the 2005 ASIS&T Conference, 1 November, Charlotte, North Carolina (USA). Pre-print available online at: http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2005/connawayetal-asist05.pdf. (.pdf:226K/10 pp.)
  • Lawrence Olszewski, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, and Clifton Snyder. 2005. "What in the World: Leveraging Corporate Assests for Internal and External Use." SLA Toronto 2005: Putting Knowledge to Work. Proceedings of the Special Libraries Association 2005 Annual Conference, 5-8 June, Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Available online at: https://www.sla.org/Documents/conf/toronto/Olszewski.doc (.doc:617K/12 pp.)

Team Members




Most recent updates: page content 11 August 2009, prototype 15 January 08.

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This activity is part of ResearchWorks. Use of our prototypes is subject to OCLC's terms and conditions. By continuing past this point, you agree to abide by these terms.

Try the online demo

The OCLC WorldMap allows users to select countries of interest, then to compare various library and cultural heritage data by country.

The data for the map were generated from WorldCat and more than forty other sources. The non-WorldCat data in the prototype, however, may not be complete. OCLC is not responsible for incomplete or inaccurate data. If you know of other data sources that can be used to update our data, please let us know.

Requirements

The OCLC WorldMap was designed to run on a screen with 1024x768 or higher resolution. It requires the use of Adobe Flash Player 9 (download it here).

Project lead: Lynn Silipigni Connaway