- How does relevancy ranking work in WorldCat Local?
WorldCat Local determines relevancy in the same way as WorldCat.org, but also factors in the holdings of the purchasing library to elevate items in search results.
WorldCat.org's proprietary algorithm produces relevancy ranking for a standard, nonindex-specific search by evaluating the appearance and proximity of the searched terms in fields within WorldCat records. Primary weight is given to title; secondary and tertiary weights are given respectively to author and subject. The algorithm also matches against other bibliographic fields, but these three receive the most emphasis.
Also considered is how recently an item was published or released and how many WorldCat institutions hold the item.
- Will federated searching be available to search full text of digitized collections?
OCLC plans to offer this level of search functionality in the future. During the current phase of WorldCat Local, searching is done against the metadata for digitized collections.
- How does search for full text extend into eBooks?
eBook searching is now at the metadata level.
- Are user reviews searchable via the WorldCat Local search box?
At the present time reviews are not searchable, but future searches may include reviews.
- Can the user limit search results to only available items?
No. WorldCat Local does not currently have the ability to limit to only available items.
- Can call numbers and availability be displayed at the results list level?
No. WorldCat Local does not currently offer this functionality.
- Once you have a list of search results, is there a way to limit to one location? For example, items held by the University of Washington or Summit or OCLC or a combo of these?
Yes. WorldCat Local supports scoping of search results. Scoping is based on how a library has set up ranking of search results. For example, the University of Washington has scoped to display just items held by University of Washington, by the Summit group (which would include University of Washington) or all libraries in WorldCat.
- Is it possible to display book jackets?
Book jackets for many titles are displayed in WorldCat Local. OCLC expects to surface larger amounts of this information over time.
- How does the search experience differ if a user is signed into WorldCat concurrent to the search and request?
The search experience is the same whether or not a user has signed into his or her WorldCat account. When viewing search results users who have signed into their accounts will see options such as creating lists or contributing reviews.
- What is the roadmap to expanding the meta search functionality to non-OCLC databases?
OCLC plans to expand the eContent that users reach when they search WorldCat Local to include additional sources. Some content will be indexed within WorldCat. Examples of this are article-level records for GPO, ArticleFirst, MEDLINE, Eric and the British Library that are already included in WorldCat. Some content may be accessible through a planned meta search option. Register for e-mail updates about enhancements to the service at URL TK.
- Will there be a way for users to limit searches to articles from just scholarly journals?
WorldCat Local users can limit search to articles, but not to specific journals or types of journals.
- Can WorldCat Local searching be customized to only retrieve book results (filter out article results)?
Users can limit searches to include only books in the results list. In addition, facets can be used to limit search results by format.
- I have read that only OCLC master bibliographic records are searched in WorldCat Local. Are you working on ways to link to local ILS records?
WorldCat Local searches are done against records in the WorldCat Local database, with holdings and availability information pulled from a library's local system. For the most effective service, libraries should make sure that all items in their collections are represented in the WorldCat database. Local location information and availability such as shelf status is retrieved from a library's local system and delivered to users through the WorldCat Local interface.
- Can you control the order or composition of the faceted results? For example, could you remove some facets or move subjects to the top?
Facets related to result sets are not configurable. OCLC may revise, add or remove facets depending on user feedback on the use of the WorldCat.org service.
- Is WorldCat Local capable of browsing precoordinated subject strings?
WorldCat Local does provide subject search but not specifically pre-coordinated subject strings.
- Since you search all of WorldCat holdings, will speed be affected?
No. WorldCat Local has been developed and will be maintained to provide timely retrieval of search results from the entire WorldCat database.
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