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WorldCat.org : At a glance

WorldCat.org at a glance

WorldCat.org is a Web destination with search and social networking features that allow information seekers to discover, localize and personalize content from your collections and those of 10,000-plus WorldCat libraries globally. The site is the centerpiece of an open and "Web scale" system that distributes data about WorldCat-cataloged items across popular search engines, the social Web and other partner sites. People who search the Internet first for information find what they need in the context of libraries; identify their location and link directly to catalog records and electronic services at nearby institutions; and contribute user-created content that further enhances discovery and expands the utility and reach of the system.

Benefits

  • Your library's resources are made visible to more people on the Web
    People at the Web's busiest sites—including Google and Yahoo!—make their way to your content and online services using the search method they know: simple keywords. You pull in new users and give existing ones a familiar way to reach you.
  • Get back into the Web generation's info-toolbox
    Internet users don't just search—they interact with what they find. WorldCat.org lets them build and share lists, contribute reviews, put a WorldCat search box on their personal site and generally spread information about library items all around the social Web.

Features

  • Detailed record with basic identifying information and links to author and subject-heading search results
  • Nearby holding libraries displayed closest to furthest after user input of location, with approximate distances
  • Geo-mapping function automatically suggests locations based on user's Internet IP address
  • Holding library listing includes deep link to library's corresponding catalog record plus utility links to general information Web page and online reference desk
  • Six interface languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Dutch and Simplified Chinese
  • Search-result sorting and refinement by dynamic "facet" navigation
  • Tabbed access to other editions, translations and formats of the displayed work
  • Cover art displayed for many titles
  • Bibliographic citations in five common styles and export function to EndNote software and RefWorks online service
  • IP-authenticated users see direct links to OPAC record, electronic full text and related online fulfillment resources
  • Minimal registration for new user accounts
  • User-created lists of WorldCat-cataloged materials; lists can be public or private, and sharing facility lets users notify friends
  • User-contributed ratings and reviews of items
  • Purchase links let users buy physical materials and electronic article text from trusted Web partners
  • Downloadable browser and Web-application plug-ins that keep WorldCat searching close at hand
  • Modular version of the WorldCat search box that users and organizations can post on blogs, personal sites—any Web page
  • Free and for-fee "affiliate" Web services that let non-library Web applications retrieve and link to WorldCat data
  • "WorldCat Identities" reference utility that allows users to explore a named person's associations with specific subject matter and other works and people
  • Ever-present search and menu bar with quick links to common orientation, login, personalization and social functions

Requirements

  • Contribute your library's holdings to WorldCat via WorldCat-enabled OCLC services (see "Join WorldCat" for a list of applicable services)
  • Subscribe to the WorldCat database on the FirstSearch reference service to support OCLC's open-Web efforts
    (Required for exposure of your holdings via WorldCat.org, Google, Yahoo! and other partner sites)

Related services

  • WorldCat Registry
    A free Web tool that provides a single location from which any library can manage and electronically disseminate data that describes its institutional identity and services. Deep links to online catalog records and services displayed on WorldCat.org are controlled from your library's Registry profile.
  • WorldCat.org search plug-ins
    Free applications that allow Web users to access WorldCat.org search results and other site functionality from a Web browser toolbar or within their personalized Web pages on popular social sites.
  • WorldCat.org Affiliate tools
    Free and subscription-based code and Web services that allow any business or organization to integrate WorldCat information into a Web-based application such as an e-commerce site or search engine.
  • WorldCat Local
    WorldCat Local is the first step toward the only Web-scale cooperative library service. It's a unique service that works in conjunction with WorldCat.org and provides Web access to WorldCat—the world's richest database for discovery of materials held in libraries. WorldCat Local gives your library users a Web-scale experience with each and every search, and provides Web visibility for your library on a far-greater level than you could achieve on your own.
  • WorldCat Local "quick start"
    WorldCat Local "quick start" provides a single search result that delivers resources from you library and the world's libraries—and now it's included in a WorldCat on FirstSearch subscription at no extra cost. It's the first, easy step toward the only cooperative library system on the Web.