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WorldCat focus on: genealogy : Answers to common questions
Answers to common questions
What is WorldCat, and how can it help genealogy researchers? WorldCat is a cooperatively-created catalog of materials held in more than 7,600 libraries in the United States and the rest of the world, including public, academic, state and national libraries; archives; and historical societies. These libraries have cataloged their regular collections as well as many special collections—including digitized materials—devoted to local history. This makes WorldCat a unique tool for your research into your heritage. Because WorldCat is a "super" catalog of more than 1 billion library holdings representing 54 million items held in libraries, you can reduce the number of places you search to locate useful material. WorldCat complements tools such as the LDS Family History Library, Ancestry.com and ProQuest's HeritageQuest™. Some examples of the types of materials you can find citations for in WorldCat:
Note that while many of the materials represented are held in U.S. libraries, there is a broad representation of non-U.S. materials from both U.S. libraries and non-U.S. libraries. For example, there are more than 27,000 non-English language newspapers cataloged in WorldCat. Some of the most exciting things in libraries are the materials that were created locally and are now long out of print. With library digitization projects, or with some libraries being willing to photocopy or scan portions of materials, you can expand your access to research materials far beyond those libraries you can easily visit in person. Where can I find WorldCat to use it? You can find WorldCat by asking your librarian, or by searching your library's Web site, much as you do to find out how your library gives you access to Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest and other online genealogy resources. WorldCat is a database within the OCLC FirstSearch reference service. Your library's Web site or workstations may point you directly to WorldCat, or first to OCLC or FirstSearch. Because WorldCat is also a general-purpose catalog, it may be listed under "Other Library Catalogs," "General Resources," or possibly with the other genealogical resources to which they provide access. In some libraries, a librarian will offer to search WorldCat for you, or give you instructions on how to use it. Can I access WorldCat from home? This depends on how your library has set up access. It may be that your library has chosen to limit access to computers within the library. Please ask your librarian if it's not clear how to access WorldCat from your library's Web site. Is WorldCat free, or can I subscribe to it if my library doesn't provide access? WorldCat is available exclusively through libraries or other organizations, and is not available for direct purchase by individuals. However, many libraries have access to it, and several states have purchased a WorldCat subscription for all of their residents. If you don't see it listed on your library's Web site, ask for it. The library may not yet have provided a link to WorldCat. Now that I have access to WorldCat, how do I find what I need in it? Finding materials in WorldCat is similar to finding materials in your local library catalog. Often, researchers can find pointers to useful material by simply searching for a family name or a specific location, alone or in combination with genealogy terms. Much more information on performing genealogical research is available in our tutorial. I've found something in another library that looks useful—how do I get it? There are several things you can try:
This document is available at http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/genealogy/faq.htm |
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