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Worldwide (English) Change
WorldCat Local : Overview : Syndetic Solutions trial

Syndetic Solutions trial in WorldCat Local

More evaluative content to inform users’ research

OCLC is partnering with Syndetic Solutions to offer trial access to evaluative content such as covert art, reviews and summaries in WorldCat Local. When enabled, this content will help WorldCat Local users more easily determine which items in search results will fulfill their research needs.

All WorldCat Local libraries in North America (Canada, US, Mexico) Central America, Caribbean, and South America that do not currently purchase content from Syndetic Solutions are eligible to participate in the trial that will continue through June 30, 2010.

Library staffs control access to the trial content in the >My WorldCat.org >User Interface Options section of the Service Configuration module. The new evaluative content is available now in WorldCat Local, but it will not display to users until the option to “Display Syndetics data?” is set to “Show” in Service Configuration.

Evaluative content included in the trial

The trial will surface six new evaluative content elements within the WorldCat Local interface. These elements are:

  • Cover Art
  • Reviews from Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly
    These reviews display in the Reviews section of WorldCat Local detailed records, a part of the record that has previously been collapsed by default. This section is now expanded by default to expose these reviews. [NOTE: The display of user-contributed reviews will continue to be collapsed by default.]
  • First Chapters
    First Chapters will be provided, when available, by clicking the “Preview this item” button on the detailed record page.
    First Chapters
  • Descriptions / Summaries
    Descriptions—or summaries—provided by the publisher will be displayed within the item information area of the detailed record page.
    Descriptions/Summaries
    When a record already includes an abstract, the Syndetic Solutions description will display in the item information area of the record display and the abstract will display in the Details section of the item page.
    Details page
  • Table of Contents
    Tables of contents are displayed within the Details section of the item page, when available.

For the purpose of this trial program, Syndetic Solutions has chosen to feature the key content elements listed above. Libraries that purchase content directly from Syndetic Solutions outside the trial receive those data elements in addition to a number of other elements that include: fiction profiles, find similar titles, series list, first chapters, author notes, awards, Spanish and German content, video & music profiles and reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, Choice, Horn and Kirkus.

Next steps

The trial of Syndetic Solutions evaluative content in WorldCat Local will continue through June 30, 2010. Following the trial, WorldCat Local libraries may choose to add a subscription to this content to their WorldCat Local subscription for an additional charge.

Contact your OCLC Library Services Consultant for an estimate of the price of this add-on purchase for your library.