FirstSearch: Precise, full-featured searching of WorldCat required by library staff and expert users

WorldCat Discovery: Discovery service that lets people search the electronic, digital, and physical resources in library collections through a single search of WorldCat and a central index of thousands of e-content collections

BOTH meet users where they start their research by increasing visibility of library collections on popular websites.

A FirstSearch/WorldCat Discovery subscription provides access to the FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery interfaces. As you consider your use of these services, think about your users’ needs.

• Choose FirstSearch if the primary need is for specific, precise searching of WorldCat.
• Choose WorldCat Discovery to provide users with single-search access to your library’s resources, including licensed content collections.

FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery provide access to more content and functionality than WorldCat.org.

Current FirstSearch/WorldCat Discovery subscriptions provide access to the FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery services. For libraries with an OCLC cataloging subscription, a FirstSearch/WorldCat Discovery subscription enables a library's holdings to display on WorldCat.org.

Your subscription includes the following:

• FirstSearch/WorldCat Discovery subscription: Use of FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery services
• FirstSearch/WorldCat Discovery + previously purchased options: Use of FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery services with options purchased during the initial release of WorldCat Discovery
  
• WorldCat Discovery Premium: Use of FirstSearch plus WorldCat Discovery with all options previously sold as additional subscriptions (item location and real-time availability, group views, remote database search, and course reserves/reading lists). A WorldCat Discovery Premium subscription also provides use of the WorldCat Discovery Premium API package and the ability to configure the display of item details.

All of these subscriptions give your collections visibility on WorldCat.org to people who search the site directly or link to it from search engines and popular websites, such as Goodreads and Wikipedia, when your library uses an OCLC cataloging subscription to represent its collections in WorldCat.

Contact orders@oclc.org for subscription details.

Your OCLC Library Services Consultant can provide custom pricing for your group that reflects your composition and needs.

Yes, group catalogs are available in both FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery.

All former Base Package databases remain individually searchable in FirstSearch. These include: ArchiveGrid, ArticleFirst, CAMIO, Clase & Periόdica, Electronic Books, Electronic Collections Online, ERIC, GPO Monthly Catalog, MEDLINE, OAIster, PapersFirst, ProceedingsFirst, and WorldCat Dissertations and Theses.

In WorldCat Discovery, all former Base Package databases except Clase & Periόdica are individually searchable.

FirstSearch searches the WorldCat database, so if your e-book holdings are represented in WorldCat, they are included in search results.

The Ebook database of e-book records from WorldCat is also searchable in FirstSearch and WorldCat Discovery.

WorldCat Discovery provides access to more than 23 million e-books discoverable through WorldCat plus a central index of 3,150 e-content collections. Many of the collections in the central index include metadata for e-books. When your library’s e-books holdings are present in the WorldCat knowledge base, users can link directly to the e-books from search results.

NOTE: WorldShare Collection Manager streamlines maintenance of your e-book holdings in the WorldCat knowledge base.

FirstSearch will continue to provide the precision search features users have told us they rely on.

In response to user input, we have updated the FirstSearch interface. The interface changes display automatically on all active FirstSearch accounts, and do not affect existing functionality in the service. 

We will continue to solicit input from members through focus groups, individual library consultations, and requests submitted via OCLC Customer Support and the OCLC Community Center.