Email updates
Update or set up your email preferences to receive the latest updates about FirstSearch and other OCLC reference and discovery products. Subscribe to Discovery and Reference, under Product and Service Updates.
Promoting FirstSearch
Expand awareness of FirstSearch in your library with material such as customizable posters, bookmarks, and table tents, as well as electronic logos and icons.
Databases available through FirstSearch
FirstSearch provides access to databases that help to expand your library’s collection.
NEW! Use the new Open Access Content database to find items in leading open content sources
Genealogical research aids
FirstSearch serves as an excellent way to delve into WorldCat® for genealogical history. There’s no deeper catalog than WorldCat to find historic newspapers, church histories, wills, manuscripts, maps, and other important documents in libraries.
Member stories
Locate and request exactly what you need from near or far
Discover how the Massachusetts Library System efficiently finds and delivers the right items to library users across the state.
Find precisely what you’re looking for without distraction
See how the University of California, Davis empowers researchers with quick and efficient access to the resources they need worldwide.
“I use WorldCat on FirstSearch 10–15 times a day at least, sometimes more. I couldn't do my job without WorldCat on FirstSearch. The breadth of collections is unparalleled.”
Tommy Nixon
MLIS Subject Librarian for Classics, Dramatic Art, & English/Comparative Literature
Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
FirstSearch is the most powerful interface for searching WorldCat. Researchers and library staff can find and select resources in thousands of library collections with rich information from WorldCat records. FirstSearch libraries are also more visible on the popular websites where people often begin their research.
Service availability
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Available everywhere
Learn more
Download the FirstSearch brochure
Download the FirstSearch brochure (US Letter)
Download the FirstSearch brochure (A4)
Upcoming events
On-demand webinars
15 August 2023
Meet me on the web: Reach information seekers where they search
20 October 2022