MCLS Communique

WorldCat.org available August 2006

June 22nd, 2006 Aaron Smith

For WorldCat libraries, there’s soon to be another benefit: WorldCat.org, a new destination Web site that allows Web users outside the library environment to search WorldCat libraries.

To be released August 2006 in beta form, WorldCat.org continues OCLC’s efforts—begun with the Open WorldCat program—to make library resources more visible to Web users, and to increase awareness of libraries as a primary source of reliable information and helpful personal assistance. Where Open WorldCat inserts “Find in a Library” results within regular search engine results, WorldCat.org provides a permanent destination page and search box that lets a broader range of people discover the riches of library-held materials cataloged in the WorldCat database.

The main attraction of the new site is the WorldCat search box, which allows Web users to search the entire WorldCat database with the method most familiar to them: simple keywords. Search results in this public view of WorldCat are generated directly on WorldCat.org, instead of through Google or Yahoo! Search. Just as in Open WorldCat, each linked search result leads to a Find in a Library information page for an individual item. There the user can enter geographic information, receive a list of nearby WorldCat libraries that own the item, and link right to a library’s online catalog record to initiate circulation activity or access electronic content directly.

Click here for more information on WorldCat.org

Click here for WorldCat.org Fequently Asked Questions.

Entry Filed under: OCLC News, Reference, Resource Sharing