2. WorldCat History
Founded in 1967 by OCLC
To create shared union catalogue
Launched in 1971
Libraries used pre-existing cataloguing records or created new
ones to be shared
Named WorldCat in 1996
Not-for-profit with membership fees
3. WorldCat on the Web
Online search at WorldCat.org launched in 2006
Moved from bibliographic database to globally networked
information resource
Includes:
books, ebooks, audio books
dvds, cds
articles, links to full text
games, images, maps
archival material
4. WorldCat Today
72,000 libraries 1.9 billion holdings
Includes 44 national libraries
(LAC and BANQ)
470 languages and dialects
A new record is created
from
every 10 seconds
170 countries
5. WorldCat Features
Opens local collections to the world
Integrates with Google and Yahoo
Supports multiple languages
Offers collection analysis
Provides some social web functions, e.g.
reviews / ratings
widgets and plugins for browsers, blogs, sites
personalized lists, profiles
6. WorldCat Resource Discovery
Search (localized by postal code or IP)
Relevancy ranking
Faceted refinement and subject links
Additional content (cover art, reviews, article references etc)
Explore author/creative principle associations via WorldCat
Identities
Obtain or export bibliographic citations
Read reviews from WorldCat, GoodReads, Amazon etc
8. WorldCat Research and Innovation
Developer Network
New technologies using WorldCat data like:
WorldCat Identities
WorldCat Genre
FictionFinder
Audience Level
Metadata Crosswalk
9. What’s next in WorldCat
Moving from providing access to data to selling services
Linked data – starting to offer some datasets
First step is sharing, next step could be online delivery and
circulation?
22. WorldCat Genre – great access point for those interested in browsing a
specific genre of book or movie
23. Strengths
Responds to user needs for simplified searching
Encourages them to use it
More emphasis on research in wider world of electronic
information
Link from Google Books to WorldCat to holdings of individual
libraries
Good advanced search function (limit by type of material,
language, publication date, etc.)
24. Strengths (cont'd)
Facilitates ILL by making collections of other libraries accessible
Beneficial for collection analysis
Download list of titles to Excel
Facilitates creation of collection development policies
High standards for cataloguing
Extensive search results
But might also be considered weakness if people do not check
relevancy?
25. Weaknesses
Some librarians consider such systems to be obstacle for
acquiring information literacy skills
Relevancy of searches, ease of searching
Serials often not included
High standards for cataloguing but perhaps more flexibility
needed
Encompass records from many sources
Allow for creation of more records
Make better use of automation for updates
26. Suggestion
Tiered approach for standards (Turner, 2009, 275)
Basic rules for all records with more detailed rules being “best
practices”
Editor's Notes
This is an experimental project which is still under development and review