WorldCat may be a genealogist's best friend! This presentation describes the methods of finding genealogy books that reside in libraries around the world.

1. Using WorldCat to Find
Genealogy Books
March 3, 2017

2. Today’s slides may be found at:
http://www.eogn.com/handouts/worldcat

3. WorldCat
WorldCat is the world's largest catalog of
library content and services.

4. WorldCat
• WorldCat is an online library catalog
that lets you look up items in libraries
around the world.
• The items available include books,
electronic documents, journals,
microform, and audio and video
recordings.

5. WorldCat
• WorldCat is available to everyone
free of charge on the Web.
• By using the WorldCat.org catalog,
you can search the collections of
libraries in your community and
thousands more around the world.

6. WorldCat
• WorldCat is a catalog of available
books, not the text of the books.
• WorldCat is useful in at least three
situations:

7. WorldCat
1 You know which item you want, but
you don't know which libraries have
it
2 You want to know what items exist
on a particular subject (or by a
particular author)
3 You need more information about
an item (for instance, to get a
proper source citation)

8. WorldCat
• WorldCat also will let you search for
books available at your local library,
assuming that the library participates
in WorldCat.
• WorldCat identifies the book's title,
author, publisher, and more and then
shows the participating libraries
where the book is available.

9. WorldCat
• Many libraries allow remote patrons
to borrow a book via Inter Library
Loan

10. WorldCat

11. WorldCat
.

12. Participating libraries include:
Family History Library in Salt Lake City
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne,
Indiana
Clayton Library, Center for Genealogical
Research in Houston, Texas
Newberry Library in Chicago

13. Participating libraries include:
New England Historic Genealogical Society in
Boston, Massachusetts
Albany Regional Family History Society Inc. in
Albany, Western Australia
Australind Family History Society Inc. Library in
Australind, Western Australia

14. Participating libraries include:
Tacoma Public Library
Seattle Public Library
…and thousands more local libraries. The above
list is a sample extracted from the “Find A
Library” link on WorldCat.

15. WorldCat Mobile
• iPad, iPhone and Android
• No software to install – Simply open
a web browser and go to
http://www.worldcat.org/m/

16. WorldCat Mobile

17. WorldCat
• FREE!
• You don't even need a user name or
password to search WorldCat.
• However, there are advantages to
creating an optional account that I
will describe shortly.

18. WorldCat
• Some libraries may offer “Ask a
Librarian." This is a help feature of a
library's Web site.
• Not all libraries offer this feature. In
most cases, librarians will answer
questions about the book but cannot
look for specific information inside
the book. That remains as your task.

19. WorldCat
• Basic Search

20. WorldCat
• Advanced Search provides a search
screen that asks for keywords, title,
author, year of publication, language,
and more.

21. WorldCat

22. WorldCat
• A FREE user account provides even
more functionality.
• Registered users can provide ratings
and even write reviews of the books.
• Users may contribute factual notes or
a book's table of contents under the
"Details" tab.

23. WorldCat
• WorldCat doesn't have everything,
but it is the largest available online
catalog of books from libraries
around the world.
• As you become more and more
experienced with WorldCat, you will
find many new resources that
perhaps you never knew existed.

24. WorldCat
• WorldCat grows every day, thanks to
the efforts of librarians and other
information professionals.

25. WorldCat
WorldCat may be found at:
http://www.worldcat.org

26. Today’s slides may be found at:
http://www.eogn.com/handouts/worldcat