BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE: WORLDCAT

Claire DeRose ISTC 651

WHAT ARE BIBLIOGRAPHIC

DATABASES?“resources that provide information (mainly) about books” (Bell, 2009).

“BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF A PARTICULAR LIBRARY, OR MANY LIBRARIES, OR AN COLLECTION OF BOOK TITLES” (BELL, 2009).

WHAT IS WORLDCAT?

WorldCat is a global network of library-management and user-facing services built upon cooperatively-maintained databases of bibliographic and institutional metadata. WorldCat enhances productivity across the full range of library workflows—from cataloging to resource sharing to discovery and delivery—by intelligently reusing contributed data, and makes library resources more visible on the Internet by distributing data across a growing number of partner services and Web technologies.

-http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/about/default.htm

WORLDCAT: THE “OPAC OF OPACS” Libraries pay annual fees to be members, as

well as activity fees to search the database and download records for use in the library’s local catalog

Whenever a cataloger at a member library contributes a new record or improves an existing record, the library receives credits. Helps keep the financial relationship from being

entirely one sided Everyone benefits in terms of time, effort, and

efficiency

WORLDCAT.ORG Offered through OCLC’s FirstSearch platform Free on the internet

AUDIENCE Librarians Library patrons

SCOPE Explore new or

unfamiliar topics presented in reference questions

Find resources in an area that your library is limited in

Find resources in a particular format

Find everything written by a particular author

Provide an interim solution if your catalog is down (but your holdings are in WorldCat)

“Test the waters” before encouraging a patron to request an Interlibrary Loan; see how many libraries own the item, and where they are located

Identify government document

Verify citations (for titles of books, journals, etc.), check publication dates, serial start dates, etc.

Develop a collection: see what’s out there on a topic, what other libraries own, and what you might want to buy

SEARCH FEATURES

Basic:

Advanced:

SEARCH FEATURES: EXPERT

EXAMPLE SEARCH I PROMPT: If you have a favorite author or genre, see if

you can use WorldCat to find all the records for those works in your local public library branch. (Tip: use the code look-up screen.)

Initial search: Fallston Branch of the Harford County Public Library

Search that worked: Southampton Middle School in Bel Air

SEARCHING USING THE “LIMIT AVAILABILITY USING FIND IT CODES”

SEARCHING USING THE “LIMIT AVAILABILITY USING FIND IT CODES”

SUCCESS WHEN INSERTING “BEL AIR”

SEARCHING FOR “ADVENTURE” BOOKS

SEARCHING FOR “ADVENTURE” BOOKS RESULTS

EXAMPLE SEARCH II PROMPT: WorldCat claims to have records for

everything from stone tablets to electronic books. See if you can find examples of both ends of this spectrum. (Hints: in each case, use a combination of keywords and Limits.

For the stone tablets, note the “visual materials” limit, and that the “material type” for this sort of thing is “real object.” For electronic books, you’ll want to use the “internet resource” Limit.)

SEARCHING FOR STONE TABLETS

RESULTS!

A STONE TABLET!

SEARCHING FOR ELECTRONIC RESOURCES!

RESULTS!

ELECTRONIC RESOURCE EXAMPLE