WorldCat explained

WorldCat
Logo Alt:Five-color WorldCat emblem, with WorldCat in black letters and OCLC in smaller grey letters
Collapsible:y
Collapsetext:Screenshot
Background:gainsboro
Commercial:No
Type:Network of library content and services
Registration:Optional, but some features require registration (such as writing reviews and making lists or bibliographies)
Language Count:13
Language Footnote:[1]
Content License:Copyright policy
Owner:OCLC
Launch Date: (date of registry of the new domain name; the database has existed since 1971)[2]
Oclc:756372754
Current Status:Online

WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative.[3] It is operated by OCLC, Inc.[4] Many of the OCLC member libraries collectively maintain WorldCat's database, the world's largest bibliographic database.[5] The database includes other information sources in addition to member library collections.[6] OCLC makes WorldCat itself available free to libraries, but the catalog is the foundation for other subscription OCLC services (such as resource sharing and collection management). WorldCat is used by librarians for cataloging and research and by the general public.

, WorldCat contained over 540 million bibliographic records in 483 languages, representing over 3 billion physical and digital library assets, and the WorldCat persons dataset (mined from WorldCat) included over 100 million people.[7]

History

OCLC was founded in 1967 under the leadership of Fred Kilgour.[8] That same year, OCLC began to develop the union catalog technology that would later evolve into WorldCat; the first catalog records were added in 1971.[9]

In 2003, OCLC began the "Open WorldCat" pilot program, making abbreviated records from a subset of WorldCat available to partner web sites and booksellers, to increase the accessibility of its subscribing member libraries' collections.[10] [11]

In October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record.[12] WikiD was later phased out, although WorldCat later incorporated user-generated content in other ways.[13] [14]

In 2006, it became possible for anyone to search WorldCat directly at its open website WorldCat.org,[15] not only through the subscription FirstSearch interface where it had been available on the web to subscribing libraries for more than a decade before.[16] Options for more sophisticated searches of WorldCat have remained available through the FirstSearch interface.[15]

In 2007, WorldCat Identities began providing pages for 20 million "identities", which are metadata about names—predominantly authors and persons who are the subjects of published titles.[17]

In 2017, OCLC's WorldCat Search API was integrated into the cite tool of Wikipedia's VisualEditor, allowing Wikipedia editors to cite sources from WorldCat easily.[18] [19]

Beginning in 2017, OCLC and the Internet Archive have collaborated to make the Internet Archive's records of digitized books available in WorldCat.[20]

In May 2022, OCLC announced WorldCat Entities, a new infrastructure for library linked data.[21] [22] Maintenance of WorldCat Identities was suspended and the service will be discontinued as it is being replaced by WorldCat Entities.[23]

In August 2022, OCLC launched a "redesigned and reimagined" WorldCat.org website with the stated goal "to offer greater accessibility to the collections".[24] The website now requires the use of JavaScript and is therefore no longer accessible for users of older web browsers or those that have JavaScript disabled for security reasons. The update also removed users' book reviews and replaced them with reviews from Amazon subsidiary GoodReads.[25]

In 2023, Anna's Archive scraped and began distributing the whole WorldCat database and was subsequently sued by OCLC in January 2024.[26]

System architecture

Local catalogs of many OCLC member libraries are intermittently synchronized with the WorldCat database.[27] WorldCat allows participating institutions to add direct links from WorldCat to their own local catalog entries for particular items, which enables the user to click through to the local catalog to quickly determine an item's real-time status (for example, whether or not it is checked out).[28]

In a small percentage of libraries,[29] the local catalog is also run by OCLC using an integrated library system called WorldCat Discovery and WorldShare Management Services.[30]

Library contributions to WorldCat are made via the Connexion computer program,[31] which was introduced in 2001; its predecessor, OCLC Passport, was phased out in May 2005.[32] Cataloging librarians may also use the WorldShare Record Manager[33] or WorldCat Metadata API[34] for similar purposes.[35]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Search for library items. WorldCat. OCLC. 2017-03-29. September 22, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070922180208/https://www.worldcat.org/account/?page=searchItems. live.
  2. 1998 is the date of registry of the WorldCat.org domain; see: Web site: WorldCat.org WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools. WHOIS. 2017-01-21. June 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190620011555/http://whois.domaintools.com/worldcat.org. live. However, the union catalog that became WorldCat was started three decades earlier, and it was already available on the web to subscriber libraries at OCLC.org several years before WorldCat.org was a registered domain name; see: Web site: OCLC.org WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools. WHOIS. 2019-06-26. June 26, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190626214826/http://whois.domaintools.com/oclc.org. live.
  3. The 2012–2013 OCLC Annual Report noted that the number of "participating libraries (includes active and inactive symbols)" was 78,985: 2012–2013 OCLC Annual Report . 5 . 1226313226 . 2022-03-10.
  4. Web site: Inside WorldCat . OCLC . 19 June 2021 . January 30, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170130152208/https://www.oclc.org/en/worldcat/inside-worldcat.html . live .
  5. Book: Oswald, Godfrey . 2017 . Largest unified international library catalog . Library world records . 3rd . Jefferson, NC . . 291 . 9781476667775 . 959650095 . https://books.google.com/books?id=G4owDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA291.
  6. Web site: Content available through WorldCat Discovery . XLS . en . OCLC . 2020-09-22 . September 22, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200922145435/https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/worldcat-discovery/contentlist.xls . live .
  7. Web site: Data strategy [WorldCat] ]. oclc.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327085820/https://www.oclc.org/en/worldcat/data-strategy.html . 2019-03-27 . 2018-02-11.
  8. News: Margalit Fox. Frederick G. Kilgour, Innovative Librarian, Dies at 92. Frederick G. Kilgour, a distinguished librarian who nearly 40 years ago transformed a consortium of Ohio libraries into what is now the largest library cooperative in the world, making the catalogs of thousands of libraries around the globe instantly accessible to far-flung patrons, died on Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 92.. The New York Times. August 2, 2006. 2009-12-22. Margalit Fox. April 25, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090425035646/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/us/02kilgour.html. live.
  9. Web site: A brief history of WorldCat. . February 10, 2015. oclc.org. February 13, 2014. March 18, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130318100413/http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/catalog/timeline.en.html. live.
  10. O'Neill. Nancy. Nov–Dec 2004. Open WorldCat Pilot: A User's Perspective. Searcher. en. 12. 10. 54–60. 201889986. 1070-4795.
  11. Web site: Quint . Barbara . October 27, 2003 . OCLC project opens WorldCat records to Google . infotoday.com . . 2019-06-26 . April 11, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150411194752/http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/OCLC-Project-Opens-WorldCat-Records-to-Google-16592.asp . live .
  12. Web site: WikiD. OCLC. en-US. March 5, 2015. September 12, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120912070425/http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/wikid.html. live.
  13. A WorldCat community: using WorldCat.org to build a social network of the world's library users. Storey. Tom. September 2007. NextSpace. 2019-06-26. OCLC. 7. 16–17. 1559-0011. Online ratings, tags, reviews, recommendations, lists, rankings, personal profiles—the social media revolution is here. It seems the world has exploded with Web 2.0, social networking tools and sites.. August 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190808053500/https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/publications/newsletters/nextspace/nextspace_007.pdf. live.
  14. Bertot . John Carlo . Berube . Katy . Devereaux . Peter . Dhakal . Kerry . Powers . Stephen . Ray . Jennie . April 2012 . Assessing the usability of WorldCat Local: findings and considerations . . 82 . 2 . 207–221 . 10.1086/664588 . 10.1086/664588 . 61287720 . Breeding [2] also makes the following observations about the benefits of the search system: the presence of a more visually appealing interface; the grouping of related material; faceted navigation; and the capability for user-generated content (e.g., reviews). Eden [3] also refers to the advantages of user-generated content possible in WCL....
  15. Web site: Hane . Paula J. . July 17, 2006 . OCLC to open WorldCat searching to the world . infotoday.com . . 2019-06-26 . May 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200510194419/http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/OCLC-to-Open-WorldCat-Searching-to-the-World-16951.asp . live .
  16. Book: Prucha, Francis Paul . 1994 . National online library catalogs . Handbook for research in American history: a guide to bibliographies and other reference works . 2nd . Lincoln . . 25–27 . 0803237014 . 28018047 . Online Computer Library Center has developed two new programs. One is called EPIC, a new command-driven full online service with sophisticated searching features, including subject searches, intended for librarians and other experienced users. The other, designed for end-users, is FirstSearch, which contains the database materials found in EPIC or subsets of them but has a menu interface that nonspecialists find easy to use. Both EPIC and FirstSearch make available the full OCLC Online Union Catalog (called WorldCat in FirstSearch), but they also function as online database services, offering their users a wide array of other databases..
  17. WorldCat Identities: Another View of the Catalog. Hickey. Thomas B.. April 15, 2007. NextSpace. 2016-01-18. OCLC. 6. 18–19. 1559-0011. October 17, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151017161919/http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/publications/newsletters/nextspace/nextspace_006.pdf. live.
  18. Web site: OCLC and Wikipedia Library link citations to millions of library materials, expanding access to quality sources . May 11, 2017 . OCLC . oclc.org . April 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171209200200/http://www.oclc.org/en/news/releases/2017/201713dublin.html . December 9, 2017.
  19. Web site: Orlowitz . Jake . May 11, 2017 . You can now add automatically generated citations to millions of books on Wikipedia . blog.wikimedia.org . . April 25, 2020 . May 23, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200523132555/https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/11/wikimedia-oclc-partnership/ . live .
  20. Web site: Michalko . Jim . October 12, 2017 . Syncing Catalogs with thousands of Libraries in 120 Countries through OCLC . Internet Archive Blogs . 2020-07-18.
  21. Web site: Price . Gary . May 24, 2022 . OCLC releases more than 150 million WorldCat Entities as the foundation of a linked data infrastructure . . March 25, 2023 . March 25, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325205218/https://www.infodocket.com/2022/05/24/oclc-releases-more-than-150-million-worldcat-entities-as-the-foundation-of-a-linked-data-infrastructure/ . live .
  22. Web site: Find WorldCat Entities to improve resource discoverability through connections . OCLC . 2023-03-25 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220524194654/https://www.oclc.org/en/worldcat/oclc-and-linked-data/worldcat-entities.html . 2022-05-24.
  23. Web site: WorldCat Identities . OCLC . March 9, 2023 . 2023-03-15 . The research prototype application is no longer supported or maintained ... We have taken the findings of the research effort and used them to start to build the WorldCat Entities data. These new Entities and their persistent URIs will serve as the foundation for future linked data services similar to those explored in the Identities Research work. . March 25, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325204006/https://www.oclc.org/research/areas/data-science/identities.html . live .
  24. Web site: OCLC Officially Announces the Launch of a 'Redesigned and Reimagined' WorldCat.org . Gary . Price . . 2022-08-24 . 2022-08-29 . August 29, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220829185846/https://www.infodocket.com/2022/08/24/wc/#:~:text=The%20new%20WorldCat.org%20site,of%20hundreds%20of%20U.S.%20libraries. . live .
  25. Web site: Frequently Asked Questions . WorldCat . 2022-08-29 . August 29, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220829193705/https://www.worldcat.org/faq . live .
  26. Web site: Van der Sar . Ernesto . 2024-02-07 . Lawsuit Accuses Anna's Archive of Hacking WorldCat, Stealing 2.2 TB Data . . 2024-03-17 . en.
  27. Web site: About data sync collections . en . OCLC Support . April 14, 2017 . 2021-06-18 . June 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618153437/https://help.oclc.org/Metadata_Services/WorldShare_Collection_Manager/Data_sync_collections/About_data_sync_collections_in_Collection_Manager/About_data_sync_collections . live .
  28. Web site: What is WorldCat? . worldcat.org . 2015-02-13 . November 14, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191114022052/https://www.worldcat.org/whatis/ . dead .
  29. Web site: April 25, 2020 . Schonfeld . Roger C. . What are the larger implications of Ex Libris buying Innovative? . Ithaka S+R . 2019-12-05 . OCLC's WorldShare cloud system has yet to achieve critical mass, amounting to 10% of the academic market (but only 4% of ARL), and OCLC's entire public library business represents just 10% of the public library market. . June 12, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200612014535/https://sr.ithaka.org/blog/what-are-the-larger-implications-of-ex-libris-buying-innovative/ . live . For another source of statistics on library system market share, see: Web site: Marketshare Report . Library Technology Guides . June 18, 2021 . July 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210728144055/https://librarytechnology.org/products/marketshare.pl/ . live .
  30. Breeding . Marshall . March 2014 . OCLC announces WorldCat Discovery service . Smart Libraries Newsletter . 34 . 3 . 6–7 . Library Technology Guides . . 1541-8820 . June 18, 2021 . June 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618204755/https://librarytechnology.org/document/19032 . live .
  31. Web site: Connexion – Features . en . OCLC . 2021-06-18 . June 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201833/https://www.oclc.org/en/connexion/features.html . live .
  32. Dean . Becky . OCLC Authorities migration timeline . bibco@listserv.loc.gov . March 3, 2005 . 2019-06-26.
  33. Web site: WorldShare Record Manager: Record-at-a-time cataloging service . en . www.oclc.org . April 2, 2021 . OCLC . 2021-06-18 . June 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200719/https://www.oclc.org/en/worldshare-record-manager.html . live .
  34. Web site: WorldCat Metadata API OCLC Developer Network . en . OCLC . 2021-06-18 . June 5, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210605095010/https://www.oclc.org/developer/develop/web-services/worldcat-metadata-api.en.html . live .
  35. Web site: OCLC cataloging application comparison . en . OCLC . 2021-06-18 . June 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618151215/https://www.oclc.org/go/en/oclc-cataloging-application-comparison.html . live .

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