Voyage of the Paradigm Ship

WorldCat is the world’s largest cooperative online library catalog, produced and maintained by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and over 69,000 member libraries worldwide. Cooperation in building WorldCat as a network for bibliographic information sharing has been leveraged to facilitate actual information resource sharing. WorldCat combined with interlibrary loan powerfully extends the reach of individual libraries—a worldwide reach—to access materials on behalf of their users. Other than the time it takes to process and ship item requests, even a relatively small liberal arts college library—such as the one where I work—is not significantly disadvantaged in research potential when using WorldCat. WorldCat is one of our most valuable resource discovery tools.

In 2006, OCLC began making a portion of the vast WorldCat database available as a free open-Web service called WorldCat.org. The thinking behind WorldCat.org is related to the question: Will the library—the historically central community institution (and physical space) for providing access to information and knowledge resources—get lost in our increasingly digital world? The library has always been committed to providing access to quality information and knowledge resources for its users. However, the library is no longer assumed to be the first or only information access point for users. As the information seeking and information participation behaviors of users continue to change under the influence of ubiquitous commercial and social networking Web services such as Google, Amazon.com, and Facebook, how does the library, even if it has a virtual presence on the Web, keep from getting drowned out or bypassed?

WorldCat.org addresses this issue by leveraging the bibliographic database in the Web environment on behalf of its member libraries (over 10,000 to date). Rather than starting with the library location to search for a needed item, the user starts with the needed item. WorldCat.org then directs the user to a near-by library where that item is available. This discovery approach fits into the Web user’s regular workflow (using tools such as Google, Google Books, or Facebook) and raises the profile of the library as a result.

The reach of WorldCat.org is further extended through an affiliate program which allows anyone to embed a WorldCat search box into their personal or organization website or blog. Urrr! I have tried repeatedly to add one to the sidebar of my blog page, but for some reason the code isn’t playing nice on WordPress. Anyway, this is what the search box looks like (image only). If anyone out there has found a fix to this WordPress problem please let me know.

WorldCat.org has recently gone one logical step better in attempting to capture the attention of online consumers of information on behalf of member libraries. WorldCat has partnered with mobile search provider Boopsie to bring WorldCat to your Web-enabled mobile device. Check-out this link to play with WorldCat Mobile through an on-screen emulator. Here are some screenshots from my iPod touch:

From the home screen of WorldCat Mobile, I begin by setting my location by ZIP Code.

When I start to search for an item, I can limit right away by format. By just typing “b” I have selected Books as my format. Next I start typing title or author. I want to find the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. WorldCat Mobile starts searching for possible matches even before I finish typing the entire title!

WorldCat returns many hits for this title (150). I find an edition of the text I want near the top of the list and select it. This brings up an abbreviated record.

Next, I scroll down the record to view a list of libraries that have this book (4,322). Milligan College Library has it! And since it is the nearest library to me based upon the location I entered at the start, it is at the top of the list. I can click a link to map the library location using Google Maps, and get directions to the library if necessary.

Another very handy link on the record is “Cite this item,” which displays the citation for the title from several popular style guides.

WorldCat is also experimenting with a mobile version formatted for use on the iPhone/iPod touch (although you can access the URL from any web browser). The functionality of this version is largely the same, except that it can also connect directly with the selected library’s online catalog to tell you the availability status for the item you are searching. It can also dial-up the library for you (if you have an iPhone) for more information.

The subscription-based WorldCat is a powerful research tool, and we will continue to make it available to our students and faculty. The opening-up of a significant chunk of WorldCat for anyone to freely search from any computer was a great move. Now the ability for anyone to search WorldCat while on the move seems especially fitting in the growing mobile environment—and very cool!