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Worldwide (English) Change
WorldCat : 'Web scale' discovery and delivery

"Web scale" discovery and delivery of library resources

OCLC, as a longtime advocate of the use of technology to make library collections more discoverable and manageable, has consistently investigated how people's relationships to information have evolved with the advent of the Web. Not surprisingly, the results have shown a preference for self-service on this global medium. The 2003 OCLC membership report "Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition" found that most people, when asked to draw an association, still think mainly of "books" rather than electronic content and services that are increasingly available. The followup report "Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources" in 2005 determined users do not rely on Web-based library resources very often—nor do they particularly equate libraries with the Web.

Our 2007 report on "Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World" found further that people did not perceive a role for libraries in the Web's newly "social" universe, where users promote themselves and share content within massive user communities. (Librarians largely agreed with that assessment.)

Without a strategy, the Web's too big

The issue is scale. Many libraries have set up individual Web presences. Taken together, however, these have not had the desired impact owing to the sheer size of the Web landscape and scarce tactics for enabling library-service links in the information environments where users congregate. A more unified, programmatic approach is necessary so that libraries can have an effective footprint.

As a worldwide union catalog, WorldCat has helped its contributing libraries give patrons access to a much larger cooperative collection, achieving a scale that no single institution could reach by itself. Now, WorldCat is building an even more expansive Web scale that takes this behind-the-scenes content network and moves it outside the library environment into the all-digital lives of today's information seekers and creators.

How large is this public? Consider that every day :

  • More than 2 billion Web searches are performed
  • eBay and Amazon.com are both visited by approximately 2 million shoppers
  • Facebook grows by 250,000 user accounts

The Web has many tools for putting knowledge in front of these users, and many more that let them organize or add to a knowledge base. By using the tools strategically, WorldCat pervasively distributes data about—and opens new pathways into—the catalogs, services and reliable electronic content of its member institutions. Libraries are integrated into the wider Web experience, and a segment of this tremendous global traffic is captured and connected to them.

WorldCat.org: A platform and program for Web exposure

WorldCat.org is the focal point of OCLC's Web-scale strategy. Both a Web portal to the WorldCat catalog and a supporting program of data syndication that draws users from other popular Web destinations, it presents a common, relevant and compelling Web presence for libraries that promotes local content and value.

Access to library materials on a highly useful, usable and universal platform
The variety of services available on WorldCat.org and easy access to holdings for thousands of libraries encourages users to return to the site even as they move from one physical location to another.

Higher visibility on the most popular Web sites
Partnerships with key search engines such as Google, Google Books, Yahoo! Search and Windows Live Search—which index WorldCat data for popular and unique works—mean Web users see authoritative library content amongst search results for regular Web content.

More traffic to your online services
Collectively, the utility of WorldCat.org is demonstrated by one key metric: click-throughs to participating libraries. More than 2 million users each month connect an average of 700,000 times to materials in local libraries.

Seamless delivery of materials
Users don't want to search—they want to get to the information. On WorldCat.org, they can quickly localize their search for specific content and reach a local catalog record plus other fulfillment options. IP-authenticated users can link right to electronic full text, OpenURL resolvers and other local and group services.

A potent toolset for discovery
Functionality embedded in the WorldCat.org interface helps people better find and evaluate materials, browse collections and perform research. They can:

  • Use a powerful advanced search, or search-result faceted refinement, to target specific items or a narrow range of materials
  • More quickly localize to a library with suggested locations based on IP-geomapping
  • Obtain or export bibliographic citations for individual items and lists
  • For any author or creative principal, explore that person's associations with specific subject matter and other works and people via the WorldCat Identities profiling utility

A user-centric environment with social networking tools
Wherever they go on the Web, people have come to expect "Amazon-like" features that let them create their own information experiences and rely upon the opinions and expertise of online peers. WorldCat.org joins their lineup of Web workspaces by letting them contribute relevant content such as ratings, reviews and lists of library-owned items. And users easily cross-link WorldCat.org content with accounts at social bookmarking Web sites such as Del.icio.us and Digg.

People can put WorldCat where they want it
Easy-to-install plug-ins for browser toolbars and Facebook pages let Web users have access to WorldCat searching even when they're away from WorldCat.org. Also, any blogger, organization or library can post the modular WorldCat search box to a site and share WorldCat with their online audience.

A system for managing and distributing institutional  metadata
Web-scale exposure of information that describes libraries—rather than the things they own—is achieved through the WorldCat Registry, a free service that lets any library centrally maintain and share data about its identity across common audiences such as vendors and consortia. (For participating libraries, Registry data also controls deep links to local services on the WorldCat.org platform).

Learn more about WorldCat.org