New Databases, News

Not Your Mother’s WorldCat!

3 Comments

logo_wcmasthead_enWe’re happy to announce the launch of WorldCat Local Quickstart at CCSU. The new service can be accessed at the URL http://burrittlibrary.worldcat.org or from the library home page (under worldcat). Remote authentication is not required. The new interface replaces the version on the FirstSearch platform and includes over 60 million article citations from ArticleFirst, the British Library, ERIC, JSTOR and others.

The WorldCat database has grown tremendously in recent years with the addition of bibliographic data from the RLIN database, harvesting of digital collections, and the inclusion of article citations. Our implementation of WorldCat is similar to the worldcat.org website but customized for CCSU with the addition of real-time item availability from CONSULS, the ability to place holds, and links to services such as ILL and full-text article availability. We hope you like the new version!

3 thoughts on “Not Your Mother’s WorldCat!”

  1. I realize this implementation helps people who tend to favor federated searches and who want to know which libraries “nearby” may own a title (but that’s what we had reQuest for). The downside is, unfortunately, that local WorldCat does not provide all the information that the FirstSearch version contained. Actually, it may contain it, but it will certainly take the researcher a much longer time to discover how to find it and consolidate it. I am specifically referring to the (hopefully) comprehensive list of libraries worldwide that owned any given book formerly so easy to view with FirstSearch WorldCat. The list that is shown to the user in this implementation is definitely local, but doesn’t really provide a quick picture of which libraries in the world have an item.

    1. Nick- The classic WorldCat interface on FirstSearch is still available for those who need to use it for the reason you cite. FirstSearch can be accessed from the database finder link on the library website. I have also added it to the WorldCat entry. Hope this clarifies things!

  2. Hi Debbie —

    I know this reply is a long time in coming. Yes, I found that link and it helps! Thanks for writing. BTW, Susan has been sending emails concerning snapshot day. I know the pics are on libray web pages, but has she put them on Flickr? Does the library have a Flickr acc’t?

    Bye for now,

    Nick

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