OCLC WorldCat

WorldCat provides access to catalog records created and stored in OCLC Union List and is available via OCLC FirstSearch.  The Arizona State Library is providing free access to this resource for all public and community college libraries.  These are public display records - not MARC tag format.  WorldCat is designed as a national public library catalog - where anyone can search and see which libraries own a title.  It is frequently used by patrons for interlibrary loan requests. 

The records appear similar to EasyMARC format.   Export and import of MARC records is not available from this source. It is possible to print the record, manually convert the fields to MARC tags and manually enter the record into your catalog system.  Examples of accessing WorldCat and searching for a record are on your left.  Go to NPC library home page, click on Library Databases.  Select OCLC FirstSearch.  Within OCLC FirstSearch, Jump to Advanced Search and select WorldCat. Examples of the pages are in the left column.

In WorldCat there are 3 boxes to fill with terms.  After entering a term, you must tell the system which field(s) you want searched for the term.  To use the next box for a search term, the correct Boolean logic terms must be chosen (AND, OR, NOT).  Fill in the next box and choose the fields, etc.  Use the arrow for drop down menu to choose fields.  Then there are several sections which allow you to limit the search.  The most common ways for catalogers to search for records is by a standard number (ISBN or ISSN) or title (ti)  and author (pn) and publication year with a limit by type of format.

This database has a time limit.  If no action is taken for several minutes, database closes.

Assignment:  Answer these questions from WorldCat.
1) List 2 other fields that can be searched from the drop down menus (not TI, PN, ISBN, ISSN).
2) How can you limit your search to books published in 2000?
3) Search by ISBN for this title - 0766802337 (hyphens are not used for ISBN in OCLC databases)  What year was this book published?
4) Descriptors are the same as Subject Headings.  What descriptors are used for this title?
5) Class Descriptors are the same as Classification Numbers.  Which number is used for Dewey?
Put your answers in a Word document and upload in Submit Assignments for Module 3 Section 5.  Answers may be submitted once. Do not consult other people.