A new benefit of OCLC membership: Internet searchers everywhere find your library and the things you own
The Open WorldCat program makes records of library-owned materials in OCLC's WorldCat
database available to Web users on popular Internet search,
bibliographic and bookselling sites. The result: OCLC member libraries
are more visible on the Web, and their catalogs are more accessible
from the sites where many people start their search for information.
Through Open WorldCat, libraries that participate in WorldCat-based cataloging or use other OCLC services that contribute their holdings and metadata to WorldCat (including CONTENTdm, Services for Groups and Union List) get greater exposure to information-seekers and increased access to their online catalog and other Web-based resources.
What Web users experience
A Web user visits a site such as Yahoo! Search or Google
and enters a search phrase that matches the title of a library-owned
item. The returned search results include a link to the Open WorldCat
"Find in a Library" interface, where they can enter geographic
information that helps them locate the item at a library in their city,
region or country.
Web users can also find Open WorldCat built into popular search applications. A special version of the Yahoo! Toolbar provides an ever-present browser pane with links to Yahoo! services and input box for direct search of WorldCat libraries.
Promoting the value of libraries
"Opening" WorldCat records to the Web helps libraries and other
institutions provide a fast, convenient service to current and
potential users through familiar Web channels. Open WorldCat points
more people—even those who don't typically visit libraries—to library
collections as a first source of information. It promotes the value of
libraries on a scale greater than any library or group could achieve
alone.
OCLC Worldwide