Find it: with Worldcat

15Mar10

WorldCat is a global network of libraries that unite their collections into one master catalog.   Hamilton, Kenton, Boone, Campbell, UC, NKU libraries. etc. all participate in WorldCat–the world library catalog–that allows you to find items in the library most convenient for you, and in the collections of more than 10,000 other libraries. Through WorldCat.org, you can find books, videos, games, CDs, full-text articles and more–and then locate a library near you that owns the item. If Kenton County Public Library has it, our name will appear and you’ll be able to click right through to check availability, place a hold, etc. If we don’t have it, you can borrow from another system near by through our SWON cooperation or you may be able to request it from a library that does using our Interlibrary Loan service.  Lean how to use Worldcat at the Erlanger Branch at 6:30pm, March 25th. 

Tools to make your mark

Here are a few tools to make it even easier to find library materials: 

• Use WorldCat app on Facebook to search for library materials from within Facebook
• Use the CiteMe app on Facebook to get an automatic citation for a book
• Add a WorldCat widget to your own Web site or blog (there are 3 to choose from!)
• Link into WorldCat rather than a commercial bookseller to describe the latest book you’re reading. The permalink makes it simple and easy to do.
• Install the Firefox search extension to add WorldCat searching to your Web browser

Get social with your favorite stuff

Once you create a free user account at WorldCat.org, you can immediately do some social networking activities with stuff you like–like building lists. Your lists can be public–which lets you share them with friends and colleagues–or private so only you can see them. You can build as many lists as you like on any subject, add personal notes about specific items, and move or copy items between lists. Plus you can investigate other people’s lists, too. Read, rate, review and tag your favorite books, and then share on Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Digg, Delicious, Slashdot or a range of other sites. If you’re a student, you’ll appreciate the ability to get automatic bibliographic citations in one of five common styles, and either cut and paste or export to RefWorks or EndNote. 

WorldCat results appear in Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

Simply include the phrase “Find in a Library” (including quote marks), or alternately “site:worldcat.org” (leaving out the quotes) with your search terms. Your search results should include one or more links with the prefix “WorldCat” and the name of a library-owned item that matches your terms.It’s easy to find what you’re looking for Once you’re at WorldCat.org, you can find library materials using simple keywords and then refine with suggestions on the left. Or the advanced search option can help you immediately limit results to specific authors, subjects, formats, and dates. You can even save complex searches to re-run them again, later. 

 

Learn more about your favorite writer

Want to know more about a writer or character? WorldCat Identities gives you more information through interactive timelines, tag clouds, cover art and other features to let you explore connections between the people who write, create or act in books, movies and music you like. 

Why the “One Minute Critic” loves Worldcat:

 

25 more reasons to use Worldcat

 

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