The World is in WorldCat
Like many book enthusiasts (or information junkies), once I learn a new tool, I like to play with it. That's what I've been doing with the list function on WorldCat.org. Not really looking for anything, just trying to get a feel for the current zeitgeist of the features. One of the first things I noticed was the (seemingly, to me) high incidence of non-English lists. Now, WorldCat (the database) has all kinds of non-English materials, but since I don't often go searching, myself, for stuff I can't read, the volume wasn't ever apparent. While searching for lists, it is.
I found -- again, just by accident -- a list of "Haggard Chinese Books" that is, according to its creator, "not a complete list of every title in the library," but still... one would think that 227 items (as of my last visit) is a good start. The list's creator, dongxiao, also has lists of Haggard Chinese DVD's, Haggard Chinese CD's, and Haggard Chinese children's collection. Since every list in WorldCat.org has a separate RSS feed, it would be very easy for a Haggard user interested in new Chinese materials available at the library to keep updated on dongxiao's additions, or for a blogger to post them on a Web page. We can see from his list that he's been adding items since June of 2007, and as recently as January 18, 2008.
Getting library materials out into "the world" is one of the big ideas behind WorldCat.org. For a user (or librarian) anywhere (in this case, I believe, based on a quick Google search, Plano, Texas) to be able to easily create a list of materials based on any criteria, and share it in a way that allows it to be monitored by interested searchers... that's world-y.
On February 22, 2008 at 10:26 AM Jane said:
The lists feature is indeed hugely useful - we've just created a library account in order to make a list of a large collection of uncatalogued microfiches that we had found lurking in a corner of our stacks. We were having problems making them accessible pending them being catalogued properly, which would be a laborious task that we don't have time or resources to do at the moment. Making a list on WorldCat is very quick, allows us to share it with all our users, and also print and export to Excel so that we can combine it with our existing printed subject lists easily. A fantastic feature, and our users are very impressed with it too.
On February 22, 2008 at 12:00 PM Tom Smith said:
#1 I would like to be able to list more than 10 items in a screen.
#2 I would like to be able to search limiting by library code.
#3 I would like to be able to export to RefWorks and EndNote.
On February 22, 2008 at 12:12 PM Andy
said:
Tom -- thanks much for the feedback. We really want exactly that kind of request to come in and help us determine which features folks want us to improve, and how. I'll pass the comment along to our development folks here.
BTW... Your #3 request is already available through the "Citations View." While looking at any list (yours or anybody else's), click on the "Citations View" tab at the top. Select all (or some, whatever) of the items you want to export, and then choose from the "Export as" drop-down from HTML, RTF, RIS, EndNote or RefWorks. You can also specify the citations style (APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA or Turabian) from a drop-down at the top of the list. Hope that helps.
On March 4, 2008 at 6:38 PM Dongxiao said:
Thank you for noticing my lists! I had no idea that each list only allows 250 titles. Since I do have more books to add, I have changed the name of my lists and started a new list for 2008 books.