June 2011 Archives
In the category of "just letting you know..."
On Sunday, July 10 there will be a scheduled service downtime for the cover art display on WorldCat.org from 1:00 am until at least 6:00 am and, at most, 11:00 am (U.S. Eastern Time). We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. We need to take the cover art feature off-line in order to upgrade the storage systems and capacity. During this time, covert art will be unavailable.
This event is part of ongoing upgrades that OCLC undertakes in order to improve services for you and the member libraries that power WorldCat.org.
In a rare case of "Wow, I can't believe I hadn't done that yet..."
I have been meaning to tell you about this fabulous blog post that a genealogy blogger, Heather Kuhn Roelker, posted back in January. I know, I know...see above disclaimer. Anyway--she shares a story about how she discovers WorldCat.org and how her search eventually leads her to the library who holds the materials related to her Great-Great-Great-Grandfather. She'd been searching for information on him for a very long time.
So even though there was some delay in actually locating the materials...due to some very awesome librarians, she eventually gets the letters and explains:
"I immediately found the contact information for the McCormick Library of Special Collections and sent a request, along with the citation from WorldCat. Within two weeks a copy of the archive arrived. Only a genealogist would understand the anticipation and excitement I felt when the packet was delivered."
It's a wonderful thing to know that WorldCat.org helped her connect to her family's roots. Plus, who can resist the heartwarming story of overcoming research obstacles to triumph in the end?
Note we do have a few resources specifically for genealogists for WorldCat.org. Check them out. But my main question is: have you searched WorldCat.org for your family history recently?
And lo, we have survived the apocalypse to bring you the Top 20 List for May. New to the list are: the worst school holiday ever (Lord of the Flies), everyone's favorite double suicide love story (Romeo and Juliet), and the novelization of what is arguably Van Halen's finest album (1984).
1. The World Book Encyclopedia
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
6. Python Essential Reference by David M. Beazley
7. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
9. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association
10. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
11. Night by Elie Wiesel
12. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
13. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
14. Food, Inc. directed by Robert Kenner
15. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
16. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
17. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
18. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
19. 1984 by George Orwell
20. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
