WorldCat and WorldCat.Org Guide

Scope & Uses

WorldCat

• WorldCat is a catalog of materials held at OCLC member libraries, primarily in North America. It contains more than 76 million records of books and other materials on all subjects, from over 10,000 libraries. It is updated daily.
   
• Our subscription to this database is funded through the State of Maine and, as made available through the Fogler site, is restricted to Maine residents.
   
• WorldCat can be used to find materials on a topic, or by a known author, to “fill out” incomplete citations, and to assemble information in order to request materials through Interlibrary Loan.

 WorldCat.org

• WorldCat.org is a free version of the WorldCat database that can be easily searched by title, subject, or person. Although WorldCat,org is freely available, it shows our holdings only because we also subscribe to WorldCat.

How to Search

WorldCat  There are three search modes: Basic, Advanced, and Expert.

• In Basic Search mode, type your search term(s) -- Keyword, Author, or Title, -- then click on Search. 

A list of brief records is shown, which includes materials in all formats.  (To select only material in a particular format, e.g. books, maps, articles, manuscripts, internet links, etc., click on the appropriate tab directly above the list.) 

WorldCat indicates if a title is available at Fogler Library. If an item is at Fogler Library, click on the title to get a detailed record. From this record, click on “Search the catalog at University of Maine System libraries.”  Your search will be automatically executed in URSUS, giving you the location and call number.

If the item is not available here. if you wish, you can locate libraries where it is available by clicking on “Libraries worldwide that own item. “

• In Advanced Search mode, type each term on a separate line, and from the drop-down box on the right hand side indicate whether you want to search the Author, Title, Subject, etc.  Combine terms with the Boolean operators (and, or, not) in the left hand drop-down boxes. At the same time, you can limit by date, language, material type, and format, as well as by audience (e.g. juvenile), content (e.g. biography), etc.
   
• The Expert Search mode offers the means to compose your own searches using Boolean operators.  Click on “Indexed in” to specify a field for searching.  Links to instructions on truncation, Boolean searching, proximity operators etc. are given at the bottom of the screen.

WorldCat.org 

• The default search mode is by title, subject, or person.  Search results can be refined to limit to author name, content or subject area, format (e.g. article, book, visual material, sound recording, serial), language, and year.
   
• An Advanced Search mode allows searching by keyword, author, or title field, or any combination of these. 
   
• After selecting a title and entering one's location, WorldCat.org identifies the closest libraries that own it, and links to the item's record in those libraries' catalogs.

How to Obtain WorldCat Materials

 If a title is not listed in URSUS you may order it through our Interlibrary Loan service.   When asked on the form where you found the citation, type "WorldCat".  The average time it takes to receive material through Interlibrary Loan is two weeks.

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Revised: 03/20/2007 / Mel Johnson

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