WorldCat@OCLC Database Available for Testing through the Web Interface

OCLC’s WorldCat Database is now available for testing at http://merlin.ucop.edu/meltst.  WorldCat (@OCLC) is the database choice at the bottom of the list.

Comments on the test version of the WCAT database should be sent to Lucia Snowhill by FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11th on any problems.  We hope to move it to the public version of the Web version by the end of December.

Please note that changes may be made while the database remains in the test mode.  Search options and the database description and general help screens have been carried over, as much as possible, to be consistent with information in the Telnet version.

The WorldCat (@OCLC) Database (known as WCAT in the Telnet version) contains citations for books, journals, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, computer files, newspapers, slides, videotapes, etc., in a variety of languages.  WorldCat is the OCLC Online Union Catalog, and contains over 32 million records in all disciplines from approximately 12,000 libraries worldwide.  It is updated daily.  Subject descriptors are based on a thesaurus developed by OCLC Inc., and reflect the above fields as contextual and taxonomic descriptors.  Users can limit searches by date, language, and form.

To locate items in your search results at UC or other California libraries, search for periodical titles in the Melvyl PE database or for books in the Melvyl CAT database. CDL has added library location information (the equivalent of D LOCATION in the Telnet version) in WorldCat for both short and long displays.

The rest of the Z39.50 databases — RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, the PAIS International Database, ArticleFirst, the History of Science and Technology Database, and the English Short Title Catalog — will be added to the Web interface by March.