WorldCat

Introduction

WorldCat, a FirstSearch database product available in the Electronic Resources section, contains over 41 million records of any type of material cataloged by in more than 15,000 OCLC member libraries from around the world. WorldCat identifies libraries near you that own

books ebooks journal titles conference proceedings audiovisual materials Internet resources musical scores maps and more

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Databases page of the Electronic Resources section of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library website.

For more on how to access databases visit http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/electroniclibrary/

Searching

Search WorldCat by

• author
• title
• keyword
• subject

When you open WorldCat the screen defaults to the Advanced Search mode. To choose one of the other types of search modes, click on Basic, Advanced or Expert on the left side of the screen. To construct a search in WorldCat

• type your search term(s) in the first Search for box
• click on Search to obtain a list of records

Consult the Search Tips for additional information on constructing your search.

WorldCat search.

Search Results

Search results will vary. If you get:

• No records matched your search, then check your spelling or the fields you searched in.
• Too many, then go back and limit your search. Sometimes a search needs to be modified with: additional search words, searching only a specific field, adding date limitations, or type of materials.
• Too few, then go back and expand your search. Consider synonyms for your search words or concepts. Try to use professional language or terminology.
• Irrelevant results, then try new search terms. Consider synonyms or related concepts. Identify and search using descriptors. Try a different database.

Results lists

A list of search results matching your search terms will be displayed. This List of Records shows

• citations for items that matched your search
• availability in the Nova Southeastern University libraries–indicated by a small In your library icon

To navigate through the results

• use the Next or Previous buttons to move through the results
• view All of the items or click on the tabs to limit by format 
• click on title of items to view the full record for specific items

Search results in WorldCat.

Records

The information on the Detailed Record, especially the title of the item and the abstract (summary) of the item will help you determine if you need the item.

Full record in WorldCat.

The full record includes information about libraries that own the title

• click on Libraries worldwide that own item
• from the list of libraries, click on Display All Libraries to see more libraries that own this item

Managing Search Results

Databases typically allow you to manage your search results by

• marking or tagging records to select only the records that you want from your search results from later printing, emailing and/or saving
• printing the search results list and/or specific records
• emailing the search results list and/or specific records to your email address
• saving the search results list and/or specific records–some databases may allow you to save your file for export into commercial bibliographic citation manager software, such as EndNote or ProCite

Not all search management features are available in all databases.

Marking

The "mark" feature allows you to select records from within your search results. By marking items, you can print or email records at one time.

To mark a record

• in the List of Records, click in the check box to the left of a title
• in a Detailed Record, click in the check box labeled Mark–top of the screen

To view your list of marked records

• click on Marked Records on the left side of the screen

You may then email or print the citation information for the items you have selected.

Printing

To print a record

• click on the print icon–near the top of the Detailed Record
• the item will be automatically reformatted and the Print dialog box will appear
• click OK
• click on Detailed Record–on the left side of the screen

Emailing

To email a record

• click on the email icon–near the top of the Detailed Record
• select the item to be sent, record detail, record format
• enter an email address
• click Send
• click on Detailed Record–on the left side of the screen

Use your complete email address and include a note about what you are sending in the comment box. Your mail will be sent from WorldCat@oclc.org

Saving

To save a record

• click on the export icon–near the top of the Detailed Record, or from the Marked List
• in the Export to: section, select Text File
• click the Export button
• click Save
• enter a filename–extension should be .txt
• click Save
• click on Detailed Record on the left side of the screen

Use a word processing program to open your file.

Search Tips

Use advanced search features to modify a search to obtain more successful search results. You can combine advanced search features to modify and improve your search. Advanced search features often include:

• phrase or proximity searching
• field searching
• date
• document and/or publication type
• Boolean operators
• plurals and truncation

One useful tip when searching any electronic database is to leave out articles, prepositions, and very abstract or general terms–they confuse the database's search engine.

For example, if the paper is on "The Impact of Mainstreaming Students in Math Classes,” use the most precise terms like mainstreaming and mathematics and skip impact, the, of, and in.

Phrase or proximity searching

In WorldCat, there are two ways to search for a phrase

• put the phrase in double quotes, such as
  "higher education"
  "curriculum development"

• use the letter w to search for two words as a phrase
  higher w education
  curriculum w development

Field searching

To limit your search to a specific field in the record

• click on the pull-down arrow–to the right of the box that says “Keyword”
• scroll to the field you wish to limit your search to
• click on the field’s name

Field searching in WorldCat

Date

To limit a search to specific years

• go to the year box
• type a specific year (like 2001), a range of years (like 2000-2006) or from a specific year until the current year ( like 1995- )

Limit by year in WorldCat

Publication type

To specify a type of publication or material in your search try one of the following

• go to the Limit type to section, and use the check boxes to specify publication type(s)
• use a Material Type field search–type the name of the material you need, such as DVD, thesis, computer file, etc.

Limit by material type in NovaCat

Boolean operators

The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, can be used to modify a search

• click on the pull-down arrow–below "Search for:"
• click on the Boolean operator to use:

Use AND to narrow a search. AND looks for both terms in the same record.
leadership and vision; mainstreaming and science

Use OR to broaden a search. OR looks for either term in the same record.
mainstreaming or inclusion; elementary education or secondary education

Use NOT to eliminate records with a certain term.
Saturn not car; Venus not planet

Plurals

Use the following symbols in WorldCat databases to locate plural forms, truncate search terms, or replace characters:

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Last updated: 10/16/2006