[Web4lib] WorldCat - libraries owning an item

[Elena OMalley]

David Kane wrote:
Does it not have to be comprehensive, since you allow WorldCat to
download all your Bib records, and keep them updated with new additions
thereafter?

Thomas Edelblute responded:
But not all of us do.  Anaheim does its cataloging through Brodart not
OCLC.

I respond:
Also, if the library doesn't have a FirstSearch subscription, its
holdings won't show up in worldcat.org either.
http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/web/faq/default.htm

Melissa Willer wrote:
On some level I agree with you; it would be nice if there was a
disclaimer, 
or some direct referral back to your home library. But, I personally see
this 
as the libraries' Amazon service - and you don't see a disclaimer
anywhere on 
Amazon that all of vendor's items might not appear when you search their
catalog.  

I respond:
It seems to have a direct referral, at least when I look at it. When I
pulled up 
an item onscreen, over on the far right there's a link for "Search the
catalog 
at your library," whether or not the system indicates the library has
the item. 

I think there's only so much any interface can do to warn people that
their 
expectations might not match the realities of the situation. For general
use, 
I think it's pretty close to "good enough" for the casual searcher.

Elena
__
Elena O'Malley, Head of Library Computer and Internet Services
Emerson College Library, Boston, MA 02116