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WorldCat

OCLC catalog of books, web resources, and other material worldwide

Why select this database?

  • Contains all the records cataloged by OCLC member libraries.
  • Offers millions of bibliographic records.
  • Includes records representing 400 languages.

Subjects included

  • articles, chapters, papers
  • books
  • computer programs
  • films and slides
  • journals and magazines
  • manuscripts
  • maps
  • musical scores
  • newspapers
  • sound records
  • videotapes
  • websites and internet resources

Database details

Database name WorldCat
Short database name OLUC
Available on FirstSearch, WorldCat Discovery, and WorldCat.org
Sources OCLC member libraries
Number of records Over 460 million
Coverage Before 1000 BC to present
Update frequency Daily
Producer OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.

Indexes

Index labels and search examples

Use a colon after an index label (for example, au:) when you are not certain of your search terms. Use an equal sign after an index label (au=) for an exact match search. You can search with an index label from any search screen. The information you type overrides any default menu selections. The following examples show sample rather than actual searches. For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Search indexes Labels Examples
Keyword kw: coffee or tea and house+

[keyword searches, publication year, ISBN, geographic codes, map data, and all the information found in the Author, Title, Notes, Publisher, Publisher location, and Subject indexes]
Access Method am: www oclc org [or] oclc

[omit https://, and use spaces instead of periods or slashes]
Access Restrictions rs: unrestricted
Access Restrictions Phrase rs= unrestricted online access
Accession Number no: 37993343

[OCLC number]
Author au: saint-arroman

(use single quotes around 'le' and other words that are operators;

operators supported in FirstSearch: Boolean search operators, parentheses, proximity operators, wildcards; operators included are le, ge, it, gt, n, near, w, with, and, or, not)
Author Phrase au= saint-arroman auguste

(use double quotes around exact phrases; omit single quote from 'le' operator when the double quote is used to search for an exact phrase)
Corporate and Conference Name cn: canad*
Corporate and Conference Name Phrase cn= canadian acoustics week
Country of Publication cp: Norway
Country of Publication Phrase cp= Nova Scotia
Descriptor de: voice disorders
Descriptor Phrase de= voice disorders in children
Dewey Class Edition d2: 19

(edition used to assign Dewey Class Number)
Dewey Class Number dd: 998.900

[index deletes and collapses spaces and punctuation, except periods]
Genre/Form ge: solo piano
Genre/Form Phrase ge= screenplays
Geographic Coverage gc: cape
Geographic Coverage Phrase gc= capetown
Gov Doc Number gn: y4p9610w292

[omit spaces and punctuation]
ISBN nb: 3196311821 or 31-9631-182-1

9780763625894 or 978-0-763625-89-4

[search with or without hyphens]
ISSN sn: 0000-0019

[use hyphens]
LC Control Number nl: ne64-2560 or ne64002560 or ne642560 or

64-2560 or 64002560 or 642560

(prefixes can be immediately connected to the number or removed; hyphens can be included or removed; the number is searchable as it is stored, with the year and then six digits with leading zeros for unused digits, or as it is often displayed, without zeros)
Library and Archives Canada Class No. ca: sf209.5

[index deletes and collapses spaces and punctuation, except periods]
Library of Congress Call No. lc: hd9000.6

[index deletes and collapses all spaces and punctuation, except periods]
Material Type mt: vhs
Material Type Phrase mt= vhs tape
Musical Composition mc: jazz
Musical Composition Phrase mc= folk music
Music Number mu: has19832

[concatenates all punctuation and spaces up to a dash or double hyphen]
Named Corporation and Conference nc: world conference on women
Named Corporation and Conference Phrase nc= intel corporation
Named Person na: mandela
Named Person Phrase na= mandela, nelson

[last name first with first comma retained]
Natl Ag Lib Call No. ag: sf223.w47

[index deletes and collapses spaces and punctuation, except periods]
NLM Call Number lm: hv4915

[index deletes and collapses spaces and punctuation, except periods]
NLM Call Number Phrase lm= hv4915g461999

[index deletes and collapses spaces and punctuation, except periods]
Notes/Comments nt: translation-adaptation
Personal Name pn: lemaire
Personal Name Phrase pn= lemaire gerard-georges

[use last name first with or without the first comma retained]
Publisher pb: mcgraw-hill
Publisher Phrase pb= new star media inc
Publisher Location pl: china
Report Number rn: nofhwap179012

[omit spaces and punctuation]
Series Title se: emb report
Series Title Phrase se= emb evaluation report
Standard Number sn: 1097461x or 1097-461x

9780763625894 or 978-0-763625-89-4

1550463160 or 155-0463-160

64002560

(for all searches, hyphens can be included in the search or removed; for the LCCN number, only the number used for storage, with the year and then six digits with leading zeros for unused digits, is indexed; many other standard numbers are included in this index)
Subject su: coffee and tea house+
Subject Phrase su= coffeehouses in art
Subject All sa= authors american biography

[for the subject "authors, american - biography"

phrase search of complete subject heading]
 
Subject Headings, LC hl: biography

[only subject headings noted as US Library of Congress]
Subject Headings, LC Phrase hl= authors american

[only subject headings noted as US Library of Congress]
Subject Headings, LC Children's Lit hc: parties

[only subject headings noted as US Library of Congress Children's Literature]
Subject Headings, LC Children's Lit phrase hc= children's writing

[only subject headings noted as US Library of Congress Children's Literature]
Subject Headings, MESH hm: optometry

[only subject headings noted as MESH/US National Library of Medicine]
Subject Headings, MESH phrase hm= vision low

[only subject headings noted as MESH/US National Library of Medicine]
Subject Headings, NAL ha: fruit

[only subject headings noted as US National Library of Agriculture]
Subject Headings, NAL phrase ha= fruit trees

[only subject headings noted as US National Library of Agriculture]
Subject Headings, Canadian he: photography

[only subject headings noted as Library and Archives Canada in English]
Subject Headings, Canadian phrase he= landscape photography

[only subject headings noted as Library and Archives Canada in English]
Subject Headings, RVM hr: indiens

[only subject headings noted as Repertoire des vedettes-matiere (Library and Archives Canada in French)]
Subject Headings, RVM phrase hr= politique sanitaire

[only subject headings noted as Repertoire des vedettes-matiere (Library and Archives Canada in French)]
Subject Headings, Other ho: fiction

gsafd

(includes the MARC codes for the classification type indexed)
Subject Headings, Other Phrase ho= historical fiction
Title ti: music w3 british w3 enlightenment
Title Phrase ti= music theory in the british isles during the enlightenment
Uniform title ut: bible
Uniform Title Phrase ut= selected poems 1930-1972
Unique Serial Title tk: renew annual report
Unique Serial Title Phrase tk= service & innovation
Universal Decimal Class No. ud: 101-051

[use periods and hyphens]
Update Date up: 20010101
Vendor vn: libros
Year 2 yy: 1997

(all unknown digits are searched as 9s; however, if all four digits are unknown, they are searched as 0000)

Index use and structure

FirstSearch Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them. For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Index Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute
Keyword (kw)* Any

1016

5110

2
Access Method (am)* OCLC Defined 1209

5856
2
Access Restrictions OCLC Defined 5068 1,2
Accession Number (no) Control number-local 12

1211
1,2
Country of Publication (cp) OCLC Defined 6104 1,2
Language   (ln=)** Code-language 54 1, 2
Notes/Comments (nt) Note 63 2
Material Type (mt)* material-type 1031 1,2
Musical Composition (mc) OCLC Defined 5847 1,2
Place of Publication (pl) Name-geographic-place-publication 59 2
Publisher (pb) Name-publisher 1018 1,2
Update Date (up)* Update date 1012 2
Year of Publication

(yr)*
Date-publication 31 2,4,5,7
Year 2 of Publication (yy)* OCLC Defined 5031 2,4,5,7
Vendor Information (vn) OCLC Defined 5938 2


* Additional information on these indexes is given in the Searching tips below.

** Language is searchable by language code or the English translation of the code. Additional information is given in the Language index.

*** Country codes are indexed as the English term represented by the codes.

Author Searches

For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Index Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute
Author keyword (au) Author-name 1003

5003
2
Author Phrase (au=) Author-name 1003

5003
1
Corporate and Conference Name (cn, cn=) Author-name-conference 1005

1006
1, 2
Personal Name (pn, pn=) Author-name-personal 1004 1, 2

* The 100/u, 110/e,u, 700/u and 710/e are only available in the keyword forms of their respective indexes.

Subject Heading Searches

For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Index Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute
Subject (su, su=) Subject 21 1, 2
Descriptor (de, de=) OCLC Defined 5650 1, 2
Geographic Coverage (gc, gc=) Name-geographic 58 1,2
Genre/Form (ge, ge=) OCLC Defined 5655 1,2
Named Person (na, na=)*** Subject-name-personal 1009 1,2
Named Conference and Corporation (nc, nc=) OCLC Defined 5610

5611
1,2
Subject All (sa=) OCLC Defined 5090 1
Subject Headings, LC (hl, hl=)* OCLC Defined 27 1,2
Subject Headings, LC Children (hc, hc=)* OCLC Defined 1008 1,2
Subject Headings, MeSH (hm, hm=)* OCLC Defined 25 1,2
Subject Headings, NAL (ha, ha=)* OCLC Defined 1088 1,2
Subject Headings, Canadian (he, he=)* OCLC Defined 5300 1,2
Subject Headings, RVM (hr, hr=)* OCLC Defined 28 1,2
Subject Headings, Other (ho, ho=)* OCLC Defined 6136 1,2


* Additional information on these indexes is given in the Searching tips below.

** 042/a is indexed as the English terms represented by the codes.

*** The first comma is retained as part of the search for this index only.

Notes for all the subject phrase indexes

Each portion of the subject heading (e.g., subheading in 650/a,x,y,z) will be handled as a distinct phrase search. The suggested strategy in searching for records that contain those subheadings is to and those terms together.

Example:  650 #a Nuclear Power Plants #x Safety Measures is searched by entering:

nuclear power plants and safety measures.

The one exception to this is the Subject All index (use attribute 5090) For that index the above term would be searched as "nuclear power plants safety measures".

Title Searches

For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Index Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute
Title keyword (ti) Title 4

5245

1002
2
Title (ti=) Title 4

1002

5245
1
Series (se, se=) Title-series 5 1, 2
Uniform Title (ut, ut=) Title-uniform 6 1, 2
Unique Serial Title (tk, tk=) Title-key 33 1,2

* The Title phrase search has the 245/a and 245/b subfields combined into a single phrase search with structure attribute 1.  These subfields (245/a, 245/b) can be searched as separate subfields also.

Classification Numbers and Specific Searches

For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Index Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute
National Agricultural Library Call Number (ag) Classification-NAL 18 2
Dewey Decimal Call Number (dd) Classification-Dewey 13 2
Dewey Decimal Edition (d2) OCLC Defined 6100 2
Government Documentation Number (gn) Classification-government-publication 50 2
Music Number (mu) Identifier-publisher-for-music 51 1,2
National Library of Medicine (NLM) Call Number (lm) Classification-NLM 17 1,2
Report Number (rn) Identifier-report 1027 1,2
Standard Number (sn) Identifier-standard 1007 1,2
ISSN (ns) Identifier-ISSN 8 1,2
ISBN (nb) Identifier-ISBN 7 1,2
LCCN (nl) Control number-LC 9 1
Universal Decimal Class Number (ud) Classification-UDC 14 2
National Library of Congress Call Number (lc) Classification-LC 16 2
Library and Archives Canada Call Number (ca) OCLC Defined 5055 2

* All searches in the above table (Classification Numbers and Specific Searches) are explained further in the Searching tips, in the Call Number Indexes and Known Item Searches sub-sections (see below).

Local holdings within WorldCat

For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.

Index* Description Use Attribute Structure Attribute
Local holdings - present (L7:) OCLC Defined 6300 2
Local holdings - by state/province (L2) OCLC Defined 6301 1
Local holdings - by city (L3) OCLC Defined 6302 1
Local holdings - institution symbol (L4)** OCLC Defined 6303 2
Local holdings - by groups (L5) OCLC Defined 6304 2
Local holdings - by 4-character OCLC Defined 6305 1

* These indexes are discussed in the Searching tips.

** To find the OCLC symbol for an institution, please see the online version of Directory of OCLC members.

Language index

The Language index uses the three-letter codes for languages found in the OCLC MARC Code Lists (ISBN 1-55653-169-9). The language index also can be searched using the two-character ISO codes for languages. The English translations of these codes are also searchable. Note that the only precise search term is the three-letter code. All other terms may group language codes together. For example, English as a word search brings together Modern English, Old English, and Creole or Pidgin English.

Some example of codes and their English language translations are given below. All languages in the WorldCat database are searchable. Scan the index to see all the available searches.

Language Code
Arabic ara
Bulgarian bul
Chinese chi
Czech cze
Danish dan
Dutch dut
English eng
French fre
German ger
Greek (modern) gre
Hebrew heb
Hindi hin
Hungarian hun
Indonesian ind
Italian ita
Japanese jpn
Korean kor
Latin lat
Norwegian nor
Persian (modern) per
Polish pol
Portuguese por
Romanian rum
Russian rus
Serbo-Croatian (Roman) scr
Spanish spa
Swedish swe
Thai tha
Turkish tur
Ukrainian ukr

Record display information

MARC fields

The MARC records returned from this database will be the OCLC-MARC records as they were input into the system.

This database can have any valid MARC tag in it. Besides the valid MARC tags, the following FirstSearch Locally Defined fields also exist:

856 fields OCLC has added links to additional content such as cover art, table of contents, summaries and author notes.  These OCLC-created 856 fields include the following subfields:

856/u  URL to additional content

856/i  instructions in URL use

856/q  data type such as "ASCII," "GIF," etc.

856/x  "OCLC EC"

856/3  type of content such as "COVER ART," "TABLE OF CONTENTS," "MORE INFO," or "EXCERPTS"

Evaluative content info in websites: OCLC created URLs contained in 856/u fields in full MARC syntax and under the label "Access:" in full SUTRS syntax will allow internet-based access to evaluative content (cover art, summaries, excerpts, author information, etc.) These URLs can be cut and pasted, or programmatically entered, into any browser supported by FirstSearch in order to gain access to the information. The URLs will time out after 7 days so if continued access is desired another search to receive and updated URL will need to be executed. The 856/i field is the indicator for information on the URL; because not all 856/u fields are additional evaluative content, the 856/i should be checked to be certain the 856/u link is truly a OCLC sourced link. The 856/i field contains instructions regarding the URL.

NetLibrary websites: All NetLibrary records have had additional 856 fields added that would authenticate a user's access to their library's NetLibrary book subscription, based on their FirstSearch authorization number. These 856 fields will have a subfield u with the URL and a subfield I with the instructions:

"Input this URL in a browser to view e-book from NetLibrary".

Note: Searching "NetLibrary" in the Access Method index can retrieve all NetLibrary books. All NetLibrary books that a FS user subscribes to can be searched by ANDing this to the library's holding symbol, assuming the library is cataloging their holdings on the OCLC WorldCat cataloging subsystem.
 

945/f Primary document type code
945/d Additional document type codes
945/m Material type code media/technology access
945/n Material type text media/technology access
945/p Material type code content
945/q Material type text content
945/r Music Composition code
945/s Music Composition text
947/g Displayable form of the LC Control Number [010/a]
947/h Displayable form of the LC Control Number [010/z]
947/m Number of holding library symbols connected to item
947/n Date added to a database
947/p Date last updated in Cataloging subsystem of WorldCat
947/s Indicator for My Library holdings.

This indicates if authorization number's institution has local holdings attached in OCLC WorldCat. "Y" is yes. "N" is no.
948

Library Holdings

Field 948/a gives the ISO country code information for each library holding the item. Additional detailed holdings information is available in FirstSearch Z39.50 Configuration Guide - Element Set Names.

949/i Document Types (repeating)
a = Articles, Chapters, or Papers
b = Books, Monographics, or Text
f = Visual Material
h = Maps
i = Computer File
j = Sound Recording
k = Score
m = Archival Material
r = Continually updated resource
s = Serial, Journal, or Magazine
w = Internet Resources, primarily websites
949/x ILL/Display type
b = Books, Monographic, or Text including articles and websites listed as text
f = Visual Material
h = Maps
l = Computer File
j = Sound recordings
k = Score
m = Archival Material
s = Serial, Journal, or Magazine
g = Multiple types, includes more then one of the types listed above)

Restrictors

The following restrictors should be combined with search strings in WorldCat (using the Boolean operators AND or NOT) in cases where the search results would otherwise be too large and unmanageable.

Restrictor* Type Input Use Attribute Structure Attribute MARC Tag
Year (yr) All years

Single year

Range of years
--

1999, or 2000

-1899

1955-1967

1998-v
31 5 008 <date1>

046/c
Document Type (dt=) All records

Books

Serials

Visual materials

Maps

Sound
recordings

Scores

Computer files

Mixed materials

Internet resources

Papers/articles

Continually
updated
resources


bks

ser

vis

map

rec


sco

com

mix

url

art

int
1001 1, 2 945/f
DLC Restrictor (dl) all

DLC Records


y
1019 2 008 <source>

040/a,c,d
Library group (cg) Number of
libraries with
holdings

2500 or more

2000 - 2499

1500 - 1999

1000 - 1499

900 - 999

800 - 899

700 - 799

600 - 699

500 - 599

400 - 499

300 - 399

200 - 299

150 - 199

100 - 149

75 - 99

50 - 74

25 - 49

10 - 24

5 - 9

2 - 4

1

0



Predefined ranges

500 or more

100 or more

50 or more

10 or more

5 or more




31

30

29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10





09

08

07

06

05
5848 2 947/m
Library Holdings (li) all

Library Symbol
--

xxx (OCLC symbol for the library)**
56

1044
2 948/h

* All restrictors are discussed in the Searching tips.

** To find the OCLC symbol for an institution, please see Directory of OCLC members.

Sorting

Search results in the WorldCat database can be sorted by Author (1003) and Title (4).

General punctuation rules

Omit accent marks and diacritics such as ¨ (umlaut) and ¸ (cedilla). Special characters should be replaced by a Romanized form of the character, such as u for hooked u and ss for ß (eszett).

Punctuation Rule Punctuation Rule
" (quote mark) Convert to a blank @ (commercial at) Convert to a blank
' (apostrophe) Indexed both as:

— delete and collapse

— convert to a blank
? (question mark) Convert to a blank
. (period) Convert to a blank, except when the first period in a class number search. / (slash) Convert to a blank except in Dewey call number search where it is deleted and collapsed.
, (comma) Convert to a blank. - (hyphen) Convert to a blank
; (semicolon) Convert to a blank & (ampersand) Retain and index
: (colon) Convert to a blank \ (backslash) Convert to a blank
() (parentheses) Delete and collapse © (copyright sign) Delete and collapse
<> (greater/less than signs) Convert to a blank ° (degree sign) Delete and collapse
{} (curly brackets) Convert to a blank € (Euro) Convert to a blank
[] (square brackets) Delete and collapse, retaining the data within except for [sic] and [i.e. any data following] Flat (musical) Convert to a blank
= (equal sign) Convert to a blank ¡ (inverted exclamation point) Convert to a blank
! (exclamation point) Convert to a blank ¿ (inverted question mark) Convert to a blank
# (number sign) Delete and collapse Phonograph copyright Delete and collapse
$ (dollar sign) Convert to a blank # (sharp — musical) Convert to a blank
% (percent sign) Convert to a blank Space Convert multiple spaces to a single space
* (asterisk) Convert to a blank ± (plus/minus sign) Convert to a blank
+ (plus sign) Convert to a blank _ (underscore) Convert to a blank

Searching tips

Keyword search

The Keyword index for WorldCat uses attribute number 1016. The Keyword search finds information in the author, title, subject, notes, ISBN, year, year 2 and a few fields specific to the keyword search (034/a,b,d,e,f,g, 052/a,b, 255/a,b,c,d,e).

The Year and Year2 data is indexed exactly as those indexes index the 008 data (see below). The ISBN is indexed as the data is indexed, without hyphens. However, any keyword search term that meets the characteristics of an ISBN and is entered with hyphens will be automatically concatenated by the search processor.

A geographic field found only in the keyword indexes is 052/a,b. This is a field useful to map catalogers. The 052/a field is indexed alone. Any records containing 052/b also indexes as 052/a concatenated together with 052/b without spaces, as a single word. So, a record with 052 #a 1234 #b P4 #b C2 is searchable as 1234, 1234p4, and 1234c2.

Year Indexes

There are three different year indexes in WorldCat. The first, the Year of Publication index (31), is the first year given in the USMARC Formats 008 date fields and is the publication date. If a year in this index is cataloged with unknown characters, such as 199u, the "u" is replaced by zero's. 199u changes to 1990. Years that are shorter than four digits have leading zeros added. To search year 999, enter 0999.

The second index, the Year 2 of Publication index (5031), is the second date field in the 008. The year 2 index contains the ending year of a series, the original year of a reprinted work, and other specific year information. It is unlikely that users other than information professionals will be interested in using the second year index. Digits that were cataloged in this index as unknown are converted to nine. However, if all four digits are unknown, then it is converted to all zeros. Years that are shorter than four digits have the leading zeros added. Note that the minimum value on the Year of Publication indexes for unbounded ranges is 1000.

Subject Indexes

The Subject searches have many options. The types of data have been broken down to allow specific searches, such as Geographic Coverage (58) and Genre/form (5655), Named Person (1009), Named Corporation (5610) and Named Conference (5611). The Descriptor search (5650) includes only topical information.

Additionally, there are indexes that search only the subject headings of a specific classification. The classifications are:

  • Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) (use 27)
  • Library of Congress Subject Headings for Children which conforms to Annotated Card Subject Headings (1008)
  • Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) which conforms to the National Library of Medicine authority file (25)
  • National Agricultural Library (NAL) subject authority file (1088)
  • Canadian Subject Headings and the Library and Archives Canada authority file (5300)
  • Répertoire de vedettes-matière and the Library and Archives Canada authority file in French (28)
  • Other subject headings (6136)

The Other subject headings index, includes all the subject headings indexed with the subfield 2 used to indicate what subject heading type was used. To limit to one of these subject headings, AND any of these searches with the keyword search of the term indexed in the subfield 2. So for example, 650 $aEglise $xHistoire $yCa 30-600 (Eglise primitive). $2ram can be searched by searching any of these subject terms or phrases like "eglise" and "histoire" - to limit to this subject heading group, include a word search of the desired type MARC code, such as "ram", with the above example.

Library Holdings Group

The library holdings group (use attribute 5848) limits a search by the most widely held items. Try using a rangeable search, such as 08, which would include all items held by 100 libraries or more. Different types of material will have different high-end levels for searching. If you searching for highly technical material, 50 libraries holding the item would be a large number. However, serial records and very popular works can be found in the rare "most held" group—31.
 

Access Method/Internet Resources

The most direct search of internet resources is the Access Method search (use 5856) which searches the URLs in some WorldCat records. The characters between the punctuation in the URL are the "words" that are searched for. For example, https://www.oclc.org is searched by the "words" www, oclc, and org. The most distinct term in the string is the most useful on which to search. All the stopwords apply to this index, plus two additional stopwords, "http" and "https".
 

Document Type and Material Type

Document Type (1001) is defining the primary document type of the record. Material Type (1031) includes all the document types, including primary and additional information, so that all records that include that document type information is included. So while searching "rec" in the document type index (1001) is only sound records that have been cataloged with that as it's primary type, the same term in the material type index (1031) will also pull up items that include sound records, including attached material.

While all the values indexed in document type are also indexed in the material type index, some search terms in the document type index (1001) are different in the material type index (1031). These codes are described below.

  • art is for Article, chapters, papers, etc. as the primary document type in document type index
  • acp is for the same type of material, with additional article items, in material type index
  • art is for 3-d items or artifacts in the material type index

     
  • bks is for Books that are primarily books and not articles or internet resources in the document type index
  • bks is for Books or Text of any kind in the material type index, including articles and internet resources cataloged as text
  • bnu is for Books that are not internet resources, including additional items, in the material type index

     
  • map is for Cartographic Material including maps in the document type index
  • cmt is for Cartographic material including records with additional cartographic information in the material type index
  • map is only items cataloged as having an 007 to indicate maps in the record in the material type index

Material Type

Material Type data is based on information in the Leader, 006, 007, 008, and looking for terms in specific parts of the record.

Note: The document type terms have already been discussed above. Besides these terms there are additional types of material listed below. Some of these are large subsets of the database that can be used as basic restrictors of limits to searches, such as Fiction, Juvenile, or Microform. Some of the terms listed here will be searchable but not generate a display feature, generally because a more precise term is also indexed, and this is the one displayed. For example, juv or Juvenile is indexed for all types of juvenile audiences. However, this code does not appear. Only the more precise code reflecting the catalogers definition of the item is included, such as pre for preschool audience. For those codes without displayable fields are shown, "no field" is shown under field.

Material Type values include:

Code Text Field
Document types - one record can have more then one with this index
acp Article, chapter, papers 945/d,f

as art
bks Books or Text no field
bnu Books not URL 945/d,f

as bks
cmt Cartographic material 945/d,f

as map
com Computer file 945/d,f
cnr Continuing resources — includes all int and ser records together [no field]
int Continually updated resource 945/d,f
mix Archival or mixed material 945/d,f
rec Sound recording 945/d,f
sco Musical score 945/d,f
ser Serials 945/d,f
url Internet resource 945/d,f
vis Visual material 945/d,f
All or across a large number of types of records
ebk eBook (Includes books only available online or print books that are also available online.) 945/m,n
elc Electronic no field
web Web access no field
cnp Conference publication 945/p,q
deg

Thesis/dissertation

945/p,q

fic

Fiction

945/p,q

bio

Biography

945/p,q

lpt

Large Print 945/m,n

brl

Braille 945/m,n
mss

Manuscript*

*Includes all three manuscripts below

no field

mic

Microform

945/m,n

Subsets of Microform
mfl Microfilm 945/m,n
mfc Microfiche 945/m,n
mcd Micro-opaque 945/m,n
mmc Master microform 945/m,n

Juv

Juvenile

no field
Subsets of Juvenile

pre

Preschool audience

945/p,q

pri

Primary school audience

945/p,q

ejh

Pre-adolescent

945/p,q

shs

Adolescent

945/p,q

jau

Juvenile Audience

945/p,q

gpb

Government publications

945/p,q
Subsets of Government Publications
igp International government pub 945/p,q
ngp National government pub 945/p,q
sgp State or province government pub 945/p,q

lgp

Local government pub

945/p,q
Sound recordings (including Internet Resources of these)
msr Musical recording 945/p,q
nsr

Non-musical recording**

**Includes books-on-tape, speeches, etc.

945/p,q
Media types for sound recordings
dva DVD audio 945/m,n
Also "dvd" and "dvds" no field
cda CD audio 945/m,n
Also "cd" and "cds" no field
lps LP 945/m,n
45s 45 rpm 945/m,n
78s 78 rpm 945/m,n
cas Cassette 945/m,n
mp3 MP3 945/m,n
wrr Wire recording 945/m,n
wxc Wax cylinder 945/m,n
rtr Reel-to-reel tape 945/m,n
rll Roll 945/m,n
Visual Materials (including Internet Resources of these)
kit Kit 945/p,q
pgr Projected image no field
ngr 2-D image no field
art 3-d object/artifact no field
Subset of projected image (pgr)
flm Filmstrip 945/p,q
mot Film 945/p,q
Also "Motion Picture" no field
sld Slide 945/p,q
trn Transparency 945/p,q
vid Videorecording 945/p,q
anm Animation 945/p,q
pan Partial animation 945/p,q
Subset of 2-d image (ngr)
oar Original artwork 945/p,q
rep Artwork reproduction 945/p,q
pic Picture 945/p,q
pht Photograph 945/p,q
grp Graphic 945/p,q
tch Technical drawing 945/p,q
cht Chart 945/p,q
crd Flash card 945/p,q
Subset of 3-d object (art)
mdl Model 945/p,q
rbj Real object 945/p,q
toy Toy 945/p,q
dio Diorama 945/p,q
gam Game 945/p,q
msl Microscope slide 945/p,q
Media types for visual materials
dvv DVD video 945/m,n
Also "dvd" and "dvds" and "vdc" and "videodisc" no field
vdc

Videodisc

945/m,n
vhs VHS tape 945/m,n
Also "vca" and "videocassette" no field
vca

Videocassette

945/m,n
bta Beta 945/m,n
blu Blu-ray disc 945/m,n
ats ATSC color broadcast system 945/m,n
nts NTSC color broadcast system 945/m,n
pal PAL 945/m,n
scm SECAM 945/m,n
Maps/cartographic material (including some Internet Resources)
pcm Published cartographic material no field
mcm Manuscript cartographic material no field
glb Globe no field
pgl Planetary globe 945/p,q
egl Earth globe 945/p,q
cgl Celestial globe 945/p,q
atl Atlas 945/p,q
rsi Remote-sensing image 945/p,q
mmp Model map 945/p,q
gsc Geological section 945/p,q
map Map as cataloged with 007 no field
Scores (including some Internet Resources)
pmu Published music no field
mmu Manuscript music no field
Serials (including some Internet Resources)
per Periodical 945/p,q
new Newspaper 945/p,q
mse Series 945/p,q
Continually updated resource (including some Internet Resources)
upl Updating loose-leaf

Also "Continuing update"
945/p,q
upw Updating website

Also "Continuing update"
945/p,q
upd Updating database

Also "Continuing update"
945/p,q
Computer files subsets
ndt Numeric data 945/p,q
pgm Program 945/p,q
cig Clipart/images/graphics 945/p,q
dct Document 945/p,q
bdt Bibliographic data 945/p,q
fnt Font 945/p,q
cgm Computer game 945/p,q
snd Sound effects 945/p,q
imm Interactive multimedia 945/p,q
oss Online system or service 945/p,q
cdc CD for computer 945/m,n
Also "cd" and "cds" no field
514 5.25 in. disc 945/m,n
312 3.5 in. disc 945/m,n

Musical Composition

Musical composition comes from the 008 and 047 codes. The values are as follows:

945/r - 945/s
an - Anthems
bd - Ballads
bg - Bluegrass music
bl - Blues
bt - Ballets
ca - Chaconnes
cb - Chants, Other religions
cc - Chant, Christian
cg - Concerti grossi
ch - Chorales
cl - Chorale preludes
cn - Canons and rounds
co - Concertos
cp - Chansons, polyphonic
cr - Carols
cs - Chance compositions
ct - Cantatas
cy - Country music
cz - Canzonas
df - Dance forms
dv - Divertimentos, serenades, cassations, divertissements, notturni
fg - Fugues
fm - Folk music
ft - Fantasias
gm - Gospel music
hy - Hymns
jz - Jazz
mc - Musical revues and comedies
md - Madrigals
mi - Minuets
mo - Motets
mp - Motion picture music
mr - Marches
ms - Masses
mu - Multiple forms
mz - Mazurkas
nc - Nocturnes
op - Operas
or - Oratorios
ov - Overtures
pg - Program music
pm - Passion music
po - Polonaises
pp - Popular music
pr - Preludes
ps - Passacaglias
pt - Part-songs
pv - Pavans
rc - Rock music
rd - Rondos
rg - Ragtime music
ri - Ricercars
rp - Rhapsodies
rq - Requiems
sd - Square dance music
sg - Songs
sn - Sonatas
sp - Symphonic poems
st - Studies and exercises
su - Suites
sy - Symphonies
tc - Toccatas
ts - Trio-sonatas
vr - Variations
wz - Waltzes

Music Number

Likewise, the Music Number search (51) is not generally used by FirstSearch users, but is valuable to the music student and professional information expert. The Music Number index has also started to include publisher numbers for other items.

Both the keyword and phrase search of this data has "normalized" the data to make it more consistent.

Rules for normalizing the data are given below:
 

  • The data is concatenated, removing punctuation up to parentheses, commas, and dashes (double hyphens). Numbers in parentheses follow the same rules. So "ab 123" and "ab.123" and "ab-123" all are searches as "ab123". However, two spaces makes it a new number. So "ab 123" is "ab123," but when two spaces are used, it's "ab" and "123".
  • Each number up to a comma space is indexed alone. So [028 #a ab123, ab124, ab125] has three numbers that are searchable: "ab123," "ab124," and "ab125."
  • Numbers up to dashes are indexed, plus possibly the series between the dash. The series is indexed only if the beginning of the second number after the dash matches the beginning of the first number. So [262 #c ab123--ab125 has three searchable terms: "ab123," "ab124," and "ab125." However, if the ab does not start the next number, the range is not searchable. So [262 #c ab123--ac125] has two searchable terms, "ab123 and ac125." However, [265 #c ab123-ab125] has three searchable terms, "ab123", "ab124", and "ab125". While the start and ending of a series are always indexed, the range is only indexed up to the first 20 values.
  • Information within parenthesis behaves as if it is a new field, with all the rules included. So [028 #a 123--125 (cd345--cd347, dd123) ] has searchable "123," "124," "125," "cd345," "cd346," "cd347," and "dd123."

Classification searches

The classification number searches have all spaces and punctuation removed except periods. The searches with this rules are National Agricultural Library (use 18), Dewey Decimal (use 13), National Library of Congress (use 16) National Library of Canada (use 5055) and National Library of Medicine (use 17).

Note, the Dewey Decimal index will index classification numbers up to each slash or prime number also. So a Dewey number of 123.4/56/789 will be indexed as 123.4 and 123.456 and 123.456789. Further, a specialized index to provide the version of Dewey being used (use 6100) can also be searched to limit results to only that version of Dewey.

The NLM Call Number (use 17) phrase includes both subfields 'a' and 'b' together as a single term. The word search only includes the subfield 'A'.

The Universal Decimal classification number (use 14) has all spaces and punctuation removed except periods and hyphens.

Known number indexes

Two indexes remove all punctuation including periods: Government documentation number (use 50) and Report number (use 1027). Government documentation also removes all spaces, but Report number keeps the spaces.

ISBNs (use 7) remove and concatenate all punctuation including hyphens. However, a search can be entered with hyphens and get the appropriate ISBN records.

ISSNs (use 8) include the hyphens in the search only.

LCCN or Library of Congress Control Numbers (use 9) have the numbers indexed without the hyphen. A user can search with the hyphen added or with the zero fill characters that is also used to store the number. So for example, sn92-1234 is indexed as sn921234 and 921234 and can be searched as 92-1234 or 92001234 or sn92-1234 or sn92001234.

The standard number index (use 1007) has ISBNs, ISSNs, LCCNs, and many other standard numbers. For all of these, all punctuation is removed and concatenated. For the LCCNs, only the stored number with the zeros is retained. Further, if there is an alphabetic prefix with three letters it is attached to the number. If there is an alphabetic prefix of one or two letters, it is not attached.
 

Update Index

The update index (1012) gives the date on the MARC record as the date last updated in the OCLC WorldCat Cataloging System in the format YYYYMMDD. Since, FirstSearch is a day or two behind the cataloging system, please take that into account. So, if a user searched on August 31, 2000 and wanted to retrieve only new or changed records a month later (October 1, 2000) the user would AND the previous search with the update index using "200009*". However, while this would retrieve all of September, to be complete the search "2000083*" would also need to be included.

Local holdings indexes

These indexes are from the local holdings data (previously known as union list data) retained in WorldCat. The indexes retrieve records with local holdings information that match the characteristic given.

Note that the local holdings present (Use Attribute 6300) can be searched using the word "yes". This retrieves any record that has WorldCat-retained local holdings data.

Also, when searching local holdings by 4-character local holding symbol (Use Attribute 6305), search as the 4-character symbol, space, and then the institution symbol. For example, "oclc ocl" would get all local holdings information for the 4-character symbol "oclc" profiled with the institution with the symbol "ocl". It is possible to search just the 4-character symbol, however, this will retrieve multiple institutions if more than one institution is using that 4-character symbol.

Copyright information

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