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WorldCat Discovery release notes, January 2019

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Release Date: January 18, 2019

Introduction

Users can navigate from an electronic item to the clustered physical item, and they can see physical item availability on electronic items. Users can also navigate from a default edition to alternate, locally held formats. 

Users can browse streamlined search results with higher resolution cover art, cover art on mobile results, and item titles that align to the search result metadata. Mobile users that bookmark WorldCat Discovery now see a default image. 

Libraries that subscribe to StackMap can now help users navigate from the search results directly to the physical item location. Additionally, libraries can now save search box code generated in the Service Configuration Search Box Generator. 

New features and enhancements

Navigate from electronic items to physical items

In response to requests from the community, WorldCat Discovery now supports configuration to display physical availability on electronic resources. Print availability on electronic items enables libraries to surface the availability of the most recently held physical item on electronic records to help users make informed fulfillment decisions when viewing brief search results. This feature will be available to WorldCat Discovery libraries with subscriptions that include the item location and real-time availability feature.

Configuration

Configure this feature in OCLC Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > OPAC Statuses, Locations and Circulation Policies > Item Availability from OPAC > Display physical item availability on search results:

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Display physical availability on electronic records

When a user views an electronic item on grouped search results, WorldCat Discovery shows the physical availability of the most recent locally-held edition. The interface will indicate whether the publication date of the most recent physical edition is newer or older than the default edition’s publication date. When the publication date of the most recent physical edition is the same as the default edition, or a date comparison cannot be determined, the physical availability will state the format of the most recent physical edition as well as the availability details. This text will appear as a hyperlink to the detailed record for that physical item:

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Review existing settings for availability on brief results in OCLC Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > OPAC Statuses, Locations and Circulation Policies > Item Availability from OPAC > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local Display item availability on search results per bibliographic type for the following:

  • Availability on brief results must be enabled for monographs and serials if you wish to display print availability for electronic items on brief results.
  • If using this feature, we recommend disabling availability on brief results for e-serials and all other electronic content to prevent duplicate availability lines from displaying.
  • If libraries have configured item records or Local Holding Records for your library’s electronic resources, they should choose this new feature OR continue to use your current availability settings. If both options are enabled, libraries may see duplicate availability information on brief results.

This functionality will not be available on Course Reserves. This feature will be turned off by default until the summer of 2019, when it will be enabled for all WMS and WorldCat Discovery libraries with real-time availability.

Navigate to other locally-held formats on search results

To help users access all locally held formats from a default edition, libraries can configure other locally-held formats to display on search results. When viewing search results, WorldCat Discovery displays one link for each unique format locally held by your institution. This feature is available to all WorldCat Discovery subscribers. 

Configuration

Configure display of alternate formats on search results from OCLC Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > User Interface Options > General Display Settings > Display Alternate formats:

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Display of Other locally-held formats on WorldCat Discovery search results

When used in conjunction with the availability feature described above, other formats will display one of each locally-held format type that is not the same year as the representative citation OR the item represented in the physical availability on electronic items if that feature is enabled. When the publication date of the other locally held format is newer or older than the representative citation’s publication date, the interface will indicate “Newer” or “Older.” When the publication date of the other locally-held format is equal to, or date comparison cannot be determined, the Other format will show the format type with no indication of “Newer” or “Older.” The other local formats text will display as a hyperlink that will take users to the detail record of the item.

When used alone (without physical availability on electronic records, or regular availability settings) other formats will display one of each locally-held format type that is not the same year as the representative record citation. Other formats will only work when viewing brief results in the grouped list view.

This functionality will not be available on Course Reserves. The feature will be turned off by default until the summer of 2019.

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Quickly browse search results with high resolution cover art and aligned titles

Several improvements to the WorldCat Discovery interface will help improve the overall look and feel of  WorldCat Discovery, especially on mobile devices:

  • Larger cover art images
  • Improved alignment of title metadata on brief results
  • Cover art display on brief results of mobile views
  • Icon display for browsers and bookmarking on mobile and desktop

Cover Art

To help users identify materials, WorldCat Discovery displays higher resolution images. Cover art improvements will display automatically for all users on desktop, mobile and tablet views of WorldCat Discovery. No configuration is required. Larger cover art displays on search results, detailed views, and on WorldCat Discovery Course Reserves. In addition to the larger cover art images, title metadata displays in line with all of the search result metadata. 

Example of cover art on search results and text alignment:

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Example of mobile view display:

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Improved icon images for shortcuts and bookmarks

To help users identify and access WorldCat Discovery, WorldCat Discovery now provides icons that save to mobile devices, tablets, and desktops. This icon appears in browser tabs automatically and appears automatically as an icon when WorldCat Discovery is saved to a mobile or tablet devices as a shortcut. Display of the icon will require some configuration to display on desktop devices. 

Example of icon display in browser tab:

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Example of icon display on desktop:

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Icon display on mobile:

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Locate items in the library with StackMap integration

StackMap is an indoor mapping solution and way-finding tool designed to help users physically locate items and explore spaces. While institutions have had the ability to use StackMap through the Chrome browser extension, WMS users can now integrate StackMap directly within the WorldCat Discovery interface.

Configuration

Configure StackMap at OCLC Service Configuration >Third-Party Integrations >StackMap > “Display StackMap in WMS/WorldCat Discovery” on. Then enter the StackMap domain identifier specific to your institution:

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Next, select the holding code(s) supported by your StackMap subscription:

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Finally, select the desired display name of StackMap links (“Locate”, “Map It”, or “View Library Map”).

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Once StackMap is enabled, WorldCat Discovery will display links to a library map on the search results page along with the availability statement.  (You must configure item availability on search results to display StackMap links on search results.) Currently, these links display regardless of the availability status of the item:

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WorldCat Discovery displays StackMap links on detailed records:

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When a user clicks a StackMap link in either search results or a detailed record, a library map displays in a modal window:

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The map indicates the location of the item including any directions configured in StackMap. The library map modal window allows a user to zoom and view a printer-friendly version of the map:

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Save search box generator configuration for reuse 

Save custom search box configurations using the new search box generator in OCLC Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Search Box Generator:

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Bug fixes

Honor OCLC knowledge base provider sort order in WorldCat Discovery

The content provider sort order configured in WorldShare > Metasearch tab > Collection Manager module > Institution Settings > WorldCat Discovery > Display Order will now display correctly in WorldCat Discovery and A to Z list interfaces.

Improved accessibility for A to Z list buttons

When using a screen reader to navigate the A to Z list, the missing explanatory text in several of the citation buttons on the bottom of A to Z list detail and incoming link resolver views now displays correctly. Screen readers will now be able to read the following buttons.

  • Copy – will read “Copy”
  • Request Item (ILL button) – will read as text entered for display in Service Configuration

This setting can be found in worldcat.org/config>WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local>Place Hold/Request Buttons>Resource Sharing (Any Level)>Resource Sharing Button Label.

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Consistently link to titles from Editions and Formats in WorldCat Discovery detailed record views

Some users may have encountered the error message, “The search record cannot be retrieved at this time” when clicking through linked titles on the Edition and Formats section of WorldCat Discovery detailed records. This issue has been corrected.

New Content

This is a list of new databases added to WorldCat Discovery, WorldCat Local and WorldCat.org since our last update.

You can enable these databases as search options in the Licensed Content and Databases module of the OCLC Service Configuration site. Please remember that your library must have a valid subscription to these databases in order to enable them.

The complete list of databases is available at https://help.oclc.org/@api/deki/files/6370/contentlisttargetID.xlsx

Available in WorldCat Discovery, WorldCat Local and WorldCat.org

From Mediengruppe Deutscher Apotheker Verlag

Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag - The Berlin Scientific Publishing House (BWV) covers content in the areas of law, economics, business administration, administration, politics, history, cultural studies and philosophy.
Franz Steiner Verlag - Franz Steiner Verlag publishes a range of literature from ancient studies and history to geography.
S. Hirzel Verlag - Publisher of scientific works, especially in the fields of chemistry, physics and philosophy.

From Sage Publications

Data Planet Statistical Datasets - A large dynamic repository providing access to massive amounts of statistical data combined with descriptive content and a robust suite of visualization, search, and analysis capabilities on a single platform.

From Brill

International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law Online - The Encyclopedia is the first broad, systematic and international compendium of comparative law.

Available in WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local

From American Psychological Association

PsycEXTRA - PsycEXTRA proactively uncovers and presents new developments and research in psychology and the behavioral sciences.

Important links

Support website(s)

Support information for this product and related products can be found at: