WorldCat Discovery release notes, June 2021

Configure availability to highlight a single location or display an availability summary

For institutions with holdings spread over many branches that do not wish to favor one branch over another, the modernized WorldCat Discovery interface will now offer a configuration to allow library staff to promote a single location or display an availability summary. This functionality will display on search results, local editions and formats, shelf browse, and on the item details page in the Access Options panel. 

This setting can be found in OCLC Service Configuration: WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Loca l> Search Settings > Search Results Settings > Promote a single location.

This setting will be enabled by default. When the setting is enabled, the modernized interface displays the first available item as displayed in the image below.

When this setting is disabled, users searching the WorldCat Discovery’s modernized interface will always see the availability summary when items exist at more than one location held by their local institution.

Please note: When this setting is disabled, if there is only one location present for the record, the modernized interface will display that location’s first available item rather than a summary in order to help the user quickly understand the item is only available at that single location. 

Local Holding Records holdings summary will display alongside availability when present

WorldCat Discovery users viewing records with multiple parts, volumes or issues can now see the unique holdings summary on search results, local editions and formats, shelf browse and the Access Options panel on item details to quickly help them understand which items their library holds. This is shown in the images below.  

Search results: 

Access Panel: 

The holdings summary will display when a unique holdings summary has been entered in Connexion or WorldShare Record Manager individually or by data loads, or built using the automated holdings summary feature in WorldShare Record Manager to describe the contents of the local holdings record/s.  

If the holdings summary exceeds one line, where availability displays on search results and item details, users will see a truncated display followed by an ellipsis. 

Group Catalog holdings display prominently on item details in the modernized Discovery interface

The Group Catalog item details display has been modified so availability/holding information for libraries in the group catalog scope is now embedded in the main item details page. This has been moved from the Libraries Worldwide holdings drawer, making it easier for users of the group catalog to identify holding libraries for each item. This change was made in collaboration with administrators of Group Catalogs on WorldCat Discovery.   

When users navigate to item details, they will see group information displayed under metadata details as in the following image.

New link to locally held editions and formats in search results  

We have added information about the local editions and formats for an item even if this information is not promoted on the search results. Today we promote only formats that differ from the representative record in the local editions and formats section, when applicable. A new link will display a count of all local editions and lead to the editions and formats drawer which shows all editions available locally, within the group, and from libraries worldwide. This will show WorldCat Discovery users other items held by their institution regardless of the representative edition or format. 

Color configuration for navigational bar and visited/unvisited links now available for modernized interface

Updated OCLC Customer Support contact information on WorldCat Discovery’s feedback form

To better support our global members, we have updated the feedback form to connect with the best customer support methods for your region. When you have enabled the feature to report feedback regarding the WorldCat Discovery website in OCLC Service Configuration: WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > ILS Support and Maintenance > User Suppor t> Feedback form, you will now see a link to the OCLC Customer support page rather than the US-based toll-free number, as in the image below.

Improved anchored paging on item details availability in modernized WorldCat Discovery

When library users navigate to the detailed view of a record with multiple pages of items, paging through the item availability table will take the user to the top of the next section of the table, as shown in the image below. Prior to this release, when paging through item details users would be anchored at the bottom of the table each time they paged through items, creating an undesirable focus for users browsing the table in sequence.

Holdings summary exceeding one line will be truncated for better display

Institutions reported an issue with lengthy holdings summary statements that were not displaying properly. This release addresses this issue, so the summary is now truncated after three lines in the search results and one line in the Access Options panel, followed by an ellipsis.

Available in WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat.org

From Alexander Street

BBC: Britain at War - A collection of video looking at Britain through a century of wartime conflicts. Beginning with WWI and spanning all the way through recent conflicts, such as Afghanistan, this resource will provide students with a sweeping, historical look at BBC’s unparalleled coverage of these events.

BBC: Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000, edited by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu and Rebecca Plant, 2021 Edition - The database brings together innovative scholarship, primary documents, books, images, essays, book and website reviews, teaching tools, and more.

Support websites

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

• WorldCat Discovery support resources  
• WorldCat Discovery training
• Release notes
• OCLC customer support
• OCLC Community Center
• Browser compatibility chart

Include Request ID with problem reports

When reporting an issue with WorldCat Discovery, it is extremely helpful to include the Request ID. The Request ID is found at the bottom of the screen on which the issue occurred. Including this information allows us to directly trace what happened on the request we are troubleshooting.