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WorldCat Discovery release notes, January 2022

 

Release Date: January 10, 2022

Introduction

This release of WorldCat Discovery provides a number of new features and enhancements, including: 

  • A more compact remote database preview
  • Revised sorting of the Author search filter
  • A ‘View details’ link from the Access Options panel to group catalog holdings display

Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback. This release also includes numerous bug fixes.

New features and enhancements

More compact remote database preview

A more compact remote databases preview drawer allows users to easily review their search results while still being alerted to these additional resources.

The height of the drawer is reduced, and database names are truncated to one line followed by a rounded number of returned results. Database descriptions are no longer displayed.  The heading of the preview drawer depends on the database responses and is chosen using the following order of precedence:

At least 1 database that has:

Preview drawer heading

Returned results

Relevant matches exist in additional databases

Failed to return results

Visit these additional databases to view content that might match your search terms

Zero results

No matches exist in additional databases

 

When users click the ‘See all’ call to action, the drawer expands to display databases grouped under the above headings.

Remote databases preview drawer with databases that have returned results

Remotedbprevreduced1.png

Remote databases preview drawer before the enhancement

Remotedbprevbefore2.png

 

Revised sorting of the Author search filter

When the Author search filter initially displays, it now presents authors sorted by matching record count, highest first. Previously it presented them sorted alphabetically. If there is a Show More call to action and a user selects it to expand the filter, the authors are then sorted alphabetically.

If the expanded, alphabetically sorted view includes author names in multiple scripts, names in Latin script are presented first followed by those in other scripts.

Author filter Initial display sorted by count, highest first Author filter expanded display sorted alphabetically, Latin script first
Authorfilterinitialbycount.png AuthorfilterexpandedA-Z.png

 

‘View details’ link from Access Options panel to group catalog holdings display

Group catalog users can now more easily move to the group holdings display on the Item Details page from the Access Options panel via a new ‘View details’ link. The ‘View details’ link appears below the group holdings statement or availability display when there is no fulfilment option (ILL or Place Hold request button) configured, although an e-link or OpenURL resolver button may be present.

GroupcatAOpanelViewdetailslink1.png

 

View OCLC accessibility statement, cookie notice and information security management certificate

With this release users will be able to view OCLC’s cookie notice, accessibility statement and ISO 27001 information security management system certificate from links in the footer of WorldCat Discovery pages. These links join those previously available for OCLC copyright and privacy policies as well as the WorldCat service terms and conditions.

Footerlinks.png

 

Bug fixes

Link to reserved materials from a Course Reserves list

Users can now successfully link to any reserved material from a Course Reserves list without receiving an Oops! error. 

Previously, users received an Oops! error when linking to materials that had been added to Course Reserve lists from a search of multiple databases prior to modernization of the WorldCat Discovery interface.

Advanced Search scope honored

When your default search scope is configured to search only your own collections (level 1) and, on the Advanced search page, users change this to select Libraries Worldwide, that selection is now honored and search results scoped to libraries worldwide are returned.  Previously, the search scope reverted to the level 1 default.

New content

This is a list of new databases added to WorldCat Discovery 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 here.

Available in WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat.org

From Alexander Street

Academic Video Online: Premium – United Kingdom - Contains video titles spanning wide subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more.

Ethnographic Sound Archives Online (Video) - A collection of previously unpublished historic video recordings and their supporting field materials for the study of music in its cultural context.

Queer Pasts (Text) - A collection of primary source exhibits for students and scholars of queer history and culture.

Queer Pasts (Video) - A collection of videos for students and scholars of queer history and culture.

From Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Fashion Video Archive - Contains video of thousands of international fashion shows from hundreds of designers.

From Brill

Encyclopedia of Jewish Book Cultures Online - Being an encyclopedia on book cultures rather than book contents, this work places textuality and materiality of the book in the center of its investigation.

Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia Online - Incorporating the work of numerous leading scholars, the Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia provides a detailed description of the practice and implementation of international law in various Asian states.

From Now Publishers

Now Publishers - The collection contains: the Foundations and Trends review journals where each issue is a single in-depth review of a topic in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Business and Economics; and research journals in business, economics and political science.

From Schweizerbart/Borntraeger Science Publishers, Stuttgart

Schweizerbart-Borntraeger- Scholarly journals in the earth and environmental sciences, aquatic ecology, botany (including phycology, mycology, lichenology), anthropology, entomology and zoology.

Important links

Support website(s)

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

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.

Request ID