WorldCat Discovery release notes, 21 May 2025

Allow users to opt-out of search history tracking in their My Account profile

Overview
Authenticated users can now opt out of search history tracking through the My Account profile page. This enhancement supports user privacy by giving individuals greater control over how their search activity is retained.

Details
If an institution has enabled search history tracking, users will see a new “Search history” toggle under the Profile section in My Account.

• The toggle is on by default, meaning search history is enabled and will be saved.
• Users can switch the toggle off at any time to opt out of search history tracking.

• Disabling Search History tracking immediately deletes existing search history and prevents future searches from being recorded.
•  When tracking is disabled, a message appears under the Search Activity tab, along with a link to the Profile page where users can re-enable tracking if desired.

Configuration
This feature is only available when search history tracking is enabled by the institution in Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Display Settings > Search history. No additional configuration is needed to display the user opt-out option once search history is active.    

Customize My Account header and footer menu in Discovery for Checkouts, Requests, and Fees

Overview
Institutions can now configure which modules under My Account in the header and footer menus of WorldCat Discovery, giving control over whether Checkouts, Requests, and Fees sections are visible to users. This ensures users only see information relevant to their experience.

Details
Previously, the My Account menu always displayed Circulation sections like Checkouts, Requests, and Fees, even when no data was available. This could confuse patrons, particularly at institutions using non-WMS circulation systems. With this update, institutions can now choose to hide these sections based on their specific needs.

Configuration
By default, all sections are enabled but can be configured here: Service Configuration > My Account > Display Settings.

Expand searches to include book reviews and news articles in redesigned Advanced Search

Overview
Users can now expand their searches on the redesigned Advanced Search page to include book reviews and news articles. These expansions allow users to easily broaden their search results to discover a wider range of materials.

Details
New options are now available under the "Expand Results" section on the redesigned Advanced Search page, allowing users to include book reviews and news articles in their search results. The availability of these options is controlled by the same institution-level settings that manage the "Expand Results" filters on the search results page. Institutions that have already enabled expansion to include book reviews and/or news articles will automatically see these options available on the redesigned Advanced Search page as well.
If these settings are not enabled at the institution level, the options will not appear to users.

Configuration
The existing institution-level settings that allow users to expand results to include book reviews and/or news articles now apply to both the search results page and the redesigned Advanced Search page. The setting can be managed in Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Search Settings > Search expansion settings

Limit recommended and default index drop-down menus to only display indexes supported by selected databases

Overview
When configuring the default and recommended indexes for redesigned Advanced Search, library staff can now choose search indexes from a filtered list that includes only those supported by the institution’s default database(s). This ensures that end users see the intended indexes on the Advanced Search page.

Details
Previously, the index selection drop-down menus displayed all available indexes, even if some were not supported by the institution’s default database(s). With this enhancement, those drop-down menus now show only the indexes supported by database(s) set in Service Configuration > Metasearch Content > Default Databases and Licensed Content > Group Configured Databases > Default Database / Group. 

If a selected index later becomes unsupported due to a change in database selection, the system will continue to fall back to “Keyword.”

Configuration
Default and recommended indexes for redesigned Advanced Search can be configured here: Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Search Settings > Advanced search settings > Advanced search default search indexes (and Advanced search recommended indexes)

Save time implementing locally preferred search expansion with wildcards

Overview
Library staff can now use wildcards in the local search expansion template, giving staff greater flexibility when configuring locally preferred subject mappings. This enhancement simplifies setup and maintenance by allowing partial matches, reducing the need to list every variation of a subject heading individually.

Details
Wildcards are supported in the User Entered Search Query column of the mapping template, allowing library staff to expand user searches using flexible pattern matching, not just exact terms. This helps map locally preferred terminology to outdated or less inclusive subject headings, even when user queries include additional words or variations.

 Note: For libraries using Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, a subject heading needs to be encased by two asterisks to allow for sub-string replacements like so: **term**

In the example below, the locally preferred term noncitizen* has been mapped to the subject heading illegal alien in the Local subject re-mapping template.

When a user searches for "noncitizen children", the system automatically expands the search to also include "illegal alien children" . This ensures results reflect both the library's locally preferred terminology and the standard subject heading, improving discoverability and inclusivity.

Configuration

If you’ve already uploaded a local search expansion template that contains wildcard terms, no additional configuration is needed. The system will automatically recognize and apply wildcard logic when matching user queries.

If you have not yet enabled local search expansion, that can be configured in Service Configuration > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Search Settings > Search expansion settings.

1. Make sure both Related Terms and Local Search Expansion are toggled On.
2. Upload the Local subject re-mapping template. 

Product website

More product information can be found here.

WorldCat Discovery events

• https://community.oclc.org/t5/worldcat-discovery-events/eb-p/worldcat-discovery-events

Support websites

• WorldCat Discovery support resources  
• WorldCat Discovery training
• Release notes
• OCLC customer support
• 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.