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OCLC Support

About direct links from Google Search

Learn how to locate and use direct links from Google search to locate items in your catalog.

Overview

OCLC and Google are working together to link web searchers directly from books they discover through Google Search results to book records in your catalog. This new initiative connects people using Google Search to the catalogs of hundreds of US libraries for access to books in library collections. The knowledge panel in search results will feature libraries closest to searchers to help them find resources in libraries familiar to them.

The new library links are part of OCLC's web visibility program that enables you to reach people who usually begin their searches on search engines and nonlibrary websites such as Google Books, Wikipedia, and Goodreads. The feature is also part of Google's ongoing effort to connect users with their local libraries through Google Search.

Direct links from Google Search results

The links to library catalogs can be found on two different Google Search results screens.

Screen name Image Description
Google search results screen Screenshot of the Read now section of Google search results with the Borrow button called out After searching for a book in Google, locate the Read now section in the knowledge panel on the right side of your search results.
  1. Click Borrow under Read now in the knowledge panel on the right side of your search results.
  2. Find a nearby library and click Borrow. You will be directed to the library's catalog.
Google Books search results screen Screenshot of the Get the book screen in Google Books with the Borrow link called out After searching for a book in Google Books:
  1. Locate the title or edition you're looking for and then click the book title.
  2. Click Get the book under the title.
  3. Find a nearby library under the BORROW section and click Borrow. You will be directed to the library's catalog.