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Search for an entity

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Discover how to search for an entity and view search results in WorldCat Entities.

Search for an entity

The search box is available on all screens of the user interface and allows you to quickly find WorldCat entities. 

Important notes about searching:

  • The search returns entitiy results from their label, description, and aliases.
  • Results in the set language of the user interface will be returned first, if available.
  1. Click in the search text box at the center or top of the screen and type in your search term.
  2. Click Search or press <Enter>.
    • You can view 10-100 results per page. To set the number of results you see per page, expand Results Per Page at the bottom of the list to choose a quantity:
      • 10
      • 25
      • 50
      • 75
      • 100

         Note: If the search results extend past the chosen quantity, use the navigation narrows at the top and bottom of the results list to view more

  3. On the search results screen, click an Entity Label to open it in the entity viewer. 

Search resultsOverview of the search results screen for a search of Maya Angelou

1. Results 

The number of results you receive and your place in the results list appears at the top and bottom of the results list. 

2. Sort by 

Use the options in the Sort by drop-down list to determine in which order your search results appear.

  • Relevance (default) - Relevance is the result of a ranking scheme
  • Entity Label (Ascending) - Lists entities by entity label in alphabetical order
  • Entity Label (Descending) - Lists entities by entity label in reverse alphabetical order
  • Entity Type (Ascending) - Lists entities by entity type in alphabetical order
  • Entity Type (Descending) - Lists entities by entity type in reverse alphabetical order

3. Entity Type

Use the facets to filter your results by entity type. A facet will only show if there is a result of that entity type returned. For more information on the available entity types, see the WorldCat Entity guidelines and standards.

4. Search results 

The search results table contains the following columns:

  • Entity Label - The entity label as entered in the Key Information of the entity.
    • Click on the Copy URI icon (WCEntities_copy_uri_icon.png) to copy the entity's Universal Resource Identifier without opening the entity.
    • Click on the Entity Label to open it and view the entity data.
  • Entity Type - The entity type as entered in the Key Information of the entity.
  • Description - A brief description of the entity as entered in the Key Information of the entity.