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Searching WorldCat

WorldCat is the combined union catalog of thousands of libraries in the US and across the world, comprising millions of records in 400 languages. Cataloged materials range from before 1000 BC up to this year's publications and include these formats:

Use WorldCat:

• For a comprehensive view of book-length publications on your subject, in- or out-of-print
• To initiate an Interlibrary Loan request for an item not held at Wheaton
• To locate content-rich web sites that have been cataloged by OCLC member libraries
• To locate audio/visual or archival materials for off-campus research

Connect to WorldCat from the drop-down menu on the Library Home Page.

Basic Search

Limit by: document type, items at Wheaton
Rank by: number of libraries holding item, relevance, date.

TIP: If you know the exact form of the author name used or the full title, use Advanced Search to search in the Author Phrase or Title Phrase field. In Author Phrase, search for last name first (ex: Clooney, Francis Xavier.). Click Browse Index icon to verify the precise form of name that is used-it does matter.

Advanced Search

. . .Adds many choices to the above, including Subject, Publisher, Genre/Form Phrase, Conference Name, and ISBN. To browse the terms included in each index, click on the Browse Index icon (to the right of pulldown menus). Use Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT in pulldown menus to combine terms.

Limit by: year, language, number of libraries, document type, items at Wheaton or other libraries
Rank by: number of libraries holding item, relevance, date.
Subtype limits allow you to limit by audience (juvenile vs. nonjuvenile), content (for example: fiction, biography, etc.), and specific format (for example: CD audio, DVD video, etc.).

TIP: Click Related Subjects or Related Authors to see which Library of Congress Subject Headings or authors appeared most frequently in your results. Follow links or click to select sets of subjects or authors to search (this is an "OR" search).

Truncation & Wildcards

Marking, Printing. Emailing & Exporting Records

Mark records: click box to left of a record in browse list or the box provided in an individual record.
Print records: click Print icon (at top & bottom of screen). Use dialog box to print from browser.
Email records: click Email icon, type in address, and click Send. (To email for use in EndNote, choose plain text; set line length to 72,; choose detailed record if desired. Click on Send.)
Use Direct Export (for EndNote and similar applications): mark records, click on Export, and Export once again. Having the correct, up-to-date filter installed is important.

Does Wallace Own It?

You see:	Answer:
WHEATON COL next to records in browse list or within record	Wheaton owns. To see HELIN record (which contains the full call number and availability information), click on the link "Connect to the catalog at your library" from within the individual WorldCat record.
No Wheaton College icon	Wheaton does not own this edition. Click on the link "Search for versions with same title and author" to find other potentially suitable editions that Wallace may in fact own. Alternatively, click on "Connect to the catalog at your library" within an individual record and perform title search in HELIN.To initiate Interlibrary Loan Request: click on ILL, complete & send form (which goes to Wallace Library ILL staff). Not all items in WorldCat may be borrowed--typically AV materials and very new/rare/old/delicate items are not lent out, even when an ILL form is completed.

For additional help, contact any Reference Librarian, call Reference at x3700--or visit Wallace Library during Reference Desk Hours!

This page is maintained by TJ Sondermann. Last updated on 1/22/07.
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