Foo Dog Brewing
OVERVIEW:
WorldCat Discovery is a powerful, cloud-based Web-Scale Discovery (WSD) service provided by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). It serves as a modern, single search platform for a library's users, replacing the need to search multiple databases and catalogs individually.
Since 1971, OCLC staff and librarians all over the world have contributed, enhanced, and maintained records within WorldCat. These records are shared among library catalogs and back‑office systems to save library staff significant time, helping library users find the resources they need.
ROLES:
XD
Visual Design
INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND:
The primary function of WorldCat Discovery is to provide a unified, Google-like search experience that allows library patrons to simultaneously search the library's own physical collection of local holdings (books, media) and licensed electronic resources (e-journals, databases).
It also leverages the strength of The Global Network (WorldCat), which is the world's largest bibliographic database, containing records for materials held by thousands of OCLC member libraries worldwide (the union catalog).
It includes both unique and widely held items from library collections around the world. From bestsellers to local history artifacts, from microfilm to streaming media, WorldCat puts your entire collection in front of researchers globally.
The library search engine landscape is primarily defined by a few major commercial and non-profit companies that provide discovery services to academic and public libraries.
Key vendors in the space include EBSCO (with its EBSCO Discovery Service, or EDS) and Clarivate (through its Ex Libris brands, offering Primo and Summon), with OCLC being a significant non-profit player.
These platforms create a single search index across a library's vast collection of print, electronic, and digital resources, offering relevance-ranked results to streamline research for patrons.
The market is constantly evolving, with increasing integration of new technologies like linked data and support for open-source systems such as FOLIO and Koha, aiming to improve the user experience and library operational efficiency.
