1. How to Get to WorldCat When to Use WorldCat
 Go to the library’s website:  WorldCat is most useful for searching U. Grant Miller
http://www.washjeff.edu/library for items in other libraries’ catalogs. Library
 Click on “Databases” in the gray Quick  If you only want to search the catalog
Links box.
of your library, go to your library’s
website to access its catalog.
Features of WorldCat
Help Guide
There are black circular buttons in the gray
bar at the top of most pages that provide
extra functionality to the database.
 Subjects: Type in any word or concept.
WorldCat
You can expand subjects to broader or
 Scroll down to the bottom of the list. narrower topics. Clicking on a subject
 WorldCat is the second to last database term will display items related to that WorldCat is a database that
listed. subject. combines bibliographic
 Click on the title “WorldCat” in red.  Related Subjects: Gives a list of related
subjects and a percentage of how records of books, DVDs,
closely related they are to the current CDs, and more from
search. thousands of libraries
 Related Authors: Gives a list of related
authors and a percentage of how closely
around the world. WorldCat
related they are to the current search. is the world’s largest
 E-mail Bib: Email the bibliographic catalog, allowing you to
record(s) to yourself or someone else. search through 1.5 billion
 The database will open in a new tab or  Print: Print the bibliographic record(s).
window.  Export: Export the bibliographic
items.
 The database opens on the Advanced record(s) to EndNote, RefWorks, or a
Search form. text file.
Washington & Jefferson College

2. How to Use WorldCat  You can limit by publication year, language, Results
and the number of libraries’ catalogs the
 Use the Advanced Search form to get the item appears in (i.e. selecting “5 or more”  You can rank your results by number of
best results. will limit to the rarest items whereas “500 or libraries, relevance, date, and accession
 Type your search terms in the search more” will limit to only the most common number. This option changes how the
boxes and select fields from the drop-down items). results are displayed when you click on
menus. the Search button.
The question mark,
Select rank from the
Type the year(s) Select the language located next to several
drop-down menu
Select fields, like and number of libraries search features,
Type search terms provides definitions of
here keyword, author, title,
etc. here the limiters you can
 You can limit by audience (juvenile and select
non-juvenile), content (fiction, non-fiction,
biography, thesis, musical recording, and  The results page has tabs along the top
non-musical recording), and format (large where you can choose to see only certain
print, braille, CD, VHS, DVD, etc). types of materials, like books or visual.
 There are many limits you can place on  Each result includes the title in blue, the
your search. author, publication information, document
 The limiter you are most likely to use is the information (i.e. English, book, fiction), and
type of material. how many libraries have that item.
 Check boxes next to the types you want to Select from the drop-
search for, like books, visual materials, or down menus
maps.
 You can also limit to just items in your
library’s catalog at W & J. We don’t
recommend checking this box because you
Symbol of what type of
can use the Geotom Catalog from the material the item is
library’s website to access our items.
WorldCat should be used to find items at
other libraries.  Click on the title to get more detailed
information about the item, including what
libraries own a copy
 In the item’s detailed record, your search
terms will be highlighted in yellow.
Check boxes to select
different materials
 Don’t check this box!