Thursday, February 23, 2012

WorldCat

WorldCat is not new to me, as I have searched for titles requested by our patrons.  However, I was not familiar with the other databases, so I did learn something new today!

For the first part of this exercise, I looked up a title a patron told me about recently:  The Winged Watchman, by Hilda Van Stockum.  It's a children's story about a Dutch wind mill operator and his family during World War II.  Of the 440 libraries that own a copy of the first record listed, Dakota State University is the only one in South Dakota.  The LC "number" for this book is PZ7.V36. 

When I did an author search for Hilda Van Stockum, WorldCat listed 145 items (131 books).  Our library owns one title that she authored (The Borrowed House), and one that she illustrated (Little Men).

For a subject search, I clicked on "Netherlands - History - German Occupation, 1940-1945 - Juvenile Fiction."  There are 83 items, 63 of which are books.  Students who enjoy historical fiction set in this time period have many choices!  We have access to the libraries of the world (literally!) when we use WorldCat!

OAIster is new to me.  I didn't even know it existed before this exercise.  It's been interesting to see what documents are available.  I'm not sure who will want to read some of the government reports, but it's good to know they are there.  I read part of a dissertation on pheasant hunting, and looked at a few old photographs as well.  I tried unsuccessfully to view more photos:  I kept getting an error message or the dread "webpage cannot be found" screen....

WorldCat has been a fun exercise.  I am now starting a list of titles to interlibrary loan when I have more time to read them!


1 comment:

  1. Hi, Miss Nancy! Thanks for your report. OAIster is for more serious researchers, and then, unfortunately, the access links are not always kept up. We enjoy your enthusiasm about WorldCat! (and that children's book sounds good--thanks for the tip)

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