WorldCat.org, the destination site that lets Web searchers discover materials in the collections of WorldCat-participating libraries, has introduced links to the WorldCat Identities service developed by OCLC Research.
WorldCat Identities presents an "identity" or profile of a particular person or company based on information and associations stored in the WorldCat bibliographic database. Profiled people can be authors, musicians, actors, directors and others in key creative roles; profiled companies can be publishers, film studios and other firms responsible for releasing a work.
Links to WorldCat Identities are now available beneath the Details tab of WorldCat.org records in the "About the Authors" section.
A WorldCat Identities profile includes an interactive publication timeline, audience level bar graph, links to the profiles of related people or companies, and a tag cloud of associated subject headings
WorldCat data in a different light
An Identities profile takes the holdings and metadata contributed by you, our cataloging member libraries, and uniquely re-uses them to create a reference page with broad appeal to Web users. Information available in an Identities profile relative to the profilee includes:
An overview with the total number of published titles, languages in which those titles are published, story genres, and roles the person has assumed (author, performer, narrator, etc.)
A timeline, displaying by year the number of publications either created by or about the profilee
A list of titles most owned by WorldCat libraries, with brief descriptions and selected cover art
A " tag cloud " of associated library subject headings
Links to other identities commonly associated with the current profilee
Many elements within an Identities profile—such as the timeline and tag cloud—link back to appropriate WorldCat.org item records or search results.
In the WorldCat.org interface, links to WorldCat Identities are now available beneath the Details tab of WorldCat.org item records in the "About the Authors" section. An Identities profile is presented in the same browser window, with a return link to the originating record.
Try out WorldCat Identites now!
View the WorldCat.org record for Star Wars Episode IV and click any of the names listed under Details > About the Authors.
More WorldCat news
• Links to British Library Direct document service added
Research journal articles discoverable on WorldCat.org now include links to the British Library Direct service, where electronic copies of the articles may be purchased. British Library Direct offers pay-as-you-go access to 20,000 international research journals in many fields.
Subject strengths include medicine, engineering, science, food and agriculture, economics, environment, law and education. Article text is delivered as a secure PDF document, typically within 24 hours, although 30 percent of articles are immediately available for download. Articles which cannot be downloaded on demand are offered with standard and premium options for delivery times.
Links to the service are provided in the "Get It" and "Buy This Item" zones of a WorldCat record page. Approximately 4.6 million British Library articles are currently indexed on WorldCat.org.
WorldCat.org is testing links to this service. During its test phase, article purchase prices are displayed in Pounds Sterling (£), although credit-card transactions will automatically convert to the card holder's home currency. U.S. Dollar ($) and Euro (€) pricing will be available following the test's completion.
