Editing WorldCat (section)

=={{anchor|Identifier}}History==
[[OCLC]] was founded in 1967 under the leadership of [[Fred Kilgour]].<ref name="Fox">{{cite news|author=Margalit Fox|title=Frederick G. Kilgour, Innovative Librarian, Dies at 92|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/us/02kilgour.html|quote=Frederick G. Kilgour, a distinguished librarian who nearly 40 years ago transformed a consortium of Ohio libraries into what is now the largest library cooperative in the world, making the catalogs of thousands of libraries around the globe instantly accessible to far-flung patrons, died on Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 92.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 2, 2006|access-date=2009-12-22|author-link=Margalit Fox|archive-date=April 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425035646/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/us/02kilgour.html|url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, OCLC began to develop the union catalog technology that would later evolve into WorldCat; the first catalog records were added in 1971.<ref name="Fox" /><ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/catalog/timeline.en.html|title=A brief history of WorldCat|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=February 10, 2015|website=oclc.org|access-date=February 13, 2014|archive-date=March 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318100413/http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/catalog/timeline.en.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, OCLC began the "Open WorldCat" pilot program, making abbreviated records from a subset of WorldCat available to partner web sites and booksellers, to increase the accessibility of its subscribing member libraries' collections.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=O'Neill|first=Nancy|date=Nov–Dec 2004|title=Open WorldCat Pilot: A User's Perspective|journal=Searcher|language=en|volume=12|issue=10|pages=54–60|oclc=201889986|issn=1070-4795}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Quint |first=Barbara |date=October 27, 2003 |title=OCLC project opens WorldCat records to Google |url=http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/OCLC-Project-Opens-WorldCat-Records-to-Google-16592.asp |website=infotoday.com |publisher=[[Information Today]] |access-date=2019-06-26 |archive-date=April 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411194752/http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/OCLC-Project-Opens-WorldCat-Records-to-Google-16592.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a [[wiki]] project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/wikid.html|title=WikiD|publisher=OCLC|language=en-US|access-date=March 5, 2015|archive-date=September 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912070425/http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/wikid.html|url-status=live}}</ref> WikiD was later phased out, although WorldCat later incorporated [[user-generated content]] in other ways.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/publications/newsletters/nextspace/nextspace_007.pdf|title=A WorldCat community: using WorldCat.org to build a social network of the world's library users|last=Storey|first=Tom|date=September 2007|journal=NextSpace|access-date=2019-06-26|publisher=OCLC|issue=7|pages=16–17|issn=1559-0011|quote=Online ratings, tags, reviews, recommendations, lists, rankings, personal profiles—the social media revolution is here. It seems the world has exploded with Web 2.0, social networking tools and sites.|archive-date=August 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808053500/https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/publications/newsletters/nextspace/nextspace_007.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bertot |first1=John Carlo |last2=Berube |first2=Katy |last3=Devereaux |first3=Peter |last4=Dhakal |first4=Kerry |last5=Powers |first5=Stephen |last6=Ray |first6=Jennie |date=April 2012 |title=Assessing the usability of WorldCat Local: findings and considerations |journal=[[The Library Quarterly]] |volume=82 |issue=2 |pages=207–221 |doi=10.1086/664588 |jstor=10.1086/664588 |s2cid=61287720 |quote=Breeding [2] also makes the following observations about the benefits of the search system: the presence of a more visually appealing interface; the grouping of related material; faceted navigation; and the capability for user-generated content (e.g., reviews). Eden [3] also refers to the advantages of user-generated content possible in WCL...}}</ref>

In 2006, it became possible for anyone to search WorldCat directly at its open website WorldCat.org,<ref name="Hane">{{cite web |last=Hane |first=Paula J. |date=July 17, 2006 |title=OCLC to open WorldCat searching to the world |url=http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/OCLC-to-Open-WorldCat-Searching-to-the-World-16951.asp |website=infotoday.com |publisher=[[Information Today]] |access-date=2019-06-26 |archive-date=May 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510194419/http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/OCLC-to-Open-WorldCat-Searching-to-the-World-16951.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> not only through the subscription FirstSearch interface where it had been available on the web to subscribing libraries for more than a decade before.<ref>{{cite book |last=Prucha |first=Francis Paul |date=1994 |chapter=National online library catalogs |title=Handbook for research in American history: a guide to bibliographies and other reference works |edition=2nd |location=Lincoln |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/handbookforresea0002pruc/page/25 25–27] |isbn=0803237014 |oclc=28018047 |quote=Online Computer Library Center has developed two new programs. One is called EPIC, a new command-driven full online service with sophisticated searching features, including subject searches, intended for librarians and other experienced users. The other, designed for end-users, is FirstSearch, which contains the database materials found in EPIC or subsets of them but has a menu interface that nonspecialists find easy to use. Both EPIC and FirstSearch make available the full OCLC Online Union Catalog (called WorldCat in FirstSearch), but they also function as online database services, offering their users a wide array of other databases.}}</ref> Options for more sophisticated searches of WorldCat have remained available through the FirstSearch interface.<ref name="Hane"/>

In 2007, WorldCat Identities began providing pages for 20 million "identities", which are [[metadata]] about names—predominantly authors and persons who are the subjects of published titles.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/publications/newsletters/nextspace/nextspace_006.pdf|title=WorldCat Identities: Another View of the Catalog|last=Hickey|first=Thomas B.|date=April 15, 2007|journal=NextSpace|access-date=2016-01-18|publisher=OCLC|issue=6|pages=18–19|issn=1559-0011|archive-date=October 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017161919/http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/publications/newsletters/nextspace/nextspace_006.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, OCLC's WorldCat Search [[Application programming interface|API]] was integrated into the cite tool of Wikipedia's [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]], allowing Wikipedia editors to cite sources from WorldCat easily.<ref>{{cite web |title=OCLC and Wikipedia Library link citations to millions of library materials, expanding access to quality sources |url=https://www.oclc.org/es/news/releases/2017/201713dublin.html |date=May 11, 2017 |publisher=OCLC |website=oclc.org |access-date=April 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209200200/http://www.oclc.org/en/news/releases/2017/201713dublin.html |archive-date=December 9, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Orlowitz |first=Jake |date=May 11, 2017 |title=You can now add automatically generated citations to millions of books on Wikipedia |url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/11/wikimedia-oclc-partnership/ |website=blog.wikimedia.org |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |access-date=April 25, 2020 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523132555/https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/11/wikimedia-oclc-partnership/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Beginning in 2017, OCLC and the [[Internet Archive]] have collaborated to make the Internet Archive's records of digitized books available in WorldCat.<ref>{{cite web |last=Michalko |first=Jim |date=October 12, 2017 |title=Syncing Catalogs with thousands of Libraries in 120 Countries through OCLC |url=https://blog.archive.org/2017/10/12/syncing-catalogs-with-thousands-of-libraries-in-120-countries-through-oclc/ |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] Blogs |access-date=2020-07-18}}</ref>

In May 2022, OCLC announced WorldCat Entities, a new infrastructure for [[library linked data]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Gary |date=May 24, 2022 |title=OCLC releases more than 150 million WorldCat Entities as the foundation of a linked data infrastructure |website=[[InfoDocket]] |url=https://www.infodocket.com/2022/05/24/oclc-releases-more-than-150-million-worldcat-entities-as-the-foundation-of-a-linked-data-infrastructure/ |access-date=March 25, 2023 |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325205218/https://www.infodocket.com/2022/05/24/oclc-releases-more-than-150-million-worldcat-entities-as-the-foundation-of-a-linked-data-infrastructure/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Find WorldCat Entities to improve resource discoverability through connections |website=OCLC |url=https://www.oclc.org/en/worldcat/oclc-and-linked-data/worldcat-entities.html |access-date=2023-03-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524194654/https://www.oclc.org/en/worldcat/oclc-and-linked-data/worldcat-entities.html |archive-date=2022-05-24}}</ref> Maintenance of WorldCat Identities was suspended and the service will be discontinued as it is being replaced by WorldCat Entities.<ref>{{cite web |title=WorldCat Identities |website=OCLC |date=March 9, 2023 |url=https://www.oclc.org/research/areas/data-science/identities.html |access-date=2023-03-15 |quote=The research prototype application is no longer supported or maintained&nbsp;... We have taken the findings of the research effort and used them to start to build the WorldCat Entities data. These new Entities and their persistent URIs will serve as the foundation for future linked data services similar to those explored in the Identities Research work. |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325204006/https://www.oclc.org/research/areas/data-science/identities.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In August 2022, OCLC launched a "redesigned and reimagined" WorldCat.org website with the stated goal "to offer greater accessibility to the collections".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.infodocket.com/2022/08/24/wc/#:~:text=The%20new%20WorldCat.org%20site,of%20hundreds%20of%20U.S.%20libraries. |first=Gary |last=Price |title=OCLC Officially Announces the Launch of a 'Redesigned and Reimagined' WorldCat.org |website=[[InfoDocket]] |date=2022-08-24 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829185846/https://www.infodocket.com/2022/08/24/wc/#:~:text=The%20new%20WorldCat.org%20site,of%20hundreds%20of%20U.S.%20libraries. |url-status=live }}</ref> The website now requires the use of [[JavaScript]] and is therefore no longer accessible for users of older web browsers or those that have [[:MW:No-JavaScript notes|JavaScript disabled]] for [[JavaScript#Security|security reasons]]. The update also removed users' book reviews and replaced them with reviews from [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] subsidiary [[GoodReads]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldcat.org/faq |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=WorldCat |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829193705/https://www.worldcat.org/faq |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2023, [[Anna's Archive]] [[Web scraping|scraped]] and began distributing the whole WorldCat database and was subsequently sued by OCLC in January 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van der Sar |first=Ernesto |date=2024-02-07 |title=Lawsuit Accuses Anna's Archive of Hacking WorldCat, Stealing 2.2 TB Data |url=https://torrentfreak.com/lawsuit-accuses-annas-archive-of-hacking-worldcat-stealing-2-2-tb-data-240207/ |website=[[TorrentFreak]] |access-date=2024-03-17 |language=en}}</ref>