WorldCat Discovery release notes, August 2021
Release Date: August 26, 2021
Introducción
This release of WorldCat Discovery provides a number of new features and enhancements to the modernized WorldCat Discovery interface. These features will help you manage more complex workflows, including:
- Configure default sort of availability detail
- Search Expansion favors broader search recall
- Additional 19 million items available for use in the Open Access filter
- Subject vocabulary grouping display includes new ontology
- Share action includes sender's email for easy reply
- Improved formatting on the "Copy Link" action
- Improved visibility of the search box when a light brand color is configured
Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback.
Recommended actions
For this release, we recommend that you review the following checklists and complete the relevant tasks so that you can adjust your policies and workflows and train your staff. These checklists identify updates that we have determined as significant for most institutions. We encourage you to review all of the items in the release notes to determine whether there are other items that might require additional action or follow up by your institution.
Configure default sort of availability detail: This setting can be found in OCLC Service Configuration: WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Item Detail Settings > Availability Detail Sort Options.
Follow-up actions
In an effort to keep your staff informed of new features and changes, you may want to review these enhancements with them.
New features and enhancements
Configure default sort of availability detail
WMS libraries and WorldCat Discovery Premium libraries with real-time availability will now be able to configure a default sort order within the availability detail table for each branch/holding location on the item details page.
Previously the default sort was by Status ascending meaning that items with statuses treated as Available (green check mark) were listed first, sorted alphanumerically, followed by items with statuses treated as Unavailable (red no symbol/prohibition sign), sorted alphanumerically.
While users could already re-sort the table in either ascending or descending order by clicking the head of each column (Shelving Location, Call Number, Status), libraries may now configure one of six sort options as the default:
- Número de llamada ascendente
- Número de llamada descendente
- Ubicación de la estantería ascendente
- Ubicación de la estantería descendente
- Estado ascendente
- Estado descendente
Las clasificaciones por número de llamada y ubicación en estantería son alfanuméricas:
- ascending 0 to 9, A to Z
- descending Z to A, 9 to 0
These default sort options can be found in OCLC Service Configuration: WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Item Detail Settings > Availability Detail Sort Options.
The screen below shows sort by Shelving location ascending:
Search Expansion favors broader search recall
To broaden search recall on search expansions that use authority vocabularies, the following changes have been made:
Keyword index searches no longer expand on subject-specific indexes
When the user searches over the keyword index, all search expansions will use the keyword index instead of limiting to a narrower index. This will ensure matching phrases from uncontrolled vocabularies (such as many central index provider subject headings).
Authority vocabulary expansions no longer use an unanchored phrase search
Search expansions will no longer search as unanchored phrases (e.g. “unanchored phrase”). Instead, they will search as keywords over the appropriate index. This will ensure that terms that are separated by subfields return in the search results.
Additional 19 million items available for use in the Open Access filter
The following databases are now available for use in the Open Access filter:
- Europeana
- Biblioteca Abierta de Humanidades
- Revistas de UCL Press
- Wolters Kluwer Medknow
Subject vocabulary grouping display includes new ontology
The item details subject groupings will now display the Gender, Sex, and Sexual Orientation (GSSO) subject vocabulary name:
Share action includes sender's email for easy reply
When sharing an item from the “Share” action on search results or item details pages, the email sent will now include the sender’s email (“Your Email”) to you and the recipients. The sender’s email is included in the ‘To’ line of the email for easy reply.
Improved formatting on the "Copy Link" action
When sharing an item from the “Share” action on search results or item details pages, the “Copy Link” functionality will now generate a link without the grey background.
Improved visibility of the search box when a light brand color is configured
An outline color has been added to improve the visibility of the search box across WorldCat Discovery and better comply with accessibility.
BEFORE
AFTER RELEASE
New Content
This is a list of new databases added to WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat.org since our last update.
You can enable these databases as search options in the Licensed Content and Databases module of the OCLC Service Configuration site. Please remember that your library must have a valid subscription to these databases in order to enable them.
The complete list of databases is available here.
Available in WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat.org
From Accessible Archives, Inc.
The Oglethorpe Barrage (Trench and Camp-Chattanooga Daily Times) - U.S. military camp newspaper printed in Tennessee.
From American Psychiatric Association Publishing
PsychiatryOnline - PsychiatryOnline is a powerful web-based portal that features DSM-5®—the most widely used psychiatric reference in the world—and The American Journal of Psychiatry as the cornerstones of an unsurpassed collection of psychiatric references from American Psychiatric Publishing, the most trusted and respected name in psychiatric publishing.
From Europeana
Europeana - Millions of openly licensed digital records from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives. The collections feature content in all media formats (images/text/audio/video/3D), in over 20 languages, and on various themes, including artworks, photographs, fashion designs, 3D images, maps, newspapers, and more.
From RMIT Publishing
Informit EduTV - An online streaming resource designed for Australian tertiary institutions. Includes documentaries, drama, and series from various TV channels.
Informit TVNews - Provides access to Australian television news services as well as current affairs and documentary shows.
Important links
Support website(s)
Support information for this product and related products can be found at:
Include Request ID with problem reports
When reporting an issue with WorldCat Discovery, it is extremely helpful to include the Request ID. The Request ID is found at the bottom of the screen on which the issue occurred. Including this information allows us to directly trace what happened on the request we are troubleshooting.
