OCLC and Yahoo! provide the ability to search the Web and the
richest database of items in libraries with a co-branded toolbar
 OCLC,
the world’s largest library cooperative, and Yahoo! Inc., a
leading global Internet company, today announced a pilot program
that leverages the strength of the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Search
to enable consumers to explore the Web and WorldCat® (the OCLC
Online Union Catalog) database. The program offers consumers a co-branded
toolbar that provides one-click access to 2 million of the most
popular records found in WorldCat, a central catalog of library
holdings created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000
libraries. WorldCat includes books, movies and audio files.
The Yahoo!/OCLC toolbar is a project associated with Open WorldCat,
a new OCLC initiative designed to increase the online visibility
of libraries and their collections. OCLC will be promoting the co-branded
toolbar on its website, providing consumers access to information
previously only available from within libraries. The toolbar enables
consumers to narrow their search results to the WorldCat database
and helps them locate libraries in their vicinity that have the
record they are looking for. OCLC and Yahoo! will work together
to increase accessibility to more of WorldCat’s 57 million
records as they become available.
“The Open WorldCat program has gained traction and support
in the library community because libraries recognize the need for
greater visibility on the Web,” said Phyllis B. Spies, Vice
President, OCLC Collection Management Services. “The Yahoo!
Toolbar with WorldCat searching will help us build on that momentum
by making it easy to search for WorldCat content using Yahoo! Search.
Working with a powerful partner such as Yahoo! will help us extend
the reach of libraries by bringing Web searchers to some of the
most reliable and authoritative information available on the Internet.
And, we believe this will bring more people into libraries.”
“Having a direct relationship with OCLC enables Yahoo! to
provide consumers with content that would otherwise be difficult
to access,” said David Mandelbrot, vice president, Yahoo! Search
Content. “The co-branded toolbar serves as a vehicle for delivering
this content and empowers users with the ability to seamlessly search
for information that is available in offline databases.”
How The Yahoo!/OCLC Toolbar Works
To access WorldCat’s most popular records, consumers simply
enter a query in the search box located in the toolbar and either
click the WorldCat logo or use the drop-down menu which features
a “libraries” link. Consumers will then be prompted for
their zip code to determine if the library materials they are looking
for are available in a nearby OCLC member library. The co-branded
toolbar features Yahoo! Search, which provides consumers with a
rich research technology to help them access both online and offline
databases.
The Yahoo!/OCLC Toolbar also includes a drop-down menu, located
next to the WorldCat logo, which provides access to the OCLC FirstSearch
service, the NetLibrary eBook service, the OCLC member library list,
the OCLC Web site and a link to the About WorldCat site which leads
to more information on the database. The co-branded toolbar will
also be available in OCLC libraries across the nation.
The Yahoo!/OCLC Toolbar can be downloaded on Monday, November 15th
from the OCLC website.
To watch the WorldCat database grow in real time, go to: <http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/grow.htm>.
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