World Catalog of Libraries on the net

[PT Sideshow]

The more I surf the net looking for information that I am interested in. I am astounded and humbled by what turns up. And this find is one of those that should be at the top of the bookmark page, and added to ones browser.
I have been told in the past that not everybody has access to a library with a wide selection of subjects. With few exceptions that isn't true. Most libraries today or even the states or sections of a country,regions have a library cooperative that you can get books transfered to a branch near you.

This search engine is one that not only finds the book and which edition,or music DVD, VHS or article. It tells you where it is located near you. This would entail a person to have a current library card and use it. My local branch takes a day or so if it's on the shelf or they will send it when it comes back in.

If your local library doesn't belong, they might not know about it. So bring it to their attention. They my thank you for pointing it out.

A wondrous resource for a bookaholic or not.
http://worldcat.org/
They also have search plug ins for foxfire and other browsers and PC and Mac's. They also have six languages listed versions, so it should work for most of the planet.

[Ben Franklin's Electric Kite]

WorldCat does indeed rule the Earth.

If your library has a website that allows you to browse the catalog online and place holds on materials from your computer, it may have a link that will send you to WorldCat and allow you to place an interlibrary loan request more or less automagically.

Most libraries will not request ILLs on DVDs, because most libraries do not lend their DVDs to other libraries. If a book has only very recently been released, the library that has it will probably not lend it to another library until a few months have passed and it's moved off their 'new' shelf. They will refuse to send some titles entirely, for whatever reason.

Interlibrary loans are expensive for the libraries. Your local library may only allow you a certain small number of them per year. More often what they will do is make it hard to find the link to WorldCat, or make it so you must go into the library, find the right desk, and fill out a request slip. This service is for the determined. I would be shocked to discover a librarian who does not know about WorldCat (and the similar ZAP) for it has been around since the late sixties and went global in 1981, but as far as I can tell, only university libraries like its existance to be immediately noticable.

School libraries sometimes get better service when it comes to ILLs than public libraries do, so if your ILL request is declined by the potential lender when you try from the public library, try from a school. In some areas, like mine, the local universities and colleges will give you a borrower-number for the school library if you are a public library card-holder.

Lending times vary wildly with ILLs. Occassionally I get something that is marked as being due to return before I've even picked it up, or due in less than a week. Speak to the librarian or circulation-clerk if this happens and get them to adjust the due-date. The public library will happily accept your fine and forgive you for keeping materials too long, but it is possible to become an ILL criminal and be denied service if you develop a history of late returns on ILLs.