Worldcat Local: A Solution that Changes Everything. Angi Faiks and Johan Oberg

Macalester College:  Small, private, liberal arts college  St. Paul, MN  2,000 undergraduate students  ~90 countries represented  III Millennium  8-school shared catalog

Choosing WorldCat Local What appealed to us:  Research library experience  Simple search  Smooth transition from find to get  Easy implementation  Searching the world, not just our stuff What we wanted:  A ‘catalog’ solution offering a better experience, ASAP!

WCL Website Integration

Redesigned Website – Further Integration

Comparison, Search Box Placement

How were our choices received? It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's a fill in the blank  On-going conceptual change  No easy definition of the new system  The word “catalog” rarely used Why does it not easily lend itself to a name?  Includes a wide range of materials  Does not contain all possible resources

Feedback  Users report satisfaction  Initially looked for old catalog  Searches in old catalog dropped dramatically and quickly Easy to teach: “Students like the Google-likse search, and getting good, ranked results. Students initially did not want to try it, but once I showed them, they were hooked on WorldCat Local. I'm hooked on WorldCat Local.”

Feedback from faculty Positive reactions from faculty:  “It’s amazing what students are able to access.”  “Love that students are searching WorldCat automatically and I don’t have to force them. This is so much better.”  “Wow. This is terrific! Makes my job much easier--and gives me faster access to more knowledge, and an easier way to distribute it to students. Thanks.”

Impact on Use

WCL and ILL

WCL and Circulation Increase

Future  New possibilities  Web-scale  Mobile access  Open development and the API  More digital content

Lessons  Google and Amazon is the mental model  Be bold – put new service front and center  Searching what *we* own is an outdated notion  Take a few risks…