Maastricht University Library Wall

WorldCat is available in the eLibrary since 13 April. It is a huge master catalogue containing citations for library materials held by libraries in 171 countries, including the Maastricht University (UM) Catalogue. WorldCat enables you to search for all of the physical items you are used to getting from libraries, like: books, DVDs, CDs and then locate a library nearby that owns the item. You can also discover electronic content, like the full text of a journal article or one of the 23 million records of open access documents and media which are freely accessible.

Find WorldCat by means of the link ‘Catalogues’ or ‘Databases a-z’ on the library homepage.

Enter your actual location in order to find a location nearby  
When you perform a search for the very first time and select one of the search results, the item will probably be presented with the following error message, since Worldcat does not yet know your actual location: ‘Sorry, we cannot identify the location you entered. Please re-enter your location.’
Once you have entered your location (e.g. ‘Maastricht’): ‘WorldCat presents the most nearby libraries owning the item including a link to ‘Google maps’, offering information on distance and directions.

For each listed library WorldCat offers access to the library’s catalogue (loan information on the issue), homepage and, if available, the ‘Ask a Librarian’ help feature.
A ‘Buy it’ option will connect you to an Internet book store, a useful alternative if the nearest library is still too far away or, if an appropriate loan service from the listed libraries is not available.

SFX Maastricht University
If you access WorldCat from within the UM domain the link ‘SFX Maastricht University’ will be displayed and you can benefit from the SFX service, if the library provides services for this item, like:

• a link to the full text in case you have found an article citation for which the UM has a license;
• a link to ‘PiCarta’ with the Inter Library Loan facilities at you fingertips in case you have found a book, available in another Dutch library.   

If you are currently working outside the UM and SFX is not available, consult eLibrary access from off-campus to find information on how to establish a connection.

There is more to WorldCat
The WorldCat homepage presents lots of additional services. When you create a free user account you will be able to build lists of library items, bibliographies and reviews and keep them private or share them with friends. You may retrieve citations of library materials in five citation styles, and export them to EndNote or RefWorks.

WorldCat offers tools like widgets, plug-ins, apps, and downloads. You can even put WorldCat on your mobile phone.

RSS is also available on ‘recent additions from the UM Catalogue to WorldCat’ (find Maastricht University by means of the ‘Search’ option for libraries).
You can even contribute to WorldCat: on the WorldCat pages for a particular item, you can add tags, enter a rating and a review, and contribute factual notes or a book’s table of contents under the ‘Details’ tab.

Direct link to WorldCat

Anita Bemelen,
Information specialist