Toronto Reference Library Blog

WorldCat has much to offer, including an experimental venture called WorldCat Identities Network: http://experimental.worldcat.org/IDNetwork/

The basic idea is to show the publication relationships between authors and their work. Let's say we are conducting research on communication theory in Canada and our key starting point is Harold Adams Innis.

By conducting a search for Harold Innis, and following the links, we can find his name in a 'tree cloud' of other names or authorities:

The names in the boxes around the subject are important and relate strongly to the search: they can include editors, co-authors, organizations, critics, subjects, and even things. Each of these boxes is clickable and will result in a new 'tree cloud'. For example, clicking on McLuhan produces an additional set of results which can identify further interesting research areas:

The information under the 'tree cloud' is descriptively listed in chart form in two categores:

Each of Innis's networked relations is listed by name with a sampling of 5 related works. These related works are clickable for further bibliographic information and searching options.

Importantly, each entry includes the WorldCat identity page where we can find  an "Overview"; a "Publication Timeline"; "The Most Widely Held Works About the entry"; "The Most Widely Held Works By the entry"; the "Audience Level"; "Related Indentities"; "Useful Links"; and "Associated Subjects".

In this section we can search for materials by Innis and see that there are a 171 results: these references can be sorted by 'format', 'year', 'language', and 'topic'. We can also search for materials about Innis and see that there are 84 results which similarily can be sorted by the criteria above. And finally, we can view the WorldCat identities page for Innis which provides an excellent overall picture of his published work.

Any references found in WorldCat should be crossed-checked with the TPL website.

WorldCat has much to offer, including an experimental venture called WorldCat Identities Network: http://experimental.worldcat.org/IDNetwork/

The basic idea is to show the publication relationships between authors and their work. Let's say we are conducting research on communication theory in Canada and our key starting point is Harold Adams Innis.

By conducting a search for Harold Innis, and following the links, we can find his name in a 'tree cloud' of other names or authorities:

The names in the boxes around the subject are important and relate strongly to the search: they can include editors, co-authors, organizations, critics, subjects, and even things. Each of these boxes is clickable and will result in a new 'tree cloud'. For example, clicking on McLuhan produces an additional set of results which can identify further interesting research areas:

The information under the 'tree cloud' is descriptively listed in chart form in two categores:

Each of Innis's networked relations is listed by name with a sampling of 5 related works. These related works are clickable for further bibliographic information and searching options.

Importantly, each entry includes the WorldCat identity page where we can find  an "Overview"; a "Publication Timeline"; "The Most Widely Held Works About the entry"; "The Most Widely Held Works By the entry"; the "Audience Level"; "Related Indentities"; "Useful Links"; and "Associated Subjects".

In this section we can search for materials by Innis and see that there are a 171 results: these references can be sorted by 'format', 'year', 'language', and 'topic'. We can also search for materials about Innis and see that there are 84 results which similarily can be sorted by the criteria above. And finally, we can view the WorldCat identities page for Innis which provides an excellent overall picture of his published work.

Any references found in WorldCat should be crossed-checked with the TPL website.