Science: Biology

New WorldCat.org connects genealogy enthusiasts, educators, and historians to the world’s libraries

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DUBLIN, Ohio (PRWEB)

For genealogy enthusiasts, educators, and historians, the new WorldCat.org offers an improved experience to uncover family lineages and investigate historical events. By exploring the billions of library resources from more than 10,000 libraries worldwide represented on WorldCat.org, users can find an unparalleled pool of genealogical information.

“Genealogy research provides powerful and meaningful points of access into self-awareness and discovery of the world around us,” said Skip Prichard, President and CEO of OCLC, a global library nonprofit that’s been an innovator in library technology and research for more than 50 years. “WorldCat.org makes visible one of the most important research tools—the world’s libraries—making it a go-to source for detailed genealogical research.”

As more and more hobbyists and professionals alike seek to learn about the stories that precede and interweave with their own, WorldCat.org has a breadth and depth of information that can’t be found anywhere else online. Through WorldCat.org, people can identify a variety of source materials in libraries around the world, including:


  • Newspapers

  • Photographs

  • Family Bibles, church histories, and records

  • Cemetery and burial records

  • Military records

  • Town histories and probate records

  • General genealogical resources, such as directories, handbooks, and magazines

  • Slavery and antislavery materials, including slave records

  • Indexes of births, marriages, deaths, wills, and obituaries

  • Microfilmed genealogy and local history collections


FamilySearch has been working with OCLC to not only expand access to FamilySearch’s vast catalog of genealogically rich records from all over the globe, but to introduce FamilySearch patrons to WorldCat.org’s vast offerings online.

“FamilySearch.org users taking full advantage of all the resources of WorldCat.org may find many additional resources to enlighten their understanding of their ancestors. Many of these records tell the story of their lives between their birth and death. This is a valued, ongoing relationship with OCLC, and we will certainly encourage everyone from novices to experienced researchers to explore the depths of WorldCat.org’s resources,” said David E. Rencher, chief genealogy officer, FamilySearch International.

WorldCat.org is a unique tool for users to research heritage and complements genealogy tools such as FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and other genealogy research tools.

“Libraries are often the only source for local information about births, deaths, marriages, businesses, and other family histories.

WorldCat.org can be the bridge to uncovering this valuable genealogy information,” concluded Prichard.

To start exploring and to sign up for a WorldCat.org account, visit the site at http://www.worldcat.org.

About WorldCat.org

Since 2006, WorldCat.org has been the window to the collections and resources of more than 10,000 libraries in more than 100 countries around the world. WorldCat.org is a unique destination, representing the world’s largest library community on the web. WorldCat.org is an innovation of OCLC, a nonprofit global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs to member libraries and the library community at large. OCLC, member libraries, publishers, and other partner organizations collaboratively maintain WorldCat.org. Explore WorldCat.org on the web.

About OCLC

OCLC is a nonprofit global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research, and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC’s WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world’s collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff, and partners make breakthroughs possible.

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