Part 1
I searched for "Know-it-all", the title of a recent book by A.J. Jacobs. The book came up as the first of 61 records; 1144 libraries have it. The top library is Rapid City Public Library, my local library. The LC call number is AE5.E44; the Dewey call number is 031. In the record are the subject headings (including the geographic headings), ISBN, the responsibility statement, a link to other author information which leads to other searchable records of writings by A. J. Jacobs, and much other information.
When I have to create or correct records, I can see how using WorldCat would be very helpful.
I decided to search a few obscure books I know about, and I was surprised by the results. The least obscure one "Leftwich Turner Families of Virginia and Their Connections" did not get any records, although I know it is in a number of public libraries around the country. I tried several title variations and never got it. Next I tried a more obscure book, "Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg" which has been published a few times with slight variations in the title. It came up right away in a number of libraries and editions. Lastly I tried an early work by the current author Pat Conroy which I know is held at Alderman Library at the University of Virginia, but I'm not sure of the title. I think it is "The Boo." I tried searching for author phrase and several title variations but could never get a record for it.
This is a great resource; it will take lots of work to get handy with it.
Part 2
I chose record 14, "Unidentified Woman and Infant." It was a black and white photograph of a Native American woman holding a baby. The source of this record and several others I scanned was the Amistad Research Center, which has a link going to Tulane University. I searched a few other non-Amistad records: it looks like OAIster is a recource for maps, photographs, charts, and other graphic images.
I decided to try to find photographs of or by Emma Borglum who came to South Dakota on her honeymoon in 1899 with her husband Solon Borglum, the younger brother of Gutzon Borglum. They spent several weeks at a pow-wow at Crow Creek where Solon, a sculptor, and Emma took many photographs that Solon planned to use in future sculpturing work. I tried searching all the names and subjects I could think of, but no luck. Here again, the resource is tantalizing, but figuring out how to use looks to take endless hours. Perhaps next the state library could consider offering in-depth courses on single resource links: I bet you could easily fill a 9-hour course on WorldCat alone.
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Hi, Avid, you are right--proficiency is WorldCat takes years of practice! But we can do ok just fumbling around. ;)I found the Pat Conroy book to which you refer by Advanced Search, searching "Conroy, Pat" as Author Phrase and "Boo" as Title Phrase. Some very obscure materials may not appear in WorldCat because the owning library did not catalog the material or the owning library is not a WorldCat cataloging member, so their catalog records are not there. As you noted, materials considered genealogy are especially difficult to find, for the reasons listed above. In some cases the owning library may catalog the item locally, but not contribute the record to WorldCat because they do not lend it and do not want loads of interlibrary loan requests they cannot fill. In OAIster, I did find photos of Solon Borglum's sculpture, but nothing about Emma. Remember that not all owners of historical collections are part of OAIster, and not all images have been digitized. The good news is that more is being added every day. Thanks for giving these resources a spin.
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