<s>
WorldCat	B-Library
is	O
a	O
union	B-Library
catalog	I-Library
that	O
itemizes	O
the	O
collections	O
of	O
tens	O
of	O
thousands	O
of	O
institutions	O
(	O
mostly	O
libraries	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
many	O
countries	O
,	O
that	O
are	O
current	O
or	O
past	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
OCLC	O
global	O
cooperative	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
OCLC	O
member	O
libraries	O
collectively	O
maintain	O
WorldCat	B-Library
's	O
database	O
,	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
largest	O
bibliographic	B-Library
database	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
OCLC	O
makes	O
WorldCat	B-Library
itself	O
available	O
free	O
to	O
libraries	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
catalog	O
is	O
the	O
foundation	O
for	O
other	O
subscription	O
OCLC	O
services	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
resource	O
sharing	O
and	O
collection	O
management	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WorldCat	B-Library
is	O
used	O
by	O
librarians	O
for	O
cataloging	B-Library
and	O
research	O
and	O
by	O
the	O
general	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
WorldCat	B-Library
contained	O
over	O
540	O
million	O
bibliographic	O
records	O
in	O
483	O
languages	O
,	O
representing	O
over	O
3	O
billion	O
physical	O
and	O
digital	O
library	O
assets	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
WorldCat	B-Library
persons	O
dataset	O
(	O
mined	B-Application
from	O
WorldCat	B-Library
)	O
included	O
over	O
100	O
million	O
people	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
same	O
year	O
,	O
OCLC	O
began	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
union	B-Library
catalog	I-Library
technology	O
that	O
would	O
later	O
evolve	O
into	O
WorldCat	B-Library
;	O
the	O
first	O
catalog	O
records	O
were	O
added	O
in	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
,	O
OCLC	O
began	O
the	O
"	O
Open	O
WorldCat	B-Library
"	O
pilot	O
program	O
,	O
making	O
abbreviated	O
records	O
from	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
WorldCat	B-Library
available	O
to	O
partner	O
web	O
sites	O
and	O
booksellers	O
,	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
accessibility	O
of	O
its	O
subscribing	O
member	O
libraries	O
 '	O
collections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2005	O
,	O
the	O
OCLC	O
technical	O
staff	O
began	O
a	O
wiki	B-Protocol
project	O
,	O
WikiD	O
,	O
allowing	O
readers	O
to	O
add	O
commentary	O
and	O
structured-field	O
information	O
associated	O
with	O
any	O
WorldCat	B-Library
record	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WikiD	O
was	O
later	O
phased	O
out	O
,	O
although	O
WorldCat	B-Library
later	O
incorporated	O
user-generated	O
content	O
in	O
other	O
ways	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
it	O
became	O
possible	O
for	O
anyone	O
to	O
search	O
WorldCat	B-Library
directly	O
at	O
its	O
open	O
website	O
WorldCat.org,	O
not	O
only	O
through	O
the	O
subscription	O
FirstSearch	O
interface	O
where	O
it	O
had	O
been	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
web	O
to	O
subscribing	O
libraries	O
for	O
more	O
than	O
a	O
decade	O
before	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Options	O
for	O
more	O
sophisticated	O
searches	O
of	O
WorldCat	B-Library
have	O
remained	O
available	O
through	O
the	O
FirstSearch	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2007	O
,	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Identities	O
began	O
providing	O
pages	O
for	O
20	O
million	O
"	O
identities	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
metadata	O
about	O
names	O
—	O
predominantly	O
authors	O
and	O
persons	O
who	O
are	O
the	O
subjects	O
of	O
published	O
titles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
OCLC	O
's	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Search	O
API	B-Application
was	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
cite	O
tool	O
of	O
Wikipedia	O
's	O
VisualEditor	O
,	O
allowing	O
Wikipedia	O
editors	O
to	O
cite	O
sources	O
from	O
WorldCat	B-Library
easily	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
in	O
2017	O
,	O
OCLC	O
and	O
the	O
Internet	O
Archive	O
have	O
collaborated	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
Internet	O
Archive	O
's	O
records	O
of	O
digitized	O
books	O
available	O
in	O
WorldCat	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2022	O
,	O
OCLC	O
announced	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Entities	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
infrastructure	O
for	O
library	O
linked	B-Operating_System
data	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Maintenance	O
of	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Identities	O
was	O
suspended	O
and	O
the	O
service	O
will	O
be	O
discontinued	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
being	O
replaced	O
by	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Entities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2022	O
,	O
OCLC	O
launched	O
a	O
"	O
redesigned	O
and	O
reimagined	O
"	O
WorldCat.org	B-Library
website	O
with	O
the	O
stated	O
goal	O
"	O
to	O
offer	O
greater	O
accessibility	O
to	O
the	O
collections	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
website	O
now	O
requires	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
is	O
therefore	O
no	O
longer	O
accessible	O
for	O
users	O
of	O
older	O
web	O
browsers	O
or	O
those	O
that	O
have	O
JavaScript	B-Language
disabled	O
for	O
security	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
update	O
also	O
removed	O
users	O
 '	O
book	O
reviews	O
and	O
replaced	O
them	O
with	O
reviews	O
from	O
Amazon	B-Application
subsidiary	O
GoodReads	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Local	O
catalogs	O
of	O
many	O
OCLC	O
member	O
libraries	O
are	O
intermittently	O
synchronized	O
with	O
the	O
WorldCat	B-Library
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WorldCat	B-Library
allows	O
participating	O
institutions	O
to	O
add	O
direct	O
links	O
from	O
WorldCat	B-Library
to	O
their	O
own	O
local	O
catalog	O
entries	O
for	O
particular	O
items	O
,	O
which	O
enables	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
click	O
through	O
to	O
the	O
local	O
catalog	O
to	O
quickly	O
determine	O
an	O
item	O
's	O
real-time	O
status	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
whether	O
or	O
not	O
it	O
is	O
checked	O
out	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
small	O
percentage	O
of	O
libraries	O
,	O
the	O
local	O
catalog	O
is	O
also	O
run	O
by	O
OCLC	O
using	O
an	O
integrated	O
library	O
system	O
called	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Discovery	O
and	O
WorldShare	O
Management	O
Services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Library	O
contributions	O
to	O
WorldCat	B-Library
are	O
made	O
via	O
the	O
Connexion	O
computer	O
program	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
2001	O
;	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
OCLC	O
Passport	O
,	O
was	O
phased	O
out	O
in	O
May	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cataloging	B-Library
librarians	O
may	O
also	O
use	O
the	O
WorldShare	O
Record	O
Manager	O
or	O
WorldCat	B-Library
Metadata	O
API	B-Application
for	O
similar	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
