Template talk:WorldCat

disambiguation page example
I'm not quite sure what you mean by the example you give of a disambiguation page (Jesus Christ). If you mean a wikipedia disambiguation page, there's one for Jesus (Jesus (disambiguation)), but Jesus Christ isn't a disambiguation page. Would another example be helpful, or am I misundertsanding? Dsp13 11:33, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I realise I stupidly misunderstood: by "disambiguation page" was meant the results of a WorldCat Identities search, rather than a wikipedia disambig page. I've added links to try and make obvious in case others are as slow as me. I'm not quite sure what makes the result of a 'Australia' search appear more useful & less like a disambiguation page than the result of a 'Jesus Christ' search, though. Dsp13 01:04, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

descriptions don't show up
If I preview this page with the nowiki tags taken out, I don't see the description text appearing at all, but the word WorldCat instead. Dsp13 11:41, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Updated URL
The original URL http://orlabs.oclc.org/Identities is now returning a 404. I updated it to the current URL http://www.worldcat.org/oclc, I tested it with one article, and it worked fine. Hopefully there won't be any further problems with the new url. I plan to update the other two related templates as they are returning 404s as well. Who (talk) 10:07, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Of course, most of the other articles linking to it aren't working with the new URL, but, they weren't working with the old one either. I am trying to figure out all the new parameters that need to be used now. Who (talk) 10:16, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Alright, so basically, it seems if the ID identifier is a numerical it requires the url www.worldcat.org/oclc; for the hyphenated identifiers it uses the www.worldcat.org/identities url. Since the template Template:worldcat_id already uses the second url, it's easier to change the current ones using this template to that one, and include the updated usage on the main page. I don't mind changing all of the linked articles. It would be better in the long run if the main template incorporated both urls with different parameters, but I honestly don't remember how to do that atm. If someone has any issues or suggestions, I would be glad to hear them. Who (talk) 10:36, 1 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I've now updated it to allow for the old identfiers to be used with ID and the single pages be called with parameter OCLC, by checking for each parameter individually. I also updated the documentation, as well as moved that to the new template version for documentation. I will be working on setting the parameters to default to the OCLC parameter if the ID parameter isn't given. Feel free to fix my code. Who (talk) 13:42, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

More proposed updates, please see worldcat proposal or on the Village Pump. I now have it checking to ensure that one of the parameters ID or OCLC is used, if not it will display a warning. Also, I have added accessdate. The usage would still be the same for any article currently using the ID param. See below for new format: would produce:

similarly: * would produce:

I would like to implement the new format for this template, which can be found at User:Who/Worldcat. Please let me know if there are any objections or suggestions. Who (talk) 22:54, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Worldcat id and Worldcat subject
To avoid confusion between Worldcat usage for individual books and identities, I've been using Template:Worldcat id for people. Now that the Infobox includes the OCLC field, we don't need a template for individual books. There's also a Template:Worldcat subject, but I haven't had occasion to use that. I like that the 'id' version says "by or about', and that the subject version says 'about'. Not every person is an author, but many famous/interesting/important people have had books written about them. At any rate, I'd rather keep the templates separate. At some point there might be a need for Template:AuthorLinks which would have multiple parameters, similar to Template:CongLinks or Template:GovLinks or Template:JudgeLinks or Template:UK MP links. That, imo, would be more useful than trying to maake one Template work for a book, a person, and a topic. For example, there are internationally-known book review websites, the Open Library, various interview and appearance websites (for fairly current authors), and so forth. See John Updike for some ideas. Flatterworld (talk) 20:36, 30 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Infobox book documentation may need revision. Quote:
 * oclc [field name]
 * OCLC number (prefer 1st edition), use when book has no ISBN
 * If we hope that this field will be used for books that do have ISBN --perhaps meaning books whose first editions do have ISBN-- then we should say so in that template documentation.


 * Template worldcat remains useful in External links for books. --even in book articles that do include {tl |infobox book}} and do complete its oclc field. The template {Worldcat |oclc=} targets one particular WorldCat library record for one copy of a book, as does the template {Infobox book |oclc=}. Those records may differ. Routinely {infobox book} links to a record for the first edition. A different record, probably but not always for a copy of a different edition, may be a useful External link.


 * Worldcat or its documentation may need revision. The display text implies (for a book) a target such as the "Formats and Editions" directory of all records for a title. The target (for a book) is one WorldCat library record for one copy of a title. Compare:
 * "Formats and Editions of Elidor". WorldCat.
 * Why do we have this discrepancy?
 * --P64 (talk) 20:21, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
 * One day later I have revised the latter two of three paragraphs heavily.
 * One day later I have revised the latter two of three paragraphs heavily.


 * Most current uses of template {Worldcat} are in book articles. Few are in biographies, which almost always use {Worldcat id} instead. Perhaps the former should be tailored for books and its use deprecated for people. --P64 (talk) 18:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Auto-access Wikidata?
Hi, Help Project Team experts.

First, I acknowledge that I do not know the difficulty of this item, so this is truly just a question.

I note that a number of templates, when added to "External links", will auto-access Wikidata to populate their information. I also note that this does not work for the WorldCat family of templates (WorldCat, WorldCat id, Worldcat author, Worldcat subject), which require an identifier be entered by the editor working on a particular en.wiki article. If I have missed something, and this does function, my apologies... and please let me know how to execute that function.

I also note that all four of those templates have the identical Wikidata property box, all showing the same property, P7859.

Is it possible to have these WorldCat templates operate like some other templates of this type, providing auto-access to the applicable outside source of information, and thus include in the documentation:
 * The ID number may be omitted if the article's Wikidata item includes property WorldCat Identities ID (P7859).

Thank you. Jmg38 (talk) 21:25, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Update and clarification needed
Citing the documentation: This template can make an external link to:


 * A library holding
 * An item (book, CD, video, journal, etc.) catalogued in the inventories of various libraries.
 * OCLD distinguishes between single editions (worldcat.org/en/title/...) and works (different URL).


 * A bibliography (outdated)
 * A list of works by or about a subject (i.e., works associated with a particular subject heading).
 * Bibliographies had been available at WorldCat Identities. This project ceased to exist.
 * now links to:
 * https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PCjxFk3Wjh7kMKhGMXWYCHC.html
 * The new project is called WorldCat Entities but it doesn't offer a bibliography.
 * The new project is called WorldCat Entities but it doesn't offer a bibliography.

Conclusion: This template should be limited to the first topic. The links need to be verified. --Kolja21 (talk) 00:41, 17 May 2023 (UTC)