When I was in library school, we explored an experimental library catalog called RedLightGreen, which combined traditional library catalog searching with the tools of search engines like Google or Yahoo. Since conventional online library catalogs are not always user-friendly, I was very happy to see that this existed. Well, RedLightGreen has become WorldCat.org, which you can use to find books owned by other library systems in Metro Atlanta, in Georgia, and all over the world. Sometimes you’ll read or hear about a book, and when you check our library catalog, you see that our library does not own it. Don’t run to the bookstore yet, though, because you might find that the book is owned by a neighboring county system like Gwinnett or Atlanta-Fulton (where you can pay an annual fee to get a library card), or by one of the college or university libraries in town (where you can at least take a look at the book to see if it’s what you really want). Searching WorldCat.org will tell you where the book is owned, and if it’s not owned locally, you can use our Interlibrary Loan service to borrow it from another system (current year materials and audiovisual materials are not eligible for this service).

Give it a try yourself: www.worldcat.org.

1. The Wide, Wonderful World of Library Borrowing
2. Interlibrary Loan Services
3. Top 10 Things I’m Thankful for about My Library
4. Better World Books
5. Authors on Twitter