Showing posts with label 9th Air Division. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9th Air Division. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

WorldCat Search Tip: Author and Title

My aunt was a WAC during WWII and also the historian of her unit. I have a water-damaged copy of the book* she wrote, passed down in the family for decades. Still, I wanted to read an undamaged copy to be sure I had all the details correct.

Searching WorldCat

Off to WorldCat to search, I entered her name as author. I quickly discovered that a library not far away had a copy in the reference department. My librarian arranged an inter-library loan! I photographed key pages that are not in good condition in my personal copy, and returned the book with a thank-you to my library and another thank-you to the other library.

However, if I had searched using the title of the book, as well as the author, WorldCat would have shown me the above results. Notice the arrow, pointing to the ebook available with a single click?!

Yes, WorldCat included HathiTrust Digital Library in its search results, and there, for all the world to read (and/or download), is my aunt's History of the WAC Detachment, 9th Air Division, Sept 1942-Sept 1945. Professionally digitized and in great condition. Here's a link to the book.

Today's Search Tip

So today's tip is: remember to search WorldCat by author and title. Even if you know the author, as I did, be sure to search by title to see slightly different search results, including ebooks that may not pop up in an author-only search.

* These WAC histories were written and privately printed, paid for by members of the WAC detachments who chose to order a copy--in advance. My aunt purchased several copies, for family and for her good friend in the British intelligence service, a woman she met during her harrowing trans-Atlantic crossing in the midst of German sub threats.