WorldCat Discovery release notes, 15 April 2026
Release Date: April 15, 2026
Introduction
This release of WorldCat Discovery includes the following enhancements as well as bug fixes:
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Benefit from accessibility improvements to the modernized A-to-Z List page
Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback.
New features and enhancements
Benefit from accessibility improvements to the modernized A-to-Z List page
The A-to-Z List page in WorldCat Discovery has been updated to improve accessibility and align with the design of other Discovery pages. The page's functionality remains the same.
Details
This update focuses on improving accessibility and layout. While the overall functionality remains largely unchanged, the following enhancements have been made:
- Improved support for screen readers and keyboard navigation through more consistent styling and structure
- Chat with a librarian has been moved from the header to the footer and is now displayed as an icon, consistent with current Discovery behavior. A Cite button has been added to Item Details, allowing users to generate formatted citations and providing a consistent experience with the rest of Discovery
- Search forms in the Search tab have been reorganized to improve usability, with updated field order, clearer required fields, and a redesigned approach to identifier selection, while maintaining the same search types and behavior
- Article search includes an updated identifier selection experience, replacing the dropdown with radio buttons that guide users based on Journal title, ISSN, DOI, or PMID, improving clarity while maintaining the same search capability
Current Search page
Modernized Search page
Current Browse page
Modernized Browse page
The cite button now appears in Item Details, allowing users to generate formatted citations for an item in a variety of styles
The legacy citation functionality, which lets users copy and export item details, but does not generate a full citation, is still available on the Item Details page but has been renamed “Copy item details.”
Note: If a record does not contain a main OCN, the cite button will not be available, but “Copy item details” will still be accessible.
Current Item Details page
Modernized Item Details page
Configuration: No configuration is required. The updated page will appear automatically for institutions that have the A-to-Z List page enabled.
Important links
Product website
More product information can be found here.
WorldCat Discovery events
Support websites
Include Request ID with problem reports
When reporting an issue with WorldCat Discovery, it is extremely helpful to include the Request ID. The Request ID is found at the bottom of the screen on which the issue occurred. Including this information allows us to directly trace what happened on the request we are troubleshooting.
