Skip to main content
OCLC Support

Why is a knowledge base link not appearing on a title in WorldCat Discovery?

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

Applies to

  • WorldCat Discovery
  • WorldShare Collection Manager

Answer

To ensure knowledge base links surface in WorldCat Discovery, follow these steps:

Enable knowledge base link display in OCLC Service Configuration
  • Go to Service Configuration (worldcat.org/config) > WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Full Text and Open Access Links and ensure the box is checked for Links from the WorldCat knowledge base to full text content.
Confirm title selection and set OCLC Number in Collection Manager
  • Ensure you have selected the correct monograph or journal title in Collection Manager.
    • Use the OCLC number or article ISSN from the WorldCat Discovery record to perform a title search in WorldShare Collection Manager.
  • Verify that the title is matched to the WorldCat Discovery record using the OCLC number or ISSN.
  • Add the Discovery record's OCLC number as a grouped OCN to the title in WorldShare Collection Manager.
    • Note: This method is not applicable for article records. The 001 field of an article is considered a unique identifier and not an OCLC number that can be searched in WorldShare.
Matching Discovery article records to parent titles in WorldShare Collection Manager
  • Locate the journal or representative record for the article record.
    • Use the ISSN from the Discovery article record to perform an n2:ISSN NUMBER search in Discovery.
    • Select the first record in the search results, which is the article's parent or  representative record.
    • Use the OCLC number from the representative record for title search, or as override OCN on a title in WorldShare Collection Manager.
  • Confirm that the Discovery article record's date falls within the WorldShare Collection Manager title's specified coverage date range.
Understand publication types and coverage depths
Surface links for article records
  • Matching Criteria: WorldCat Discovery uses the journal ISSN or journal title (with more than three matching words, excluding articles like "a" or "the") to find a match in the knowledge base. If the title of the journal is less than three words long, title matching will not occur.
  • Metadata Requirement: If the article metadata does not include an ISSN or journal title, a knowledge base link will not appear. Without an ISSN, knowledge base links can only surface on article records via exact title matching. However, exact title matching only occurs with titles that are 3 or more words. So, if there is no ISSN and the journal title in the article metadata is fewer than three words, a knowledge base link will not appear.
Surface links for monograph title records
  • Matching Criteria: For monograph titles such as eBooks, eVideos, or eAudios, WorldCat Discovery uses the following order of preference to find a match in the knowledge base:
    1. OCLC Number (OCN)
    2. ISSN/ISBN
    3. Title (with more than three matching words, excluding articles like "a" or "the")
Avoid Duplicate Links
  • If a title is selected in multiple collections from the same provider and those titles have identical URLs and coverage, WorldCat Discovery will de-duplicate the entries. To avoid redundancy, only one link will be displayed on the item record.
Check the format types

  • The links may not appear if the record format in WorldCat Discovery doesn't match the format in WorldShare Collection Manager. For example, an eBook in Discovery won't display a journal's knowledge base link, even if it shares an OCLC number. If this is the case, contact OCLC Support to have the format corrected.

Page ID

39861