Brief review of WorldCat Beta

The new WorldCat.org is a significant step forward. I am especially impressed with the efficient permanent urls (isbn/isbnnumber and oclc/oclcnumber) and the faceted browsing offered on the left of the results screen. Additionally, I like the breadcrumb trail that accompanies the faceted browsing. I am also impressed with the search speed and the simplicity of the interface. They have also describe a number of ways to integrate WorldCat into one’s browsing habits and websites. I look forward to seeing results appearing in search engine results. Overall, it seems like a significant step forward, but I need to look at it more carefully later.