If you are a researcher you know, firsthand, how difficult it is to find pertinent research materials. Personally, I rely heavily on WorldCat.org to identify libraries that have the books I need for my genealogical research. WorldCat has helped me find books that have broken through brick walls that were dead-ends for years. My success in finding books on the website that were linked to a library elsewhere, has caused me to drive hundreds of miles in one day for a single book listed in a library I never knew existed previously.
I have donated hundreds of dollars to those libraries, in research fees, copy fees and donations. I have also increased the economies (however slightly) of the neighboring towns while visiting. WorldCat has been the leading factor there- the fact that someone out there took the time to catalog a book I happened to be looking for. So, it is both a surprise and a bit upsetting to me when I come across libraries that do not have a public listing nor their holdings available anywhere online nor in WorldCat. It is my hope that more libraries take it upon themselves to catalog their holdings on their website AND in WorldCat.
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