Looking for audiobooks available at the library? Search WorldCat!

Thanks to ricklibrarian for a great post reminding us that WorldCat Is the Place to Identify Audiobooks If you are ever trying to track down the availability of a title in audiobook format, don't waste time on store sites such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You'll miss titles published by Recorded Books, BBC Audio, or other major audiobook companies. Or you might find only the mass-market abridged version, and never realize that the unabridged audio is at the public library down the block! Plus, Rick reminds us that WorldCat even catalogs some Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic titles - another tremendous resource.

Don't know what WorldCat is? Take time to explore! WorldCat is a great FREE resource from OCLC - basically, it is a worldwide online library catalog showing you EVERY library that owns a particular title. But the awesome trick is that you can narrow the search to libraries near your zip code, and see the closest place to pick up a title - or request an interlibrary loan, if it is at the near-by university library. WorldCat links you to the library's website, allowing you to check to see if the title is on the shelf - and then to reserve online. You can create WorldCat lists, or - my favorite trick - get citations in five common styles, and export them to a variety of formats including EndNote and RefWorks. Instant Works Cited - even if you don't have the title in hand!

If you like to add your audiobooks to LibraryThing, GoodReads, or Shelfari and you find only the print title's info, pop over to WorldCat to grab the audiobook edition information!

Image from www5.oclc.org/