[KS] Don't believe WorldCat.org

[Bill Streifer]

WorldCat.org claims to know which exactly which libraries in the world own copies of numerous books and journals. Don't believe it. 

When I looked up "Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society -- Korea Branch, I was happy to discover that 63 (or 148 libraries, depending on which link you clicked on) had a copy, including the New York Public Library (mine!). So I called them up on the telephone, only to find they didn't have the latest edition (2013). 

When I sent an e-mail inquiry to the New York Public Library (which I believe is the second largest library in the United States in terms of the number of volumes, second only to the Library of Congress), I was surprised by their response. They inadvertently stopped their subscription in 2010, so they didn't have the  2011, 2012 or 2013 editions of Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society -- Korea Branch. They then thanked me profusely for bringing their oversight to their attention, and that they would correct the problem.

I'm sure this is not the only mistake the New York Public Library (or any of the other thousands of libraries around the world, for that matter) has made. So, like I said, don't believe WorldCat.org.

-- Bill Streifer
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