WorldCat Manage Bibliographic Records API is one of 20 APIs that WorldCat publishes on the APIs.io network, described by a machine-readable OpenAPI specification.
Tagged areas include Manage Bibliographic Records. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes an OpenAPI specification and API documentation.
This API exposes
6 operations
across 5 paths,
and defines 49 schemas.
It is described by OpenAPI 3.2.0, at version 2.0.0.
Requests are made against a single base URL, https://metadata.api.oclc.org.
6 operations5 paths49 schemas2 GET3 POST1 PUT
Metadata
The identity and technical contract details declared by the specification.
Specification
OpenAPI 3.2.0
API Version
2.0.0
Base URL
https://metadata.api.oclc.org
Authentication
OAuth 2.0
Resource Areas
1
Authentication & Security 1
WorldCat Manage Bibliographic Records API declares
1 security scheme
for authenticating requests.
It supports OAuth 2.0 (worldcat_metadata_auth) using the clientCredentials and authorizationCode flows, exposing 15 scopes.
By default, every request must be authenticated.
Paths & Operations 6
Across 5 paths, the API surfaces 6 operations — 2 GET, 3 POST, 1 PUT. Each is listed below with its method, path, parameters, and response codes.
The contract defines 49 schemas that model the data the API accepts and returns. The most detailed are HoldingPart (14 properties), HoldingBrief (14 properties), BibRecordBrief (14 properties), HoldingDetail (13 properties). Each schema is shown below with its type and property counts.
DisplayCallNumber
string
Display call Number [LHR - v852 |k,h,i,m / |j/ |l]
Issns
array
International Standard Serial Numbers
PostalCode
string
Postal Code
SpecificFormat
string
Specific Format Type [Admin/OCLCDef/StdRT2]
MARCXML
object
see https://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/schema/MARC21slim.xsd
Latitude
number
Latitude
HoldingLocation
object
Local holding location [LHR - v852sa,b,c]
3 properties
CatalogingLanguage
string
Language record was cataloged in [v040sb]
Issn
string
International Standard Serial Number [v022sal v700,v710,v711,v773,v776,v777,v780,v785 - sx]
Summary of Holdings [https://www.loc.gov/marc/holdings/echdcntf.html]
TextualHoldingsStatement
string
[866-8 |a]
MergedOclcNumbers
array
Merged OCLC numbers [v019sa]
HoldingBrief
object
14 properties
HoldingRange
object
2 properties
detailedHoldings
array
HoldingPart
object
14 properties
ShelvingLocation
string
Shelving location [LHR - v852sc]
Longitude
number
Longitude
Isbns
array
International Standard Book Number [v020sa]
CaptionValuePair
object
The caption and value pair for a caption describing a numeric, alphabetic, and/or date designation for an item. The caption is defined as an attribute on the e…
2 properties
ItemLanguage
string
Language of the item [v041sa,j]
SublocationCollection
string
Sublocation or collection [LHR - v852sb]
MaterialSpecified
string
[876-8 |3]
Address
object
8 properties
CallNumber
object
Local call number [LHR - v852sh,i,j,k,l,m]
9 properties
HoldingDetail
object
13 properties7 required
RegistryId
integer
The identifier in the WorldCat Registry for the institution
TemporaryLocation
string
Temporary location [876-878 |l]
ProblemType
string
A URI reference [RFC3986] that identifies the problem type.
State
string
Name of the State/Province, per ISO 3166-2.
Problem
object
RFC 7807 description of an error.
5 properties
schemas-OclcNumber
integer
the oclc number of a given bibliographic record
InstitutionHolding
object
3 properties
Date
string
machine readable date 008
SharedPrintCommitment
object
11 properties
TotalEditions
integer
Total number of editions in the workgroup
BibRecordBrief
object
14 properties7 required
CatalogingInfo
object
4 properties
BibMatchResult
object
2 properties
briefHoldings
array
InstitutionType
string
The type of institution
CreatorString
string
List of creators as single string
HasSharedPrintCommitment
string
institution has shared print commitment [Holdings/LibHasSharedPrint || LHR - HldDetRec/Admin/SPReg]
GeneralFormat
string
General Format Type [Admin/OCLCDef/StdRT]
Specification
The full machine-readable OpenAPI contract behind this narrative.
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