11/18/2013 Update: Important: The WSU Libraries migrated from WSU WorldCat/WorldCat Local to Search It/Primo in mid-December 2013. Griffin and WSU WorldCat links will no longer work, and if you have a WSU WorldCat account you will still be able to see your saved items if you log in to Open WorldCat (www.worldcat.org), but saved lists and saved searches in WSU Worldcat did not transfer to Search It (although Search It has something similar: see the EShelf). You can still see and search WSU WorldCat, but you'll see it is not fully functional  - click here. Summit is still functional; you can find it here.

I made a video of how to create this widget, but the quality was terrible. So...here are the steps written out:

1. Find or create a WorldCat list you want to create a widget for (this process will also work for keyword(s) widgets). Our example is my Discover Days Book Shoutout list . Note if you look at the complete URL the list number is 1919758. I created my list while I was logged in to my WorldCat account but that is not necessary; also you can make a widget for any WorldCat list. Lists are not limited to books - they can include articles, videos, etc.

2. Go to www.worldcat.org. If you are logged in to your WorldCat account, or if you are accessing WorldCat from your campus network, you may be asked if you want to choose your WorldCat Local instance, or WorldCat.org. Select Stay on WorldCat.org!

3. Look under Use WorldCat Tools, and select the link for Widgets and Plug-ins. You will then be asked to log in with your WorldCat account (even if you are already logged in). Select the WorldCat List Widget option under Widgets and Tools for Everyone.

4. You will see some code that you can copy and paste in to a webpage, blog, LibGuide, Facebook or whatever. The code will have to be customized - first to work with the list you have chosen, and second to have the links go to your instance of WorldCat Local, instead of the generic WorldCat.org. This is very important so that you and your patrons are directed to your own WorldCat catalog. Note: if you are doing this in a LibGuide be sure to use the Plain Text Editor option, not the default Rich Text Editor. Actually all the customizing instructions are now there on that page, but I'm going to write them out anyway!

5. Inside the string of code you will see something that looks like this =WSU_loenglish&widgetId=WorldCatListWidget&listId=**listId**">" (except with your WorldCat profile user name). This is the part that will need to be customized:

a. change the **listId** to your list number, in this case 1919758 (without the asterisks)

b. after the list number, and before the end quotation mark and bracket, type in: &myLocal=washingtonstate or whatever the name of your WorldCat Local catalog is (i.e. uwashington).

Now that part of the code will look like this: =WSU_loenglish&widgetId=WorldCatListWidget&listId=1919758&myLocal=washingtonstate">

6. You are done! You may need to refresh your screen once or twice for the code to ...um, codify. You will see that although you may have any number of items saved to your list, the widget will only show the first eight (and not all of the titles) but will provide a link to the complete WorldCat list. I've heard that you can use the WorldCat API to have more items show, but have not actually done that myself. Note: in general, you should not use more than one WorldCat widget on a page - the widgets can get muddled if you have more than one.You may also need to fiddle with margins/horizontal to make the widget fit on the webpage/blog/whatever you want to show it on.

7. Remember you can create a embeddable keyword search widget too - it can search/show results for a keyword, multiple keywords, or a phrase. You can also create an embeddable searchbox for your own WorldCat Local  - see (to be added)

(If you don't see a widget here, wait a minute - if it still does not show, refresh your browser)

Share books you are reading on social sites such as Facebook or Twitter, or on your own blog or webpage/landing page.

Keep a list of everything you read in a year

Use Lists and list notes to organize books and articles for class work or group projects

Make lists of things you want to read or purchase

Write reviews and share them with your friends - get a conversation started about the books and articles that speak to you (or don't)

Incorporate reading lists into Course Management Systems

and so much more...