WorldCat Discovery release notes, 4 March 2026
Release Date: March 4, 2026
Introduction
This release of WorldCat Discovery includes the following enhancements as well as bug fixes:
- Leverage a more consistent sorting experience in Course Reserves
Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback.
New features and enhancements
Leverage a more consistent sorting experience in Course Reserves
Course Reserves now provides a more intuitive and consistent sorting experience, making it easier to locate instructors, courses, and departments. There are no changes to the user interface at this time.
Details
Instructor names are now sorted by last name, then first name. Blank names appear first, followed by names that start with numbers, then names that start with uppercase letters, then names that start with lowercase letters.
| Last Name | First Name | What it demonstrates |
| (blank) | Alex | Null/blank sorts first |
| 123 | Alex | Numbers sort after null, before letters |
| Adams | Alex | Capitalized sorts after numbers |
| adams | Alex | Lowercase sorts after capitalized |
Course names are displayed as Prefix, then Number, then Section, then Course Name. Course Names are sorted by Course Name, then Section, then Number, then Prefix. Blank values appear first, followed by values that start with numbers, then values that start with uppercase letters, then values that start with lowercase letters. Courses sort fields (in order): Name, Section, Number, Prefix
Example A (shows how the course name field sorts)
| Course Name | Section | Number | Prefix | What it demonstrates |
| 123 Intro | 001 | 101 | BIO | Names starting with numbers come next |
| Biology | 001 | 101 | BIO | Names starting with uppercase letters come next |
| biology | 001 | 101 | BIO | Names starting with lowercase letters come last |
Example B (shows tie-breakers: section, then number, then prefix)
| Course Name | Section | Number | Prefix | What it demonstrates |
| Biology | (blank) | 101 | BIO | If course name matches, blank section sorts first |
| Biology | 2 | 101 | BIO | Section breaks ties next (numbers before letters) |
| Biology | 2 | 2 | BIO | If section matches, course number breaks ties next |
| Biology | 2 | 2 | bio | If number matches, prefix breaks ties last (uppercase before lowercase) |
Departments are sorted by department name. Blank names appear first, followed by names that start with numbers, then names that start with uppercase letters, then names that start with lowercase letters.
| Department | What it demonstrates |
| (blank) | Blanks sort first |
| 123 Services | Numbers sort after null, before letters |
| Biology | Capitalized sorts after numbers |
| biology | Lowercase sorts after capitalized |
Configuration
No configuration is required.
Important links
Product website
More product information can be found here.
WorldCat Discovery events
Support websites
Include Request ID with problem reports
When reporting an issue with WorldCat Discovery, it is extremely helpful to include the Request ID. The Request ID is found at the bottom of the screen on which the issue occurred. Including this information allows us to directly trace what happened on the request we are troubleshooting.
