Monograph Holdings

What it is

Monographic holdings refers to the number of libraries that own (“hold”) a book.

How it works

The holdings count is calculated as the number of unique libraries that own a copy of a book. Holdings counts are derived from online catalogs that show combined holdings across different national or international libraries (i.e. “union catalogs”). The most popular tool for determining monographic holdings is OCLC WorldCat. Other tools include Copac, World Bank and IMF collections, PlumX (which uses WorldCat data), and various national and regional union catalogs.

Monograph holdings can be used to demonstrate a book’s geographic reach and to indicate potential relevance to teaching, research, professional practice, or broader public interest.

What to keep in mind

  • Book impact is notoriously hard to capture. Books produce benefits and impacts that aren’t well captured by conventional bibliometrics, such as citation counts. This is especially a challenge for researchers in fields where monograph authorship is still emphasized, such as humanities and social sciences departments.
  • Holdings data does not guarantee book use or quality. Monograph holdings counts do not reveal if, how, or by whom a book is used by library patrons. Some books held by libraries are rarely used, while others see regular and consistent use. Holding counts also do not reflect book quality, as there are many different reasons that libraries may choose to purchase or not purchase books, including user interests, consortial agreements, budgets, collection policy, and vendor availability.
  • Not all library holdings data is fully current, nor historically complete. Monographics holding are only as accurate as the data submitted by individual libraries to larger combined catalogs. Inevitable gaps in the upload of new monographic records can result in confusing shifts in monographic holdings counts, especially when searching for data on recently published books. Additionally, monographic searches do not reflect historical changes in library collections, such as previously owned books that have been removed from circulation due to damage, loss, curriculum shifts, or updates in the field.

Learn more

OCLC WorldCat

Monographic Sales & Ranking
Book Ratings & Reviews
Goodreads: Ratings & Reviews

Last updated April 2022