Top 100 monographic records in OCLC libraries

Compiled by Patrick McClain, OCLC Research

[Excerpted from the OCLC Newsletter, 227 (May/June) 1997.]

Once again, reference and business books dominate the top 100 monographs held in OCLC libraries.

In Search of Excellence is now a five-time champion of the top 100 monographs list, increasing in holdings from 3,618 in 1995 to 3,728 this year. The book has been the most held every year since 1989--the first year the list was compiled. In fact, all of the top 10 in 1997 were in the top 10 in 1995 as well, and six were in it in 1989. Of those not in the 1989 list, Megatrends 2000 and Environmental Tobacco Smoke were not yet published, A Brief History of Time was 59th on the list, and A Passion for Excellence had not yet cracked the top 100.

At the other end of the list, there are four newcomers. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (88), The Bell Curve (96), Powershift (98) and Familiar Quotations, 16th edition (99), all debuted in 1997. Re-inventing the Corporation, by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene; Perestroika by Mikhail Gorbachev; The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes; and Keeping Faith, by Jimmy Carter, slipped from the list (in 1995, they were at 89, 93, 94 and 96, respectively).

As in 1995, six works of fiction made the list- -Beloved (33), Lake Wobegon Days (36), The Polar Express (63), Lincoln: A Novel (66), The Confessions of Nat Turner (67) and Chesapeake (87). All of the fiction titles improved from their 1995 positions on the list with Polar Express moving the farthest, from 76.

The rankings are for individual editions of a title, not for combined editions, such as the works of Shakespeare, or the Bible.

—Patrick McClain is systems analyst, OCLC Office of Research.

Rank OCLC Number Holdings Date Publication Title
1 8493620 3728 1982 In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-run Companies, by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
2 8410292 3596 1982 Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, by John Naisbitt
3 13947140 3542 1987 A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, by Kate L.Turabian, 5th ed.
4 6421457 3396 1980 Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett, 15th and 125th anniversary ed.
5 14239839 3383 1987 The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom
6 17105155 3218 1988 A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes, by Stephen W. Hawking
7 11969925 3203 1985 A Passion for Excellence, by Thomas J. Peters and Nancy Austin
8 10974869 3125 1984 Iacocca: An Autobiography, by Lee Iacocca with William Novak
9 20422202 3095 1990 Megatrends 2000: Ten New Directions for the 1990s, by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene
10 20800495 3060 1990 Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Proceedings of the International Symposium at McGill University, 1989, by Donald J. Ecobichon, Joseph M. Wu, editors
11 4004812 3051 1979 The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., 3d ed.
12 14411877 3034 1987 Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
13 16580381 2988 1987 Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution, by Thomas J. Peters
14 8283180 2923 1982 The Chicago Manual of Style, 13th ed.
15 20132484 2921 1989 The New York Public Library Desk Reference
16 26929668 2920 1993 The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed.
17 29953039 2876 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV, 4th ed.
18 25546099 2868 1992 The Supreme Court of the United States: Its Beginnings & Its Justices, 1790-1991
19 5333650 2856 1979 The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court, by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong
20 17227391 2844 1988 Clearing the Air: Perspectives on Environmental Tobacco Smoke, edited by Robert D. Tollison
21 18383661 2844 1988 Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, by Taylor Branch
22 25057627 2806 1991 The Bill of Rights and Beyond, 1791-1991
23 16130075 2797 1987 And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, by Randy Shilts
24 561302 2781 1962 Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
25 8475284 2775 1982 The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard, Spencer Johnson
26 17917341 2765 1988 The Way Things Work, by David Macaulay
27 15283849 2759 1987 The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, by Stuart Berg Flexner, editor-in-chief, 2nd ed.
28 5574262 2725 1979 White House Years, by Henry Kissinger
29 8590268 2723 1982 The Years of Lyndon Johnson, by Robert A. Caro
30 15550774 2689 1988 Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson
31 5830721 2684 1980 The Third Wave, by Alvin Toffler
32 8114573 2676 1983 The Oxford Companion to American Literature, by James D. Hart, 5th ed.
33 15284982 2670 1987 Beloved: A Novel, by Toni Morrison
34 12103258 2665 1986 Guide to Reference Books, edited by Eugene P. Sheehy, 10th ed.
35 15594794 2660 1987 The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, by Paul M. Kennedy
36 11971882 2655 1985 Lake Wobegon Days, by Garrison Keillor
37 10072914 2655 1984 The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, by Barbara W. Tuchman
38 4802 2655 1969 I'm OK, You're OK, by Thomas A. Harris
39 30398714 2653 1994 Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th ed.
40 701417 2647 1974 Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, by Peter F. Drucker
41 10753607 2639 1984 The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two, by Studs Terkel
42 7459948 2638 1981 Famous First Facts: A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History, by Joseph Nathan Kane, 4th ed.
43 24912611 2637 1992 Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, by Al Gore
44 25411163 2629 1992 Truman, by David McCullough
45 6280573 2629 1980 Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
46 16646152 2628 1987 Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981-1987, by Bob Woodward
47 13861133 2626 1986 The Reckoning, by David Halberstam
48 9645583 2622 1983 The Discoverers, by Daniel J. Boorstin
49 11519736 2619 1985 The Oxford Companion to English Literature, by Margaret Drabble, 5th ed.
50 11549089 2618 1985 Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles, by Peter F. Drucker
51 4957310 2618 1979 Black's Law Dictionary, by Henry Campbell Black, 5th ed.
52 17301230 2615 1988 A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam, by Neil Sheehan
53 3844481 2613 1978 American Caesar, Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964, by William Manchester
54 2188350 2610 1976 Roots, by Alex Haley
55 1975233 2604 1976 The Final Days, by Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein
56 22707774 2602 1990 A Child of Fortune, by Jeffrey St. John
57 423932 2601 1965 The Oxford History of the American People, by Samuel Eliot Morison
58 12945112 2590 1986 The Star and the Laurel: The Centennial History of Daimler, Mercedes, and Benz, 1886-1986, by Beverly Rae Kimes
59 300432 2586 1966 Miracle At Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, by Catherine D. Bowen
60 162307 2584 1971 Beyond Freedom and Dignity, by B.F. Skinner
61 2695090 2578 1977 The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914, by David McCullough
62 110210 2566 1971 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown
63 12162097 2559 1985 The Polar Express, written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
64 9646422 2540 1983 Vietnam, a History, by Stanley Karnow
65 8252644 2535 1982 Years of Upheaval, by Henry Kissinger
66 10229876 2531 1984 Lincoln: A Novel, by Gore Vidal
67 287279 2530 1967 The Confessions of Nat Turner, by William Styron
68 161979 2526 1971 Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship, by Joseph P. Lash
69 730839 2525 1974 Working; People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel
70 5673886 2518 1980 Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, by Milton and Rose Friedman
71 23016353 2510 1991 Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, by Susan Faludi
72 16395933 2505 1987 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-III-R, 3rd ed.
73 13328078 2504 1986 Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, by Leonard W. Levy, editor-in-chief
74 8280571 2502 1982 The Fate of the Earth, by Jonathan Schell
75 7204546 2501 1981 Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge, by William G. Ouchi
76 5831733 2499 1980 The Real War, by Richard Nixon
77 13186508 2498 1986 The Triumph of Politics: How the Reagan Revolution Failed, by David A. Stockman
78 17952931 2493 1988 The First Salute, by Barbara W. Tuchman
79 4804279 2493 1979 Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration, by Norman Cousins
80 15053078 2492 1987 Lincoln: A Photobiography, by Russell Freedman
81 87496 2492 1970 Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler
82 22490404 2491 1991 A History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani
83 340885 2488 1973 Harry S. Truman, by Margaret Truman
84 192333 2477 1962 The Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman
85 4641874 2471 1979 The Powers That Be, by David Halberstam
86 269102 2469 1938 American Authors, 1600-1900; A Biographical Dictionary of American Literature, edited by Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft
87 3730647 2467 1978 Chesapeake, by James A. Michener
88 31408427 2463 1995 MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph Gibaldi, 4th ed.
89 683340 2458 1973 A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, by Kate L. Turabian, 4th ed.
90 6040977 2456 1980 Managing in Turbulent Times, by Peter F. Drucker
91 16527303 2455 1988 Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America, by Jonathan Kozol
92 13455507 2453 1986 The Story of English, by Robert McCrum, William Cran, Robert MacNeil
93 18520153 2451 1989 The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, by Charles B. Clayman
94 9154456 2451 1983 The Last Lion, Winston Spencer Churchill, by William Manchester
95 17650532 2450 1988 The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers
96 30913157 2450 1994 The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray
97 15366726 2443 1987 Man of the House: The Life and Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O'Neill, by William Novak
98 22004762 2442 1990 Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century, by Alvin Toffler
99 23975729 2440 1992 Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett, 16th ed.
100 475124 2438 1967 The Death of a President, November 20-November 25, 1963, by William Manchester