"In Search of Excellence" is on more library shelves than any other book, according to a survey of WorldCat, an electronic catalog of materials from libraries in the United States and other countries.
With 3,971 libraries listed as having it in their collections, the book tops the list of 100 books held by libraries that catalog their materials on WorldCat. It has held that position consistently since 1989.
The list, heavy in reference works and nonfiction bestsellers, also has three children's books-- "Owl Moon," "The Polar Express" and "The Way Things Work."
Some books one would expect to see on the list, such as the Bible and Shakespeare's works, are missing because there are so many editions, and different editions are cataloged as separate works.
The top 100 list is based on the holdings of OCLC member libraries, which include all types of libraries: research, university, public, corporate, government and school libraries. Libraries use the bibliographic records in WorldCat to catalog the books in their collections. When they do, a notation is made in the database, which is a merged, computerized catalog of the materials in 8,650 libraries around the world that use the OCLC online cataloging system. Available to libraries since 1971, WorldCat currently contains 42 million records and 720 million holding symbols.
| Rank |
Holdings |
Title/Author |
| 1 |
3971 |
In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-run Companies, by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. |
| 2 |
3738 |
Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, by John Naisbitt |
| 3 |
3524 |
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, by Kate L. Turabian, 5th ed. |
| 4 |
3513 |
Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett, 15th and 125th anniversary ed. |
| 5 |
3506 |
The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom |
| 6 |
3374 |
A Passion for Excellence, by Thomas J. Peters and Nancy Austin |
| 7 |
3365 |
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, by Stephen W. Hawking |
| 8 |
3275 |
Iacocca: An Autobiography, by Lee Iacocca with William Novak |
| 9 |
3261 |
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., 3rd ed. |
| 10 |
3248 |
Megatrends 2000: Ten New Directions for the 1990's, by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene |
| 11 |
3230 |
The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. |
| 12 |
3227 |
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV, 4th ed. |
| 13 |
3152 |
Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. |
| 14 |
3094 |
Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Proceedings of the International Symposium At McGill University, 1989, edited by Donald J. Ecobichon and Joseph M. Wu |
| 15 |
3081 |
Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution, by Thomas J. Peters |
| 16 |
3080 |
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th ed. |
| 17 |
3022 |
The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court, by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong |
| 18 |
3004 |
The Supreme Court of the United States: Its Beginnings and Its Justices, 1790 - 1991 |
| 19 |
2964 |
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954 - 63, by Taylor Branch |
| 20 |
2959 |
The New York Public Library Desk Reference |
| 21 |
2946 |
Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson |
| 22 |
2925 |
The Chicago Manual of Style, 13th ed. |
| 23 |
2921 |
The Bill of Rights and Beyond, 1791 - 1991 |
| 24 |
2899 |
The Way Things Work, by David Macaulay |
| 25 |
2892 |
Clearing the Air: Perspectives on Environmental Tobacco Smoke, edited by Robert D. Tollison |
| 26 |
2870 |
The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson |
| 27 |
2860 |
And the Band Played on: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, by Randy Shilts |
| 28 |
2859 |
The Years of Lyndon Johnson, by Robert A. Caro |
| 29 |
2854 |
White House Years, by Henry Kissinger |
| 30 |
2851 |
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph Gibaldi, 4th ed. |
| 31 |
2828 |
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson |
| 32 |
2825 |
Truman, by David McCullough |
| 33 |
2824 |
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, by Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, 2nd ed. |
| 34 |
2822 |
Lake Wobegon Days, by Garrison Keillor |
| 35 |
2811 |
Beloved: A Novel, by Toni Morrison |
| 36 |
2790 |
The Third Wave, by Alvin Toffler |
| 37 |
2786 |
Roots, by Alex Haley |
| 38 |
2785 |
The Final Days, by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein |
| 39 |
2780 |
The Oxford History of the American People, by Samuel Eliot Morison |
| 40 |
2773 |
I'm OK, You're OK, by Thomas A. Harris |
| 41 |
2769 |
The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, by Barbara W. Tuchman |
| 42 |
2769 |
The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two, by Studs Terkel |
| 43 |
2763 |
The Discoverers, by Daniel J. Boorstin |
| 44 |
2763 |
Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981 - 1987, by Bob Woodward |
| 45 |
2760 |
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan |
| 46 |
2758 |
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, by Paul Kennedy |
| 47 |
2757 |
Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, by Al Gore |
| 48 |
2752 |
American Caesar, Douglas MacArthur, 1880 - 1964, by William Manchester |
| 49 |
2745 |
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870 - 1914, by David McCullough |
| 50 |
2739 |
The Polar Express, written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg |
| 51 |
2733 |
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam, by Neil Sheehan |
| 52 |
2723 |
The Oxford Companion to American Literature, James D. Hart, 5th ed. |
| 53 |
2717 |
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown |
| 54 |
2716 |
Miracle At Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, by Catherine Drinker Bowen |
| 55 |
2715 |
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, by Peter F. Drucker |
| 56 |
2714 |
Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett, 16th ed. |
| 57 |
2710 |
The Reckoning, by David Halberstam |
| 58 |
2701 |
The Oxford Companion to English Literature, by Margaret Drabble, 5th ed. |
| 59 |
2691 |
Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles, Peter F. Drucker |
| 60 |
2689 |
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, by B.F. Skinner |
| 61 |
2686 |
The Star and the Laurel: The Centennial History of Daimler, Mercedes, and Benz, 1886 - 1986, by Beverly Rae Kimes |
| 62 |
2676 |
A Child of Fortune, by Jeffrey St. John |
| 63 |
2672 |
Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship, by Joseph P. Lash |
| 64 |
2667 |
Black's Law Dictionary, by Henry Campbell Black, 5th ed. |
| 65 |
2663 |
Years of Upheaval, Henry Kissinger |
| 66 |
2657 |
The Confessions of Nat Turner, by William Styron |
| 67 |
2657 |
Harry S. Truman, by Margaret Truman |
| 68 |
2657 |
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray |
| 69 |
2655 |
Lincoln: A Photobiography, by Russell Freedman |
| 70 |
2655 |
Vietnam, a History, by Stanley Karnow |
| 71 |
2652 |
Lincoln: A Novel, by Gore Vidal |
| 72 |
2636 |
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel |
| 73 |
2632 |
All the President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward |
| 74 |
2626 |
The First Salute, by Barbara W. Tuchman |
| 75 |
2623 |
American Authors, 1600 - 1900: A Biographical Dictionary of American Literature, edited by Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft |
| 76 |
2620 |
Chesapeake, James A. Michener |
| 77 |
2616 |
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, by Susan Faludi |
| 78 |
2614 |
A History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani |
| 79 |
2614 |
The Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman |
| 80 |
2613 |
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, by Milton and Rose Friedman |
| 81 |
2607 |
Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler |
| 82 |
2603 |
The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell, with Bill Moyers |
| 83 |
2593 |
Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration, by Norman Cousins |
| 84 |
2591 |
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward R. Tufte |
| 85 |
2584 |
Famous First Facts: A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History, by Joseph Nathan Kane, 4th ed. |
| 86 |
2582 |
Guide to Reference Books, edited by Eugene P. Sheehy, 10th ed. |
| 87 |
2581 |
The Story of English, by Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil |
| 88 |
2580 |
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, by Leonard W. Levy, editor in chief |
| 89 |
2580 |
The Real War, by Richard Nixon |
| 90 |
2576 |
A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. |
| 91 |
2570 |
The Death of a President, November 20 - November 25, 1963, by William Manchester |
| 92 |
2570 |
The Powers That Be, by David Halberstam |
| 93 |
2568 |
The Triumph of Politics: How the Reagan Revolution Failed, by David A. Stockman |
| 94 |
2568 |
Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen |
| 95 |
2565 |
The Fate of the Earth, by Jonathan Schell |
| 96 |
2564 |
The Fatal Shore, Robert Hughes |
| 97 |
2561 |
Kennedy, by Theodore C. Sorensen |
| 98 |
2559 |
Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge, by William G. Ouchi |
| 99 |
2559 |
Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President, by Jimmy Carter |
| 100 |
2557 |
Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon, by Theodore H. White |