Alternative metrics for books, articles and ephemera can be found by using WorldCat. This online resource makes visible information that may otherwise be difficult to find. It is a resource for locating unique, trustworthy materials that you often can’t find anywhere except in a library. By connecting thousands of libraries’ collections in one place, WorldCat.org makes it easy for you to browse the world’s libraries from one search box.
For a researcher, one of the benefits of WorldCat is knowing which libraries hold your works. Tracking the holdings can show the impact of works, whether it be by sheer numbers of libraries or the standing of the institution itself. For example: knowing that a textbook is in over 800 libraries and multiple languages; a legal work held in Yale, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge university libraries; art exhibition catalogue in libraries, not just at the gallery.
Using the advanced search on Worldcat it is possible to search by:
To access the advanced search look for the symbol with two vertical lines with two small circles just to the right of the search box.