Check the book's library catalog records
Check whether editions are incorrectly split or merged
Look at your book's WorldCat records for one edition spread across several records, or different editions combined into one, and raise problems through a library that holds the book.
Authors often hire help with this: library or cataloging.
Why it matters
A split spreads holdings across several records so no single one looks widely held, and a merge attaches your book to the wrong details. Both make the book harder for librarians to find and evaluate. The fix is straightforward for a cataloger once someone points it out with the right numbers, and the author is usually the only person looking.
Your part
- What you do
- Do it. You normally do this yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author and Library cataloger. Author identifies; a cataloging library reports and OCLC corrects
- When
- At publication and whenever a discrepancy appears (Check the book's library catalog records: after publication, then whenever a new format appears)Checked September 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Library catalog records are created by many libraries and vendors, and they do not always agree. The same paperback can end up with three WorldCat records because three catalogers described it slightly differently (a split), or a hardcover and a revised paperback can be attached to a single record that describes neither correctly (a merge). Ebook and audiobook editions add more opportunities for confusion, since they are cataloged separately and sometimes not at all.
The check is to compare the records you found in WorldCat against your list of editions. Each edition and format should have one record whose details (title, subtitle, publisher, date, page count, ISBN) match that edition. Several records with the same ISBN are a split. One record listing ISBNs from different editions, or with a page count that matches neither, is a merge. Note the OCLC numbers involved.
Authors cannot fix these. OCLC merges and corrects records on request from member libraries, so the route is a library that holds the book: your local library, a university library, or the publisher's own cataloging contact. Explain the problem with OCLC numbers and the correct details, and ask whether they would report it. OCLC's guidance for authors describes what is and is not correctable. Some splits are legitimate (libraries in different countries or with different cataloging rules), so expect a cataloger to make that judgment.
Check at publication and whenever a discrepancy turns up, whether in WorldCat or in a library's own catalog.
Common mistakes
- Expecting to edit the record yourself, or expecting any single contact to guarantee a change.
- Sending a correction to a library when the wrong detail came from the publisher's metadata feed, where it will simply come back.
- Reporting a problem without OCLC numbers.
- Treating every duplicate as an error when cataloging rules sometimes create legitimate separate records.
- Confusing WorldCat splits with retailer duplicates, which have a different fix route.
Identifiers for Check whether editions are incorrectly split or merged
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| WorldCat The shared library catalog where member libraries report which books they hold, free for anyone to search. | Catalogers reuse records from here, so an error in one record tends to spread, and a missing record, a duplicate, or one record that mixes two formats makes your book harder for a library to order correctly. No author on any route can edit a record. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally send the correction to the publisher's metadata team or distributor, and a self-published author normally goes to their platform, or to a library that holds the book and can report the problem. Record the OCLC number for each edition, note any error, and remember that public holdings counts are incomplete and delayed. | Add your OCLC number | |
| OCLC information for authors OCLC's short help page explaining how library records for your book are made and who is able to change them. | Reading it before you write to anyone saves you sending a correction to a party who cannot act on it, which is the usual reason nothing happens. It is guidance and not a form: there is no way to add a book to the shared library catalog by asking, and there are no author profiles there. Every route does the same thing here, which is read first; normally a metadata error goes to the publisher's metadata team for a traditionally or hybrid published book and to the platform or distributor for a self-published one, while a duplicate or merged record goes to a holding library or to OCLC. Identify the party that can act, then send a request naming the record number, wrong field, correct value, and supporting source. | Nothing to record |
What done looks like
- Each edition and format matched to one WorldCat record with correct details.
- Splits and merges identified with the OCLC numbers involved and the correct details written down.
- A holding library or the publisher's cataloging contact asked, politely and with the numbers, to review and report.
- The request and outcome logged in your corrections record.
- Acceptance that some apparent splits are legitimate under cataloging rules.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 13, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 13, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.