Research Help: Lists & Rankings
As librarians, one of the most common types of reference questions we get is for the best, top, or most of things. For example, we are often asked questions like the following:
· what are the top 10 grossing films of all time?
· what are the best selling books of all time?
· what are the best cities to live in?
· what are the top schools in the country?
· what are the best companies to work for?
· who are the richest people in the world?
Below are some of the best sites for questions about rankings and/or "best of" lists, broken up into categories for easier browsing. I've also included a few print resources at the end. I hope these are helpful with questions from your patrons.
General (Covering All Subject Areas)
Price's List of Lists
International lists and rankings on just about every subject imaginable, compiled by Gary Price.
The Internet Job Source: Lists on the Web
An excellent, comprehensive collection of links.
O'Keefe Library Best of the Web: Rankings and Awards
A selective but useful collection of links.
Libraries, Books & Reading
WorldCat's Top 100 List
The top 100 list is based on the holdings of OCLC member libraries, which include all types of libraries throughout the world: research, university, public, corporate, government and school libraries. The #1 ranked book is: In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-run Companies, by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
New York Times Best Seller Lists
Hardcover fiction, nonfiction, advice; paperback fiction, nonfiction, advice; hardcover and paperback business bestsellers.
Bestseller Lists 1900-1995
Publisher's Weekly's list of bestselling hardcover books for the entire century.
Top 150 Best-Selling Books
From USA Today.
The Best English-Language Fiction of the Twentieth Century: A Composite List and Ranking
Brian Kunde of Stanford "merged and reconciled" four well-known 'best of' fiction book lists -- the Modern Library list, the Library Journal list, the Koen Book Distributors list, and the Radcliffe Publishing Course list -- to come up with this one which he believes "represents a better overall sampling of the best English-language books of the twentieth century".
The Modern Library 100 Best Novels
Has the Board's list as well as the readers' list.
New York Public Library Recommended Reading: Top 100 Children's Books
Organized into genres, each entry has a brief annotation.
Business & Companies
Hoover's List of Lists
The Best, the Biggest, and the Emerging companies, products, locations, and people. "Here we've compiled links to external lists to a variety of sources that rank companies and people in a number of ways. You'll find dozens of lists that rank companies by size, sales, reputation, and many other criteria".
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