  Purpose: This paper discusses ranking factors suitable for library materials
and shows that ranking in general is a complex process and that ranking for
library materials requires a variety of techniques.
Design/methodology/approach: The relevant literature is reviewed to provide a
systematic overview of suitable ranking factors. The discussion is based on an
overview of ranking factors used in Web search engines. Findings: While there
are a wide variety of ranking factors applicable to library materials, todays
library systems use only some of them. When designing a ranking component for
the library catalogue, an individual weighting of applicable factors is
necessary. Research limitations/applications: While this article discusses
different factors, no particular ranking formula is given. However, this
article presents the argument that such a formula must always be individual to
a certain use case. Practical implications: The factors presented can be
considered when designing a ranking component for a librarys search system or
when discussing such a project with an ILS vendor. Originality/value: This
paper is original in that it is the first to systematically discuss ranking of
library materials based on the main factors used by Web search engines.
