Problem

After a catalog search or ISBN import, a title appears in Citavi as a monograph even though it is an edited volume. 

Cause

Library catalogs typically distinguish only two document types: "monographs" (books) and "periodicals" (journals). This is by design — the purpose of a library catalog is to represent holdings and make them quickly searchable.

The finer distinction between "true" monographs, edited volumes, and conference proceedings is a requirement imposed by citation styles. For this reason, Citavi provides separate entry forms for different document types. However, it is not always possible for Citavi to populate the correct form with data retrieved from a library catalog.

Why? The data Citavi receives from a catalog differs from what you see in the catalog's web interface. Citavi typically queries data via the Z39.50 protocol, which transmits data in a different structure and composition. Because the information needed to determine the correct Citavi document type is missing from this data, Citavi attempts to detect edited volumes by looking for indicators in the author field (e.g., "ed." or "eds."). This works in many cases — but not always.

Solution

In these cases, you must manually change the document type after import: Menu: References > Change reference type.