The results of a project comparing the nursing monograph collections of academic health science center libraries in the Southwest are reported. Records for nursing monographs from the TALON (South Central Regional Medical Library Program) Union Catalog of Monographs from 1977-1983 were analyzed to reveal the distribution by year, publisher, and subject of titles cataloged during that time period. Overlap between library collections was analyzed showing that overlap does increase over time. The effects upon overlap of both cataloging practices of individual libraries and the number of years of cataloging studied are discussed. Various methodologies used for overlap studies are compared, and implications of the results of the study for academic nursing collections are discussed from the viewpoints of the nursing faculty, the student user, and the librarian. (Author/THC)