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Monograph No access
Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries
A Practical Guide for Librarians
Authors:
Publisher:
2015
Summary
Librarians have long used data to describe their collections. Traditional measures have simply been inputs and outputs: volumes acquired, processed, owned, or circulated. With the growth since the 1990s of cultures of assessment, librarians have sought statistics that are evaluative rather than simply descriptive. More recently, exponentially increasing journal prices and an economic recession have intensified the need to make careful purchasing decisions and to justify these to administrators. A methodical evaluation of a library collection can help librarians understand and meet user needs and can help communicate to administrators that the library is a good use of the institution’s money.
Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries: A Practical Guide for Librarians equips collections managers to select and implement a method or several methods of evaluating their library collections.
It includes sections on four tools for evaluation:
• Comparison to peer institutions
• Core lists
• Usage statistics from circulation and ILL
• Citation analysis
Chapters on each of these approaches present the advantages and disadvantages of each method, instructions on data collection and analysis—with screenshots—and suggested action steps after completing the analysis. With a unique combination of step-by-step instructions and discussions of the purpose and role of data, this book provides an unusually thorough guide to collection evaluation. It will be indispensable for collection development librarians and anyone looking to strengthen the culture of assessment within the library.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright Year
2015
ISBN-Print
978-1-4422-3859-6
ISBN-Online
978-1-4422-5065-9
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
186
Product Type
Monograph
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Illustrations No access
Textboxes No access
Preface No access
Acknowledgments No access
Chapter 1. How Collection Evaluation Can Benefit Your Library No access Pages 1 - 10
Chapter 2. Approaches to Evaluating Your Collection No access Pages 11 - 22
Chapter 3. Before You Start No access Pages 23 - 40
Chapter 4. Benchmarking—Collecting and Analyzing the Data No access Pages 41 - 60
Chapter 5. Benchmarking—Interpreting and Acting on the Data No access Pages 61 - 70
Chapter 6. List-Checking—Collecting and Analyzing the Data No access Pages 71 - 86
Chapter 7. List-Checking—Interpreting and Acting on the Data No access Pages 87 - 94
Chapter 8. Usage Statistics—Collecting and Analyzing the Data No access Pages 95 - 120
Chapter 9. Usage Statistics—Interpreting and Acting on the Data No access Pages 121 - 136
Chapter 10. Citation Analysis—Collecting and Analyzing the Data No access Pages 137 - 152
Chapter 11. Citation Analysis—Interpreting and Acting on the Data No access Pages 153 - 164
Chapter 12. Sharing What You Found No access Pages 165 - 182
