Humanities by the Numbers: Evaluating Usage
Data of Collection AreasArianne Hartsell-Gundy ([email protected])
Masha Misco ([email protected])Jeffrey Hartsell-Gundy ([email protected])
Miami University of OhioVirtual Conference Webcast April 1st 10:30-11:30am
Poll QuestionO What areas of responsibility do you
have? Choose all that apply.a. Collection Developmentb. Technical Servicesc. Public Servicesd. Acquisitionse. Administrationf. Subject Specialistg. Access Services
Areas We EvaluatedO Folklore (GR1-GR950)O Communication (HM1206-HM1231)O Linguistics (P1-P1091)O Composition and Rhetoric (PE1127-
PE1497)O Theatre (PN1530-PN2096)
Areas We EvaluatedO Russian Orthodoxy (BL930-BL980,
BR930-BR939, BX200-BX739)O History of Russia and East European
countries (DB901-DB3150, DJK, DK, DR)
O Russian and East European Political Science (JC474, several JN ranges, JQ1070-JQ1198, JS6055-JS6139)
O Slavic and Uralic literature (PG, PH)
Research QuestionsO How close are we to the 80/20 rule?
O Which call numbers in our disciplines circulate the most and the least?
O Break downs of numbers of materials in call number ranges.
MethodologyO Technical Services and Selectors
work together to analyze collectionsO All librarians may not be familiar
with all the functionality of an Integrated Library System (ILS)O Different librarians have different skill
setsO Good communication is necessary to
ensure the right questions are used to find the needed information
MethodologyO An ILS is a rich source of collection data
O CirculationO AcquisitionO CostO Bibliographic
O With the right query you can analyze just about any aspect of your collectionO Using catalog information can lead to a
better understanding of your collection and new questions
MethodologyO Selectors need to know what information is
available and the functionality of the ILSO We used III Millennium
O Different ILS will have different functionalityO The quality of the data you can gather is
only as good as the quality of your catalogO Garbage in = Garbage outO Information that has not been collected in
the catalog can not be analyzed
MethodologyO Basic process
O Formulate questionsO Determine necessary information
O Determine available informationO Create reportsO Analyze data
Initial Findings
0123456789
FolkloreCommunicationLinguisticsCompositionTheatre
Average Use for Select Areas
Initial Findings
47%
36%
12%5%
Total Usage Rates for Folklore (GR) Books
01 through 910 through 2525+
Initial Findings
14%
56%
25%
5%
Total Usage Rates for Communication (HM) Books
01 through 910 through 2525+
Initial Findings
1%
38%
61%
Language of Materials (BX)
OtherEnglishRussian
Initial Findings
93%
7% 1%
Usage By Language (BX)
EnglishRussianOther
Initial Findings
27%
64%
7% 2%
Total Usage Rates for Political Science JC474
0 uses1 to 9 uses10 to 25 usesover 25 uses
How to calculate how close you are to the 80/20 rule
O Sum the ‘total use’ column, this will be value (x). This is the number of times all items in the list have been used.
O Find the values of 20% and 80% of value(x). For example, if there are 515 total uses 20% is 103 and 80% is 412.
O Determine how many items make up 20% of the list, this will be value (y). For example, if there are 79 items 20% is 15.8, rounded up to 16.
O Sort the ‘total use’ column in descending order (don’t include the title line). This will put the highest value at the top. Count down the list according to value (y). Determine how many total uses (y) represents by producing a sum of the ‘total use’ column for the items up to value (y). This will be value (z). Value (z) is the number of usages that are represented by the most used 20% of items in the list.
O Divide (z) by (x). This number is the percentage of total uses represented by the top 20% of the list represented by value (z). If value (z) is close to 80% then your list is close to the 80% rule. For example, if there are 515 total usages (x), and 16 items represents the 20% of items that is used the most (y), with (z) = 335, then (z) is 65%.
Example Formula
Directions for ActivityO Download the following documents:
O Sampledata.xlsxO Sampleformulas.xlsx
O Examine the data in the Excel spreadsheet “sampledata.xlsx”
O Decide which of the research questions you would like to work on
O Apply the formulas from the “sampleformulas.xlsx” worksheet
*remember to keep your data and your formulas in separate documents
Questions?We welcome commentary and questions
after the presentation as well! [email protected]@[email protected]