Methodologies for the Analysis of Monograph Collections:

From the Technologically Advanced to the Cost Efficient and Expedient

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES

1. Best Methodology = The One that Fits Your Environment and Resources.

2. “Statistics” and “Collection Analysis” can be Very Broadly Defined.

FIT THE METHODOLOGY TO THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• Staff Skills

• Staff Time

• Finances

TYPE A: HIGH INTENSITY & HIGH COSTEnvironment

• Staff Time Availability: high• Project Fund Availability: high

Resource Requirements• Analytic/Technical Skills: high• Learning Curve Tolerance: high• Financial Outlay: high

Suggested Methodology • Commercial collection assessment electronic tool.• Create full-time collection assessment position to

establish a “culture of assessment.”

TYPE B: LOW INTENSITY & HIGH COSTEnvironment

• Staff Time Availability: low• Project Fund Availability: high

Resource Requirements• Analytic/Technical Skills: low• Learning Curve Tolerance: low• Financial Outlay: high

Suggested Methodology • Commercial software package.• Hire analyst to interpret results & generate report on all

subjects and aggregate data. Repeat every two years.

TYPE C: HIGH INTENSITY & LOW COSTEnvironment

• Staff Time Availability: high• Project Fund Availability: low

Resource Requirements• Analytic/Technical Skills: high• Learning Curve Tolerance: high• Financial Outlay: low

Suggested Methodology Available resources such as FirstSearch. Peer-comparisons via local catalogs.

TYPE D: LOW INTENSITY & LOW COSTEnvironment

• Staff Time Availability: low• Project Fund Availability: low

Resource Requirements• Analytic/Technical Skills: low• Learning Curve Tolerance: low• Financial Outlay: low

Suggested Methodology Internal analyses. Free resources off the Internet.

WORLDCAT COLLECTION ANALYSIS: FEATURES & FUNCTIONS

Levels of AnalysisDivisions Categories

Subjects Language

Formats Audience

Types of AnalysisPublication Dates

Overlap

Uniqueness

Limit AnalysisBy Library

By Levels of analysis

Change AnalysisChange column values

Change row values

WCA: PUBLICATION DATE TABLE WITH EXPANDED DIVISION

EXCEL GRAPH OF WCA DATA

DATABASES OF APPROVAL PLAN VENDORS

YBP – GOBI

Of all the books within this universe of publication, what % did your library receive?

Characteristics of those not received?

Interdisciplinary Subjects – e.g., Globalization.

FIRSTSEARCH INTERFACE TO WORLDCAT DATA

“Hot Topics”- e.g., Global Warming.

“Expert Search” to limit number of libraries, languages, formats, audience type, & much more.

English Language Books (non-fiction, adult readership) on Women and Employment: Publication Trends, Collection Strength, & Collecting

Patterns

WorldCat Holdings

Library X Holdings

in WorldCat

% of Library X Holdings

1980 - 1989

6933 962 7.38%

1990 - 1999

5693 420 13.88%

AMAZON

Advanced Search

Subject: women and employment

Format: paperback Reader Age: all Language: all Publication Dates: all Sort by: Publication Date

Result: 1,061

Prize-Winner Lists Man Booker Prize National Book Awards National Book Critics Circle Awards Nobel Prize Pulitzer Prize Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award Amazon.com's Best Books of 2005 Audie Awards Bram Stoker Awards Caldecott Medal Coretta Scott King Awards Edgar Awards Hugo Awards IACP Cookbook Awards James Beard Foundation/KitchenAid Book

Awards Michael L. Printz Award for Teen Literature National Academies Communication Awards Nebula Awards Newbery Medal PEN American Center Literary Awards Etc.

CONSTRUCTING A REPORT USING INTERNAL RESOURCES1. Boilerplate: “Fact Sheet” information to provide an overview of the entire

Library system—e.g., number and names of branches, total volumes held, total expenditures, total staff, etc.

2. Local Catalogs: (a) relative strength of one collection to other collections within the library; (b) LC subject headings to compare the number of titles in your local catalog to the number of titles in the online public catalogs of peer or aspirational peer libraries.

3. Budgetary Statistics

4. ILL & Circulation Statistics

5. Other Collections

SUPPLEMENTING A REPORT USING EXTERNAL RESOURCES

1. Institutional Statistics: Contact your institution’s office of research

or check for an online “Data Book” (e.g., http://www.adminplan.northwestern.edu/ir/databook/ ).

2. Statistics from Organizations: ARL Statistics http://

www.arl.org/stats/arlstat/ and the Academic Libraries Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/academic.asp.

3. Vendor-Supplied Statistics: Contact foreign vendors and/or see cost reports and pricing forecasts such as the YBP “Annual Book Price Update” at http://www.ybp.com/ybp/DomIndex.html?book_price_update.html&1 or the BSS “Cost & Coverage” reports at http://www.blackwell.com/librarian_resources/cost_and_coverage/index.html.

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

1. YBP Interdisciplinary Studies searches

2. FirstSearch-WorldCat

3. Amazon

4. Public catalogs LC subject headings or keyword phrases

5. Descriptions of “Core” collection:

1. Guide to Reference Works

2. Lists compiled by ACRL sections & other library committees

*And everything under “…. Internal Resources” and “…. External Resources.”

INTERPRETING NUMBERS

1. Collection Size = StrengthAssumption: Bigger is Better

What is the relative strength of the “International Relations” collection within Political Science?

Is the Political Science collection specialized (strong in one subfield) or generalized (equal strength in all subfields)?

How strong is this collection within the library’s total collection?

What is the relative strength of this collection compared to the other nine Dewey divisions?

Compared with peer libraries?

CATEGORIES OF THE POLITICAL SCIENCE DIVISION

TOTAL HOLDINGS

BY CATEGORY

RELATIVE STRENGTH

WITHIN DIVISION

STRENGTH OF DIVISION

TO LIBRARY’S TOTAL

HOLDINGS

Colonies & Colonization

1823 2.00% 4.08%

Immigration & Emigration

1824 2.00%

Military, all branches

15248 16.70%

International Law 13891 15.21%

International Relations

1813 1.99%

Legislative & Executive papers

789 0.86%

Local Government

3628 3.97%

Political Inst. & Public Admin.

39051 42.77%

Political Science, Gen’l

3002 3.29%

Political Theory, Theory of State

10230 11.20%

Totals: 91299 100.00%

INTERPRETING NUMBERS

2. Publication Dates = GrowthAssumption: Publication Dates equal Acquisition Dates

Although “Political Institutions” was shown to be the strength of the Political Science collection, the policy for the last ten years has been to give emphasis to “International Relations.” Do the data of the last ten years reflect this change in collecting patterns?

Which areas have grown the most over the last twenty years?

Is there a trend in growth during the last five decades of the last century? --to grow fast or to shrink?

CATEGORIES OF THE POLITICAL SCIENCE DIVISION

ACQUIRED- PUBLISHED

IN THE 1980S

ACQUIRED-PUBLISHED IN

THE 1990S

% OF CHANGE

OVER TWO

DECADES

Colonies & Colonization

124 98 -20.97%

Immigration & Emigration

274 477 74.09%

Military 4915 3086 -37.21%

International Law 2264 1910 -15.64%

International Relations

133 452 239.85%

Legislative & Executive Papers

136 162 19.12%

Local Government

509 506 -0.59%

Political Inst. & Public Admin

5738 10168 77.20%

Political Science, General

531 545 2.64%

Political Theory, Theory of State

1757 2095 19.24%

Totals: 16381 19499 19.03%

INTERPRETING NUMBERS

3. Publication Dates = Age of CollectionsAssumption: The library’s mission determines the significance of the age of the collection.

The “Theory” subfield contains the largest holdings of pre-19th century titles. Within that subfield, “Forms of State” are found to be a special collection.

Within LC’s J classification, which subfields appear to be most outdated, in need of updating or weeding?

Subjects of the Theory Category

Pre-19th Century Titles

% of Pre-19th Century in Theory

Forms of State 2242 73.97%

Nationalism 387 12.77%

Theory of State 244 8.05%

State & Individual 158 5.21%

Categories of Political Science

% of Holdings Published in the

Last 3 Years

% of Holdings Published in the

Last 5 Years

Colonies & Colonization

12.58% 14.17%

Immigration & Emigration

9.81% 18.26%

Military, all 3.97% 8.23%

Intern’l Law 0.14% 0.29%

Intern’l Relations 23.88% 42.25%

Legislative & Executive Papers

14.07% 15.84%

Local Government 75.24% 92.65%

Political Inst. 33.73% 41.63%

Political Sci, Gen’l 56.13% 88.36%

Political Theory 6.91% 12.54%

INTERPRETING NUMBERS

4. WCA Uniqueness or Prize-Winner ListsAssumption: Unique titles or holdings of prize-winners suggest positive qualities about the collections.

These measurements may be said to indicate a certain “richness” within the collection.

Newbery Medal for Best Children's Book: Medal & Honor Winners in the Children's

Collection of the Library

# of Medal

Winners

% in Library

# of Honor

Winners

% in Library

1922-1940

19 82% 76 70%

1941-1960

20 84% 81 75%

1961-1980

20 95% 51 87%

1981-2000

20 100% 54 99%

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES

1. Best Methodology = The One that Fits Your Environment and Resources.

2. “Statistics” and “Collection Analysis” can be Very Broadly Defined.