Library Collection Assessment Through Statistical Sampling

A welcome companion for any librarian seeking to determine both the general condition of their collection and specific areas in need of improvement.

This guide provides library directors, managers, and administrators in all types of libraries with complete and up-to-date instructions on how to evaluate library services in order to improve them. It's a fact: today's libraries must evaluate their services in order to find ways to better serve patrons and prove their value to their communities. In this greatly updated and expanded edition of Matthews' seminal text, you'll discover a breadth of tools that can be used to evaluate any library service, including newer tools designed to measure customer and patron outcomes. The book offers practical advice backed by solid research on virtually every aspect of evaluation, including quantitative and qualitative tools, data analysis, and specific recommendations for measuring individual services, such as technical services and reference and interlibrary loan. New chapters give readers effective ways to evaluate critical aspects of their libraries such as automated systems, physical space, staff, performance management frameworks, eBooks, social media, and information literacy. The author explains how broader and more robust adoption of evaluation techniques will help library managers combine traditional internal measurements, such as circulation and reference transactions, with more customer-centric metrics that reflect how well patrons feel they are served and how satisfied they are with the library. By applying this comprehensive strategy, readers will gain the ability to form a truer picture of their library's value to its stakeholders and patrons.

Adresses the art of controlling and updating your library's collection. Discussions of the importance and logistics of electronic resources are integrated throughout the book.

Designed as a “how-to” manual, Practical Preservation and Conservation Strategies for Libraries provides librarians with practical information to help them grapple with specific preservation challenges by identifying areas of concern, optimizing the use of resources put towards preservation, and establishing goals for continual improvement over time. Straightforward and pragmatic, it helps a library to reduce immediate and long-term preservation costs, and strengthen a library’s collection development goals. Topics include: Preservation in the digital age Establishing long-term preservation goals Environmental conditions Preservation needs of specific collections Understanding use patterns for library materials Identifying potential threats to a collection Recognizing readily available preservation resources Almost 50 photographs, figures, checklists, and other tools make this a practical guide libraries will use on a day-to-day basis.

Calculations and formulas are presented to help librarians gather statistics for analysis and management of the collection. Using measures of timeliness, relevancy, use percentages, user profiles, and comparisons, librarians can determine in quantitative ways the quality of a library's collection. Step-by-step directions show how to analyze data produced by automated systems, conduct random sampling, evaluate all types of information formats, and estimate the cost of updating the collection. Doll teaches in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Wayne University. Barron teaches in the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University of North Carolina. There is no subject index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This text provides principles and methods for determining if a library collection is fulfilling the stated mission of the library. It is a clear introduction to collection evaluation for the novice collection manager, and it is also useful as a review and reference for the experienced librarian.

This is the single most convenient reference source available about the RLG Conspectus. Collection Assessment explains in detail why the Research Libraries Conspectus is the best collection development and assessment methodology available for acquisitions librarians. Experienced collection development librarians thoroughly and precisely define the RLG Conspectus and explore its origins and describe how librarians can use it effectively for consistent evaluation of total library collections in an individual or consortium environment. Chapters include in-depth discussions of pitfalls to avoid when using the RLG Conspectus and clear illustrations of its advantages compared to other collection development methodologies. It is a practical guide which helps library administrators and librarians prepare for, plan, and implement a collection development or assessment program based on the widely used and proven RLG Conspectus. Librarians adopting the Conspectus will find this helpful book divided into two informative parts. The Conspectus and all of its elements are first carefully examined; authoritative contributors then explore the use of the Conspectus by specific libraries or groups of libraries. This highly readable and informative volume covers every aspect of the RLG Conspectus including: a complete description and explanation of the RLG Conspectus origins and reasons for its conception and an overview of its progress and development over the years how and why the RLG Conspectus has been adopted by the Pacific Northwest Libraries, library consortia, and smaller academic, public, school, or special libraries practical recommendations from librarians who have used the conspectus an annotated bibliography for further reading All academic and public librarians, library science instructors who teach collection development, acquisitions, serials, and administration, and librarians who are members of a consortium interested in cooperation, collection development, and resource sharing will find invaluable guidelines for using the RLG Conspectus in Collection Assessment. Some of the detailed advice provided by experienced librarians include an overview of the Conspectus with worksheet illustrations of its use in a specific library environment, the use of Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets and ANSI standards for statistical reliability, implementation of the RLG conspectus in a humanities collection, the use of the Conspectus by the State of Alaska, and the issue of the Conspectus Supplemental Guidelines in a regional library setting.