Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries
eBook - ePub

Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries

A Practical Guide for Librarians

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries

A Practical Guide for Librarians

About this book

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.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries by Karen C. Kohn in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Library & Information Science. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Preface
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Chapter 1: How Collection Evaluation Can Benefit Your Library
  5. Chapter 2: Approaches to Evaluating Your Collection
  6. Chapter 3: Before You Start
  7. Chapter 4: Benchmarking—Collecting and Analyzing the Data
  8. Chapter 5: Benchmarking—Interpreting and Acting on the Data
  9. Chapter 6: List-Checking—Collecting and Analyzing the Data
  10. Chapter 7: List-Checking—Interpreting and Acting on the Data
  11. Chapter 8: Usage Statistics—Collecting and Analyzing the Data
  12. Chapter 9: Usage Statistics—Interpreting and Acting on the Data
  13. Chapter 10: Citation Analysis—Collecting and Analyzing the Data
  14. Chapter 11: Citation Analysis—Interpreting and Acting on the Data
  15. Chapter 12: Sharing What You Found
  16. About the Author