overall usage, usage by col-lection, and cost per title.

n addition, the majority of community colleges do not require research during the tenure process. Since research is not required to gain tenure or promotion, there are significantly fewer institutional services and supports for faculty research at community colleges.

I say this with no intent to create a sense of rivalry between the two types of institutions;

This last question is often contingent on whether your college has a department of Institutional Effectiveness or an IRB; BC had no IRB when I began designing the assessment, which made the process of determining how to gain consent to conduct human research for this assessmen

library brochure for faculty that our librarians distribute when they attend department meetings in their liaison areas.

The library is contained on one floor, so we cannot use the easy solution of one quiet and one group study floor; instead, we moved all large tables to the front of the library and called the front half of the library our “hushed-talking zone” where students may talk quietly while studying together. The back half of the library is the “no-talking zone” for completely silent study. To help shift the culture of the library to reflect these two zones, we placed prominent signage at the entrances to each zone, and the librarians regularly walk around the library to check on noise levels. Noise complaints have decreased this semester now that students have a more consistent idea of how to use the library, and students seem much happier now that they have a clear way to tell how they should be using the library.

The first was a lack of consistently quiet study space for students in the library and the second was a lack of awareness among faculty of the services they could use at the library.

campus’ Assessment Committee as a method for non-academic units on campus to assess their services.

I added a question to the general student survey related to each of BC’s Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) to help determine whether students perceived that the library had helped them achieve these learning outcomes.

However, when I approached the college about this, the BC Admissions & Records Department cited FERPA concerns and denied my request

85% indicated that they had noticed an improvement in their students’ research skills after the orientation.

The general survey to all BC students shows that 35% of respondents use the library multiple times per week, and over 82% of the respondents indicated that one of their primary reasons for using the library was as a quiet space to do homework,

extremely helpful as a tool to prove the sheer volume of BC student presence in the librar

very positively perceived

this process was quite simple.

assessment benchmark.

However, it is colloquially considered part of campus’ Student Services along with non-academic units such as the Writing Lab and the Tutoring Center.

As a result, our library services do not simply orient them to the differences between an academic library and a high school or public library, but introduce them to the library as a concept.

Historically, library assessments have focused on library collections rather than library services.3 However, an argument can be made that a more effective form of library assessment focuses instead on student usage of library services and the degree to which student library usage relates to academic success

Although always integral for service- oriented professions, assessment often serves a unique purpose for academic libraries in that it can also show how the library and its services impact student success and the college as a whole

The results of this study were quite positive, although gaps in service were identified and addressed post-assessment. The library plans to continue assessing its services every three years with this model of assessment.

Library assessment is a well-established necessity for proving a library’s worth to administration.

Log Analysis Print book collections may be assessed by analyzing transaction logs stored in the library’s online catalog, using a variety of searches, including subject keyword, title and author. A log analysis can also be extremely helpful to identify research trends at the institution or by discipline.

OCLC’s WorldShare Collection Evaluation

These include subject bibliographies developed by another library, publisher’s comprehensive offerings, book dealer catalogs, list compiled by professional associations, lists of recently acquired books, and recommended reading lists, to name just a few. Verification studies use list-checking as a means for a group of libraries to compare their collections with a prepared list of titles, which in most cases, is a compilation of the most important works in a specific discipline

Rose-Wiles and Irwin 2016)

link server systems

base URL, which contains the address of the user's institutional link-server, followed by a query string, consisting of key-value pairs serializing a ContextObject. The ContextObject is most often bibliographic data, but as of version 1.0 OpenURL can also include information about the requester, the resource containing the hyperlink, the type of service required, and so forth. For example:

is often a bibliographic citation or bibliographic record in a database. Examples of these databases include Ovid Technologies,

An OpenURL is similar to a web address, but instead of referring to a physical website, it refers to an article, book, patent, or other resource within a website.

Marxist analysis of OER in higher education cautions against administrators’ attempts to exploit OER for surplus value in the form of increased enrollment, lower teaching costs, and cultural prestige

A deeper investigation into “open washing,”

qualitative approaches used in OER perception studies could be incorporated more often to center students’ voices. Action research is another approach. According to Sagor, action research, “is a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the ‘actor’ in improving and/or refining his or her actions” (Sagor, 2000). Action research on OER initiatives would be a welcome addition to the literature, as the method aligns nicely with critical pedagogy.

Unlike most OER studies, Bowen, et al. also tested whether or not the OER/hybrid method can lower instructor costs. In their model, the hybrid course would be supervised by tenure-track faculty, with in-person sections led by “teaching assistants” and administrative work handled by a “part-time instructor” (Bowen, et al., 2012, p. 25).

professors, research assistants, and students who regularly review and update content for difficulty

Though the authors do not explain why professional development funds were so popular, the implication is that faculty relished the opportunity to share their work and learn from others in a community of practice.

One shortcoming of their report is it does not include any information about how Lumen Learning was involved in KOCI, especially with regard to MyOpenMath (MOM), a free, online course management system. It would be helpful to know if KOCI used the free version of MOM or the Lumen-supported version, Lumen OHM. Each option presents distinct cost and maintenance issues, namely vendor fees versus local maintenance expenses.

The authors claim this was an even greater motivator than the stipend and they make explicit recommendations for other OER initiatives to allocate funds for conference attendance

This is understandable insofar as the focus of most studies is cost savings and student outcomes.

academic freedom and of “corporate interference” since KOCI used Lumen Learning and received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation (

value in adopting OER with Creative Commons licenses.

found that students’ problem-solving abilities were slightly negatively impacted by the new homework system. The previous commercial system provided hints and tutorials as students completed their homework, whereas the new system simply provided correct/incorrect feedback.

commercial homework system

remarkable

never specifically mentioned

But OER need practitioners committed to critical pedagogy to move beyond a free version of the status quo.

Their argument is that students use their savings to enroll in more classes

enrollment intensity.

5,000 in the test group and 11,000 in the control group

The results are promising as the percentage of students receiving grades A, A-, and B+ in OER test courses increased dramatically for all three populations (Colvard, et al., 2018, pp. 269-271).

They argue that shifting the cost burden away from taxpayers and onto students exacerbates ethnic and racial disparities in educational attainment.

FWK and VSU students and faculty may have divergent ideas of what’s a fair price for a textbook. At the time of this writing, the FWK website lists most e-textbooks between $25-$30 and most print copies (ebook included) list for $55. This price is much lower than many commercial alternatives, but it is a lot more than free.

They contracted Flat World Knowledge (FWK), then an OER provider, and paid for per-student seat licenses.

Such opacity is not helpful. For OER to flourish, it is important to name the resources being replaced, and their cost. Readers, especially those considering adopting OER, deserve to know these details to help them make informed decisions at their own institutions.

ChemWiki i

I am not primarily concerned with how critical pedagogy is used in specific OER textbooks or learning materials. The below studies do not provide such granular detail. Instead, I am analyzing these studies for evidence, or lack thereof, of critical approaches to OER adoption and survey design as it relates to cost and access, pedagogy, and academic labor.

academic labor required for OER initiatives.

Often, student outcomes are similar across the test and control groups, though some studies present a case for correlation between cost and access and improved student outcomes.

social justice issues facing higher ed: cost and access, pedagogical practice, and academic labor

social justice

ver 70% of faculty members hold contingent position

Eliminating expensive textbooks is a first step toward confronting the contradictions students and faculty face in higher ed

If students cannot afford a textbook, they are already oppressed.

how openness, when disconnected from its political underpinnings, could become as exploitative as the traditional system it had replaced”

For hooks, critical pedagogy means “creating [a] democratic setting where everyone feels a responsibility to contribute” (1994, p. 39). This practice requires a desire to transgress, to empower the oppressed through critical pedagogy: students of color, queer students, poor students.

ecstatic

banking concept of education,

Teachers minimize their authoritative role through a reconciliation of the teacher-student contradiction, “so that both are simultaneously teachers and students”

Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968) and bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (1994)

open and critical pedagogy is used to involve and reflect students’ voices.

edagogical decisions and are transparent about materials adopted, including relevant software

acknowledges that high priced textbooks are a barrier to learning because many students do not purchase expensive textbooks

multiple formats and accessible for all learne

eliminates

positive student outcomes

Beyond sharing resources, higher ed lacks a common OER practice and existing OER practices lack an explicit social justice mission.

He added retain as the fifth R in 2014. As a practice, creators of any work should retain certain rights.

Lumen Learning is a company that provides a suite of educational technology products that colleges and universities pay to use; Lumen’s Candela, Waymaker and OHM provide the infrastructure for many instructors teaching with OER. While their products are often less expensive than commercial textbooks and platforms, some argue their business model betrays the ethos of open access initiatives

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

One critique points out that several of the 5 Rs require access to technology and the requisite skills

“high quality” OER, which is not surprising since Hewlett, as an OER funder, has a financial stake in OER development.

retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute

non-commercial learning materials. In 2012, UNESCO refined their definition to include “any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license” (UNESCO, 2012)

misunderstood

Measurables like student outcomes, while important, are too often foregrounded to appeal to administrators and funding organizations.

Typically, ample attention is paid to a study’s design and methodology but the underlying institutional infrastructure and decision-making process is unexamined.

cost, access, pedagogy, commercialization, and labor.

Madeline Kellyis Director of Collections at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Data can be loosely grouped into four categories: collections data, usagedata, user information, and citation data.

Does the assessment goal help betteralign the collection with the institutional mission? Similarly, stakeholders—from users to colleaguesto administrators—must be considered. Who is the assessment for? Who will have to implement anydecisions that are made? Who will need to be convinced to take action?

Instead, collections assessment should start with current institutional goals,the problem that needs to be solved, and an answer to the questionwhy?

Collections can be broken down tolook at categories such as format, subject, or user. The holistic approach, on the other hand,incorporates elements of all formats and users, and generally uses mixed methods, includingquantitative and qualitative metrics. Holistic assessment can provide more well-rounded resultsthan narrower ad hoc approaches, since it attempts to build a high-level, overall view of thecollection.

Ad hoc assessment, on the other hand, involves conducting one-offassessment projects based on specific, finite needs.

ystematic assessment is helpful fordeveloping a culture of assessment, making strategic decisions, and understanding large or rapidlygrowing collections (particularly in an environment with high staff turnover).

Systematic assessment entails implementing an ongoing, structuredprogram that follows a regular schedule and set of procedures.

collections assessment, but generally they fall into one of twocategories: systematic or ad hoc.

There is also the unknowable nature of how collections are used

Outcomes, by contrast, are harder to quantify—and include student learning, facultyenrichment, research support, and so on. Historically, assessment has been very outputs-based, inpart because outputs are easy to measure, but also because (particularly in the all-print world of therecent past) the size, scope, and use of collections were how academic institutions valued theirlibraries. More recently the focus of institutions and their funding bodies has shifted toward studentand user outcomes, refocusing libraries’assessment efforts on an outcomes-based analysis. So aninstitution spent $60,000 on e-books—what did this actually do for the success of its users? Did ithelp them get a job, graduate more quickly, or complete a research study?

Outputs are tangible, countable, concrete measures (such as number of circulations orCONTACTGenya O’Garagogara@gmu.eduPublished with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC© 2018 Madeline Kelly and Genya O’GaraTHE SERIALS LIBRARIAN2018, VOL. 74, NOS. 1–4, 19–29https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2018.1428453

collections assessment was understood to be an organized process for evaluating library collectionsbased on a specific goal or goals.

FRBR

Some of these sources (e.g., Alma’s Community Zone) may not contain ebook subject or subject heading information. My library uses OCLC’s free tool, Classify, to bring in LC class numbers and derive subject information.

I am not sure how to compare print circulations to ebook usage statistics in Alma Analytics.

One thing often discussed when considering usage of print books versus e-books is whether ebook "circulations" are equivalent or comparable to print book checkouts. Each metric characterizes uses in different ways. For example, an ebook download or full-text access might be registered for each chapter or for an entire book. Depending on your source of usage statistics, it might be difficult to determine whether those uses were by the same person or a different person. How might these multiple uses compare to a single print book checkout for a period of several days?

Madeline M. Kelly and Stephanie S. Smith.  "Assessing Collections Holistically: A  Behind-the-Scenes Approach" in Assessment Strategies in Technical Services, eds. Kimberley A. Edwards and Michelle Leonard. Chicago, ALA Editions, 2019: 25-63. 2.Peggy Johnson. Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2018: 288 3. Joseph R. Matthews. The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2018.  4. Amanda Waugh and Mega Subramaniam. "Interview and Focus Group Research" in Research Methods for Librarians and Educators, eds. Ruth V. Small and Marcia A. Mardis. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2018: 37-49. 5. Selena Killick and Frankie Wilson. Putting Library Assessment Data to Work.  London: Facet Publishing, 2019: 31-81. 6. Lynn S. Connaway and Marie L. Radford. Research Methods in Library and Information Science. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2017: 239-249. 7. Johnson, Fundamentals, 304. 7. Rebecca Teasdale. "Survey Research" in Research Methods for Librarians and Educators, eds. Ruth V. Small and Marcia A. Mardis. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2018: 224. 8. Johnson, Fundamentals, 294. 9. Matthews, Evaluation and Measurement, 211. 10. Karen C. Kohn. Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. 11. Johnson, Fundamentals. 12. Madeline Kelly and Genya O’Gara. "Collections Assessment: Developing Sustainable Programs and Projects." The Serials Librarian 74, no. 1-4 (2018): 19-29. Further Reading Mike Allen. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods.  4 vols. Thousands Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2017. Li Chen and Jason Penwell. "Using Alma Analytics to Facilitate the Library Weeding Project." (2019).  Mitchell Dunkley. "Friendly Guides to COUNTER." (2019). Anna Dysart. "Aims and Approaches in Special Collections Assessment." RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage, 16, no. 2 (2015): 101-112. Tabitha Farney. Using Digital Analytics for Smart Assessment. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2018. Tony Greiner and Bob Cooper.  Analyzing Library Collection Use with Excel. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2007. Peter Hernon, Ellen Altman, and Robert E. Dugan. "Listening To Customers Through Surveys" in Assessing Service Quality: Satisfying the Expectations of Library Customers. Chicago: ALA Editions. (2015): 101-116.  Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly.  Making a Collection Count. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2013.  Marcia A. Mardis. "Evaluation of the Collection" in The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts and Practices. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited (2016): 169-186. Amalia Monroe-Gulick, Lea Currie and Corinne Forstot-Burke. "WorldShare Collection Evaluation: A Case Study." Technical Services Quarterly 36, no.1 (2019): 1-17. Oliver Pesch. "Implementing SUSHI and COUNTER: A Primer for Librarians." Serials Librarian 69, no. 2 (2015): 107–125. 

Library book vendors often provide peer comparison reports or consortial report capabilities

he Research Library Group (RLG) developed a methodology to describe library collections using codes that describe the level at which materials are collected, or should be collected.

Also, some degree of subject-expertise or experience with the collection may be necessary,

Core lists or bibliographies are generally easy to obtain—in many cases they may be published on websites of professional organizations

n the case of electronic resources, libraries may even be able to see how long a user has accessed content or where they were on the library website before going to a database.

Some key issues to remember with user-centered data are that the period during which data are gathered, as well as the timing of performing the assessment are critical (Johnson 2018). Also, when employing user-centered assessment techniques, in many cases, it is not possible to use a large enough sample to generalize the results (Teasdale 2018, 224). If you are in an academic library, it may also be required to obtain permission from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to conduct surveys or focus groups and make sure participants sign consent agreements.

interviews that permit person-to-person interaction

the person or group conducting the survey should carefully research survey design methods and craft effective questions to obtain meaningful results.

Questionnaires

User-Centered Approach

USE- OR USER-BASED COLLECTION-BASED Quantitative Quantitative ILL statistics Collection size and growth Circulation statistics Materials budget size and growth In-house use statistics Collection size standards and formulas Document delivery statistics Expenditures by Subject ILL statistics Comparison ratios  E-resources use statistics Content overlap analysis Qualitative Qualitative User opinion surveys (e.g. LibQual+,web-based,email) List checking (e.g., catalogs, bibliographies) User observation Verification studies Focus groups Citation analysis Interviews Direct collection checking Collection mapping (assigning conspectus levels) Commercial products (e.g., OCLC, Bowker, Ulrich's)

It is worth stating that there may be differences between librarians as to whether a particular technique is user-based or collection-based. For example, citation studies can be either depending on whether the library is seeking to understand what the user is doing or making a judgment about the quality of materials in the collection.

perspective of usability or how the collection is being utilized

Intensity sub-outcomes - % one sub-outcome assessed at least once”

Intensity Gen. Ed. outcome - % all sub-outcomes assessed at least once”

ssessed the intensity of

enough data to build a significant model.

t may be that prior IL2 classes has low explanatory power because the sampled students have taken so few prior IL2 classes. By comparison, for the Global Awareness (GA) General Education Outcome assessed in 2016 sampled students had comparatively more prior GA classes, and prior classes were found to have a significant impact on score. Even in that case, it took 20 or more prior classes to move the average score from 5.2 to 6.

Of the students sampled, we would expect those taking three or more IL intense classes to score average ratings above those taking fewer than three IL classes only about half the time. In other words, there is no effect at the three-course intensity threshold.

We were unable to find a significant relationship between previous course work and Information Literacy scores in this assessment.

first worked together to norm a sample of 8 o

the form of essays, research proposals, bibliographies, poster projects, and written notes for informative speeches. A total of 87 samples were collected and de-identified before being rated by five assessors on meeting two information literacy sub-outcomes.

Information literacy is low in the students sampled, and we did not find that prior coursework is related to scores on the assessment.

A few of these disadvantages can be mitigated with thoughtful survey design, but they will likely remain inherent weaknesses of this technique.

. Follow-up phone interviews with regional survey respondents might also be a useful tool to consider.

alue of the library’s physical journal collection to the larger health sciences community, however, is the more compelling question. ILL lending statistics can provide insight into the immediate value of the collection, but the larger question being asked pertains to its long-term value: what role might TML’s physical journal collection have in serving as a research library of record?

analysis of document delivery statistics is the most direct methodology for gaining insight on the physical journal collection’s value to the institution

ML’s journals comprise over 60% of the physical collection’s linear footage within the building. With the anticipated library move in the next several years, it will be important to identify the importance of TML’s print journals to VCU’s health sciences community as well as the national and regional health sciences research community, and then plan a weeding project accordingly.

irginia Commonwealth University (

In five to ten years, TML is slated to move into a new building that will require the majority of its physical collection to be stored elsewhere. VCU Libraries is in the process of securing a permanent storage space to accommodate TML’s impending move, as well as the critical space needs of Cabell Library, which is on the general academic campus. Items from both libraries are currently stored in Cabell Library’s basement and in a temporary storage facility

List checking will be the most used collection-based method.

oth collection size and growth and materials budget size and growth in tandem with circulation statistics.

While we depend mostly on the circulation statistics, they don’t provide the whole story. What happens if the statistics are low, but that isn’t from lack of demand, it could be from lack of available materials. We need to know what the users actually want – and from their own voices. In the past (during the time we were creating the next strategic plan), we had used both user surveys and focus groups successfully. While that was more services-based needs, I believe we can have the same success (or more!) using them for collection-based needs

CollectionHQ.

ser-based and collection-based approaches and a mix of both quantitative and qualitative tools. User-based approaches will include circulation and in-house statistics (quantitative) in addition to user opinion surveys, focus groups, and user observation (qualitative).

The library management team will then use the findings to help justify any budget proceedings needed regarding the children’s collection in the future.

Successful

Methodology

WorldCat Collection Analysis

he estimate should include how much free access is allowed by each vendor, if any, and what restrictions there are during such a trial period. “Opening day” lists from the library’s wholesaler would be helpful and would likely be free.

H. W. Wilson’s core lists

e would be the additional expense of obtaining external core lists.

Both use/user-based and collection-based approaches will be employed, with measures being mostly quantitative (usage statistics) with two qualitative ones (survey of local residents and checking of collection against core lists).

measuring the use of the electronic and print collections, analyzing user satisfaction with the collection, placing the results in the context of the 2017 strategic plan, and making recommendations about budget allocations and changes to

e electronic and print collections w

Presentation of result

Usage assessmen

Methodology

The teamCollections Management Co-ordinator (me)oI oversee the projects transferring the materials into storage and have a detailed knowledge of the workflows and materials involved.oI have access to the Voyager database and experience analyzing circulation & collection data.Collections Management & Planning LibrarianoSupervises my work, has extensive knowledge of the Voyager database and access tothe HK database (HK is the software that runs the ASRS) and In-House Use data.Subject librarian for one of the involved disciplinesoIdeally our Reference Librarian for biology subject areas, who was involved with the ASRS transfers from her collection.Other parties:oThe Assessment Librarian may be involved consultatively to provide existing assessment data and help connect this specific project with his work.oWe may need support from LSIT (Library Systems and Information Technology) in working with the databases.

anbe carried out within current staff time and by using existing resources. Approval will be needed from the supervisors, department heads, and the Associate University Librarians for Collections Management and Client Services and Programs to allocate the staff time required. I expect to spend 4-6 hours per week on this project for approximately 8 weeks, and would not expect my teammates to

.Timeline

is project will focus materials in multiple subject areas, under the divisions of Science & Engineering and Biomedical Sciences. Over 200,000 itemsin these collectionshave recently been transferred from open stacks in two large library branches into theASRS storage system. The criteria for transfer included pre-2000 publication datesand low circulation statistics,generally thresholds of either three or five circulations since 2004(which is we began using the Voyager ILS).The majority of materials transferred had zero circulations.

Results will be reported to the individuals mentioned as well as Library Administration and the Library staff

changes support or detractfrom the strategic

large academic library with 19 branches and divisions, and over 6.4 million items.1UBC Library serves undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, and community members. The Library has nearly four million annual visits and nearly seven million visits to the Library website

ere is no special budget required;

his assessment would provide library administration and professional librarians with evidence to support decision making. In addition, faculty members in the Faculty of Arts, as well as members of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library Advisory Board, and the Senate Committee on Libraries are the intended audience of the report resulting from this project

expressed concerns about this initiative

the administration would like to integrate reference materials into the circulating collection

he print collection of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, the largest of McGill’s branch libraries, is presently at working capacity. At the same time, the growing student population is in need of additional quiet study and collaborative work spaces.

Environment

Borin, Jacqueline and Hua Yi (2011). Assessing an academic library collection through capacity and usage indicators: testing a multi-dimensional model. Collection Building, 30 (3): 120-125Bucknell, Terry (2012). Garbage In, Gospel Out: twelve reasons why librarians should not accept cost-per-download figures at face value. The Serials Librarian, 63 (2): 192-212.Coombs, Karen A. (2005). Lessons learned fromanalyzing library database usage data. Library Hi Tech, 23 (4), 598-609.Tucker, Cory (2009). Benchmarking usage statistics in collection management decisions for serials. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 21: 48-6

Sampl

360 Counterwebtool

Once this project is complete, the business librarian will utilize the data to conduct a qualitativeassessment by interviewing faculty and conducting focus groups with students in the business college

user-centered quantitative approach with an analysis of 2011 and 2012 use statistics for e-resources

Scop

to set up benchmarksfor usage data f

evaluate e-resources in the business collection using cost and usage datafrom 2011 and 2012to identify the following:core resources,resources with high use, resources with overlapping content, resourceswith lowuseandto determine if there has been an increase in use since the business librarian began consultation hours and lunch hour programs at the College of Business last year.

assessmentand analysis of the electronic resources in the business collection purchased on business funds at The Ohio State University Libraries, which includes 60 electronic journals and databases

Environmen

(I enjoy Rebecca Vnuk's thoughts on weeding)

1. Donald Perkins. Guidelines for Collection Development. Chicago: American Library Association, 1979. 2. Becky Albitz, Christine Avery, and Diane Zabel. Rethinking Collection Development and Management. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2014. 3. Peggy Johnson. Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management.  Chicago: American Library Association, 2018. 4. Joseph R. Matthews. Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2018. 5. Wayne Disher. Crash Course in Collection Development. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2014.  6. Vicki L. Gregory. Collection Development and Management for 21st Century Library Collections: An Introduction. Chicago: ALA Editions/Neal-Schuman, 2019. Further Reading "Collection Assessment Resources." American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/collect Peggy Johnson.  Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management.  Chicago: American Library Association, 2018. Qiana Johnson. "Moving from Analysis to Assessment: Strategic Assessment of Library Collections." Journal of Library Administration 56, no. 4 (2016): 488-498. Madeline M. Kelly and Stephanie S. Smith. ”Assessing Collections Holistically: A Behind-the-Scenes Approach,” in Assessment Strategies in Technical Services, eds. Kimberley A. Edwards and Michelle Leonard (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2019): 25-63. Karen C. Kohn. Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.  Laurel Kristick. “Diversity Literary Awards: A Tool for Assessing an Academic Library’s Collection.” Collection Management 45, no.2 (2020): 151–61. Romany Manuell, Kate McEntee, and Marcus Chester. “The Equity Collection: Analysis and Transformation of the Monash University Design Collection.” Art Libraries Journal 44, no.3 (2019): 119–23. Annabelle Mortensen. “Measuring Diversity in the Collection.” Library Journal 144, no.4 (2019): 28–30. Oya Y. Rieger. “What’s a Collection Anyway?” (2019). https://sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SR-Issue-Brief-Whats-A-Collection-06062019.pdf

typically a written report that describes the collection assessment method and project scope as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the collection.

Collection-centered methods include comparing a library’s holdings against core lists, the physical assessment of a collection for age, condition and availability, or comparing the number of titles in a collection with that of another library or a group of libraries, usually peers.

Common techniques for user-centered assessment include analyzing circulation statistics and ILL statistics. Qualitative techniques include conducting user surveys and holding focus groups.

A formative approach is collection-centered, and analyzes the contents of a collection for quality and quantity.

A summative approach focuses on the user or use of a collection, focusing on how materials in a collection are used and by whom

at regular intervals

Weaknesses identified as a result of a collection assessment are essential to address, as they indicate where the collections may not be meeting the needs of the library’s user community. In this respect, assessing a library’s collections is as important as evaluating its user services. 

Collection assessment can be used as a training method for someone new to the subject or new to the library as a liaison.

Closely related to identifying what may be missing from the current collection is the need to determine what it would take to fill in any deficiencies.

Can an academic library justify retaining resources in existing collections given changing curriculum and research needs?

“The aim of assessment is to determine how well the collection supports the goals, needs, and mission of the library or parent organization. The collection (both locally held materials and those remotely accessed) is assessed in the local context.” (Johnson 2018, 281). Collection evaluation, in contrast, is used to analyze a collection on its own merits or in comparison to another collection.

Collection assessment refers to the range of activities related to determining the quality and utility of library collections or specific collections within a library, given the stated purpose of the collection and needs of the community the library serves.

collection adheres to objectives as stated in a collection development policy

e Guidelines for Collection Development published by the American Library Association stated that “Every library collection should be established for a definite purpose. The collection may be developed for research, recreation, community service and development, instruction, support of a corporate activity, or a combination of these.” (Perkins 1979, 9).