Collection Evaluation in Academic Libraries

A Practical Guide for Librarians

By: Karen C. Kohn

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eText | 24 June 2015 | Edition Number 1

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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.

Industry Reviews

Librarians who have not previously undertaken a formal collection evaluation will most likely find Kohn’s approach very helpful. The author also comes across as realistic and down to earth. . . .This book succeeds in its goal of encouraging librarians to undertake a purposeful, meaningful collection evaluation and showing them specifically how to do it. There is a nice chapter at the end of the book called ‘Sharing What You Found’ that helps librarians complete the circle they started when they began their collection evaluation. This book would be very worthwhile for any academic librarian involved in or interested in collection evaluation specifically or in assessment in general.