LGBTQ Collection Assessment: Library Ownership of Resources Cited by Master's Students

Harkleroad, Tiffany

Graziano, V. (2016). LGBTQ Collection Assessment: Library Ownership of Resources Cited by Master's Students. College & Research Libraries, 77(1), 114-127. doi:10.5860/crl.77.1.114

After the Stonewall riots in 1969, gay and lesbian studies, either in the form of individual courses or in the form of entire departments, began to emerge in academic institutions.  LGBTQ studies continue to expand in higher education, and as a result, academic libraries are assessing the needs of their institutions in the context of developing LGBTQ collections.  This study examples the bibliographic citations (3,243 in total) of 28 graduate theses with a focus on LGBTQ studies, written by students at Concordia University between 1991 and 2013.  The goals are to assess the strengths of the university’s current LGBTQ collection, to identify LGBTQ collection materials that the university is lacking, and to assess overall LGBTQ collection needs.  The study determined that the library owned 73% of the citations studied; this is below the average number of citation in similar citation studies on different topic areas.  By breaking down the types of materials cited, it was determined that the collection was weak in terms of LGBTQ popular periodicals; however, the more recent theses tended to cite this particular type of material less often.  The study determined that the LGBTQ collection at Concordia was well developed, particularly given the fact that there is no LGBTQ studies department at the school at the time of this study.

As a student who is particularly interested in LGBTQ studies as relates to library science, I found this article to be quite interesting.  For academic libraries, it is important that the libraries contain the correct types of materials and topic matter to meet the needs of students.  As academic studies expand to include more social concepts and topics, collections will need to adapt to meet those needs.  This particular study shows that the library in question has taken a fairly progressive stance, by containing many of the materials used in the completion of the theses studied.  I found the discussion of convenience bias most interesting, meaning students are more likely to use materials readily available in the library, and that might have some bearing on results in studies such as these.

Citation Analysis Methodologies for Collection Management

Amy Kumar

Hoffman, K. and Doucette, L. (2012). A review of citation analysis methodologies for collection management. College and Research Libraries. 321-334.

Summary
This paper reviews the most relevant methodologies with regard to reviews of user study-based citation analyses "with a goal of informing collection management" (Hoffman & Doucette, 321). Described as a bibliometric method, citation analysis has been used for informing the collection development process in various ways, and involves taking a close look at citation popularity and scholarly communication trends to determine the efficacy of a collection for its scholarly patron base. According to the study, "the information can help librarians design and improve services and resources, from instruction to collections to reference" (Hoffman & Doucette, 321). Studying the most frequently cited references provides insight to collection managers and helps them to create a collection based on the most relevant and necessary materials. The methodology included a user study based on article citations, database bibliometrics, date range samples of citations, and abstract reviews. The final analysis was qualitative and researchers took note of themes of the results.
Analysis
Bibliometrics are a fascinating tool that can provide great insight into scholarly communication trends from the standpoint of an academic librarian rather than from a scholarly viewpoint.  The data received can help define trends, patterns, and current issues, and point the way toward a thoroughly vetted collection and collection development policy. I think it was important that the researchers pointed out in their conclusion that there are many local factors to consider, and that collection managers should be aware of comparison studies and be able to apply the data to their own libraries. The most common results given throughout the various studies that were analyzed seemed to concern citation date, frequency, holdings, and citations per publication. This data provides a handy starting point for those collection managers wanting to utilize citation analysis.