Putting the Science Back in Library Science: Collection Development, Diversity Audits, & Understanding Teens – Analyzing Data for Decision Making

 Aleen Houseman 

Citation:
            Jensen, K., & says, A. (2018, March 21). Putting the science back in library science: Collection development, diversity audits, & understanding teens – analyzing data for decision making. Teen Librarian Toolbox. https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2018/03/21/putting-the-science-back-in-library-science-collection-development-diversity-audits-understanding-teens-analyzing-data-for-decision-making/ 

Link: Click Here

Descriptions:
            Description: This rescore includes a first-hand perspective of collection developments and diversity audits. Librarian Karen Jensen of the Mount Vernon Public library walks the reader through her process of evaluating/ creating and auditing a collection at her library. 

Weed ’em and reap: The art of weeding to avoid criticism

Tammy Ross

Allen, M. (2010). Weed ’em and reap: The art of weeding to avoid criticism. Library Media Connection, 28(6), 32-33.

Summary

Although my focus this semester has been on public library collection management, I was interested in reading an article about collection management in schools. In this article, Melissa Allen points out that the library is “the largest classroom in the school providing service to every student and every teacher in all curricular areas” (p. 32). She compares weeding the library collection to weeding a garden. Just as flowers can’t flourish when surrounded by weeds, students can become overwhelmed by outdated information or overcrowding on library shelves. As a result, their ability to efficiently locate quality resources is hindered. Allen reminds the reader that school curriculum is frequently revised; therefore, the library collection should also be in “a continuous state of change” (p. 32). Weeding should not be a project taken on every 10 years; rather, it should be an ongoing process that sees librarians weeding small sections at a time throughout the year. Allen identifies four main reasons for weeding: 1) space constraints, 2) creating an uncluttered library helps patrons find what they’re looking for more easily, 3) patrons want attractive, clean books in good condition, and 4) collections not weeded often can “contain unacceptable stereotypes and misinformation” (p. 32). Allen created the acronym MUSTY as the criteria for weeding:

M: Misleading/inaccurate
U: Ugly or worn beyond mending/rebinding
S: Superseded by newer edition or better book
T: Trivial with no real value
Y: Your collection has no use for this material; it’s irrelevant to the needs of users

Allen urges librarians to examine career materials, computer/technology instruction books, encyclopedias, atlases, and reference books (which become outdated every five years) and any other titles that imply currency but are older than seven years. Any of these items that heavily circulate will need to be replaced (p. 33)

To avoid criticism that sometimes comes when a library throws away what others deem to be “perfectly good books,” Allen provides creative suggestions for what to do with weeded books. After they’ve been deleted from the library’s catalog, they can be cut up and used for class projects; turned into scrapbooks, jewelry boxes or memory books; or donated to organizations that sell donated books for charity or ship them to less fortunate countries.

Evaluation

I liked that this article addresses ways to combat criticism. I am someone who frequently weeds clothes from my wardrobe that I no longer wear or that have become worn or faded. I bag them up to give my mother for the church thrift store, and when she goes through them she sometimes questions why I am giving away a perfectly good sweater or pair of pants. Now I tell her up front that anything in there is worn or no longer fits and she’s less likely to raise an eyebrow. Allen suggests a similar proactive approach in that libraries should publish their mission statement, selection and weeding policies, collection stats (such as average age and number of resources per students), and any other information that can stress the positives of weeding.

Applying Quantitative Methods to E-book Collections

Sexton, Rachael

Goertzen, M. J. (2017). Applying Quantitative Methods to E-book Collections. Library Technology Reports, 53(4), 3. https://doi.org/10.5860/ltr.53n4

Evaluation:  Since my summary of the article is so long, I included most of my evaluation within the summary so that you could more easily see where my opinions coincided with what was being said in the article.  My asides are in bold.  I was skeptical about and disagreed with a few things that were said, but overall the evidence of the savings that she was able to obtain make this 33-page article well worth the read.    

Summary: 

This article says that the e-book market is still in the developing stages and is known as “the new wild west.”  It is harder to obtain funding for digital resources, since there can be confusion about the cost, with some thinking that digital information is free.  Evaluating electronic resources using quantitative methods require skills and training that are hard to obtain in this new area.  The article references another article, “The Evolving DDA Project at the Orbis Cascade Alliance,” by Kathleen Carlisle Fountain.  There is then a long quote from that article, about the author not being trained to make book purchasing decisions based on a data driven approach.   This article and the quote greatly affected the author of this report, Melissa Goertzen. 

Goertzen relies on Microsoft Excel to do her work.  She spent two years conducting a study in preparation to write this article.  Where she works, Columbia University Library (CUL), was able to use the results of her study in a productive way to save money. The value of e-book collections is tied to patron needs.  Goertzen lays out what she will discuss in chapter 3 of the report.  Her analysis methods work just as well for e-journal packages as they do for e-book collections.  She gives a summary of what chapter 5 will contain.  She says that her report should not be viewed as an end point, but rather as just the beginning. 

Before anything can be accomplished, one should understand the trends of e-book publishing.  At the end of the chapter, Goertzen will provide a list of suggested reading.  Business models are often changing in regards to e-book distribution.  While e-books cost 12% less in one area to produce than print books, they have three other areas of expense that print books don’t have, so they aren’t less expensive to produce.  According to Goertzen, the business model for e-books is similar to the print module in regards to library’s acquiring them, though I personally disagree, since I think there are too many differences for them to be regarded as similar.  Goertzen even expounds on a difference that I had not considered in her next paragraph, saying that e-books are hosted on a third-party website, and that libraries pay for access to it.  There are many fears in regards to the very existence of e-book collections, piracy being one of them. 

There are multiple business models in regards to e-books, just two examples are that in some cases only one patron can have the book at a time, or multiple patrons can have the same copy at a time (which is another thing that could never happen with the acquisition of a print book).  Another technique for collection development in regards to e-books that is now being utilized is giving patrons the power to request books that are not in the collection.  With so many options to choose from, this provides libraries with the opportunity to choose the business model that best suits their needs.  The wonderful thing about e-books is the patron’s ability to access them any time.  Remote access is another benefit.  In regards to the academic world, e-books are most often utilized to complete a task.  Goertzen claims that e-books are most often skimmed and if they seem useful, a print version is requested and actually read.  I wonder if a study has been conducted to see if this is true across all age groups, it seems doubtful that it is.  The PDF format is especially popular in academic circles.

Goertzen reports having a paradigm shift several months into her study.  This led her to think of several new questions, which fed into one overarching question.  She identifies two collection strategies, “just in case” and “just in time” which informs purchasing decisions.  Discovering the intentions of the patrons can help when answering questions from stakeholders.  She states that chapter 3 will contain more information about indicators which influence collection development decisions.  Learn information needs by asking patrons directly.  Develop strong ties with liaison librarians. (Obviously this step doesn’t apply if you are the only liaison librarian or if your institution doesn’t have any.  It would have been nice if she had given an alternative to this step.)  Next, consider whether e-books are most likely to be skimmed or read. (How on earth would you know that for certain?  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure after all.  Worse, what if you thought you knew, and were wrong?)  Evaluate subscription usage over a period of three years.  Goertzen wrote a base evaluative framework.  She gives the titles of five articles that she recommends reading. 

Cost analysis is a quantitative method that can be useful for library administrators.  It is important to know what is meant by the term quantitative research.  It is data which can be represented by numbers and can then be used in statistics.  It answers the “what” and “how” most effectively.  Demographics are just one part of quantitative research.   However it cannot answer the “why,” which requires qualitative research.  Keeping one’s goal in mind is important when embarking on this sort of endeavor.  Quantitative research has six key characteristics.

Next she outlines the types of findings that quantitative research can bring about, as well as the advantages and limitations of it.  There are multiple sources of quantitative research.  Using subjects areas to study the e-book collections adds depth to the study.  Library administrators were the primary motivators to Goertzen’s work.  She organizes information into seven different categories.  She takes two days to update the information in these categories every year.  Information sources can come from within and without the library.  Goertzen next gives a list of definitions of words she will use.  Then she gives an overview of what data she uses in her e-book collection analysis.  First is input cost measures, second collection output measures, third effectiveness measures and indicators, fourth domain measures, and fifth cost-effectiveness indicators. 

There is a lack of standardization when it comes to data sets from certain vendors, which makes quantitative research challenging.  A strong understanding of the audience of your report is key.  Creating an outline of your intended project is never a waste of time.  Each project that you take on allows you to grow and be better equipped for the next project.  Goertzen started working at CUL in 2013, so she now has many years of experience.  She was able to save the library $50,000 in 2015.  CUL’s collection has more than 12 million volumes and 160,000 journals and serials.  They also have over 2 million e-book titles.  With such a large collection, a small subset was chosen to use in the study.  Next she analyzed the subscription cost of the e-books versus the usage of the e-books.  This resulted in a valuable find that one of their subscriptions contained outdated material and missing volumes in multivolume sets.  When going to cancel their subscriptions, a conversation was started with the vendor which ultimately led to an 80% discount and saved them $51,000 annually starting in 2014.  Another library division at CUL used this same technique and as a result were able to start saving $10,000 annually. 

The decision was made to study the titles that were included in course reserves at a later date.  She looked at a total of 96 subscriptions and 35 packages.  She was also able to go to the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library in 2016 and conduct the study there.  She analyzed 14,802 titles for them.  She discovered that only 36% of the titles had been used at least once.  Another decision was made to analyze print subscriptions that are over five years old at a later date. 

Then she was asked to evaluate e-journal costs at two different libraries on campus.  An added element to this study was she also analyzed where users were when they accessed the e-journals.  Based on citation use, only 10% of the titles met the criteria to be retained.  Based on publication analysis, 25% of the titles met the criteria. 

By conducting this sort of study, collection development policies can be formulated.  This is especially important because budget will not likely grow alongside demand.  This study should be conducted once every five years.  For basic and extensive collections, the author recommends e-book purchases, but for research collections she recommends print resources.  There will be challenges going forward, such as complications arising from open-access initiatives and the fact that e-books are now beginning to be offered in pdf format instead of through a host platform.                           

  

Enhancing Collection Development with Big Data Analytics

Peterson, Joy

Citation:

Crawford, S., & Syme, F. (2018). Enhancing collection development with big data analytics. Public Library Quarterly,37(4), 387-393. doi:10.1080/01616846.2018.1514922

Descriptive Summary:

Many professional organizations now use Big Data to analyze their operations and make evidence-based decisions. This article discusses the ways that libraries can use Big Data software to analyze collections and make decisions to purchase materials based on that supporting data. 

Evaluation: 

I think the use of analytics for collection development and management is an area that needs strong consideration.  While this article needs to be taken with a grain of salt, primarily because its authors are employees of the company that makes the analytical software highlighted in this study, collectionHQ, their claims are indeed valid.  

By actually tracking what is being circulated in a library system, collection managers can better anticipate the needs and interests of their patrons.  This will help increase future circulation and help eliminate what the authors call Dead on Arrival (DOA) publications, which are items that are never circulated once purchased.  The real issue here, however, is getting libraries to see the benefit of using analytics. 

Furthermore, libraries will then need to train their staff to develop analytical metrics that can be interpreted and incorporated into the collection development process.  My fear is that this kind of analytical rigor is not something that can be self-taught.  Ideally, a class in circulation analytics could be introduced into the current MS-level curriculum.  Regardless, this was a very interesting approach that I think will continue to gain traction among collection developers.

To Float or Not to Float by Noel Rutherford

Banyoles, Pla de l'Estany, Girona, Spain.. [Photography]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. 
https://quest.eb.com/search/137_3143344/1/137_3143344/cite

DiBello, Amy

Rutherford, N. (2016). To float or not to float? Inside Nashville PL's examination of the method's performance. Library Journal, 141(6), 46.

To float? Or not to float? 

That is the question for many public libraries.
Whether 'tis nobler in each branch to suffer sacrificing precious shelf space to accommodate too many copies of certain titles or to have each branch possess their own copy.

Noel Rutherford is a collection development and acquisitions manager at the Nashville Public Library. Her article discusses her library system's float experience, which follows in the footsteps of many libraries who have "floated" their collections to decrease hold transit time and add variety to their collections without purchasing more books. A patron driven collection was another objective of implementing floating, along with the hopes for increased circulation statistics.

As a paraprofessional who works in a public library with a floating collection, I have a ton of opinions on floating collections. I am anti-float and cling fiercely to my biases. However, I'll be keeping my $00.02 on this topic until I read a few more articles about the pros and cons of float. 

Referencing the imaginary: An analysis of library collection of role-playing game materials

Simon Clifford

Schneider, E. and Hutchinson, B. (2015). Referencing the imaginary: An analysis of library collection of role-playing game materials. The Reference Librarian, 56(3), p. 174-188. doi: 10.1080/02763877.2014.1002716

Summary
Schneider and Hutchinson examine the frequency and distribution of tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs) in library collections. They find that many libraries do not carry tabletop RPGs at all, and those that do tend to have very small collections. One publisher dominates library collections with its titles accounting for over 80% of library tabletop RPG holdings. Despite a wide range of tabletop RPGs in existence from a number of publishers, library collections are small and lack diversity. They acknowledge the claim that high rates of theft may be responsible for discouraging libraries from collecting the materials, but suggest the claim is unsubstantiated, and further suggest that digital collection could offer a solution.

Evaluation
Schneider and Hutchinson have provided here a good analysis of the current state of library collections across the country. From a collection development standpoint, this article is most valuable for demonstrating the lack of diversity in library holdings on the subject. It is also valuable for discussing why libraries tend not to build these collections. Ultimately its a niche work, but great for getting a basic understanding of the topic.

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.

Mass Observation: Birth of the Focus Group

Justin Choi

Reference:

Moran, J. (2008). Mass-Observation, Market Research, and the Birth of the Focus Group, 1937-1997. Journal Of British Studies, 47(4), 827-851

I came across this article for another SLIS class and thought it might be appropriate to consider collections development from the patron side. This article discusses some of the history of the focus group method of research. If we want to know what patrons are thinking, we are tempted to send out random surveys or worse, grab several patrons and ask them individually what they want the library wants. But if you want targeted, guided discussion and come up with a consensus so you can figure out which books in which format to buy or not, focus groups is a good arrow in your quiver.

Because this article is more historical than practical, it's a good place to start to think about focus groups.

10,000 Zines and Counting: A library's quest to save the history of Fandom!

          

       Ward, Tyler

         Robertson, A. (2015, September 4). 10,000 zines and counting: a library’s quest to save the history of fandom | The Verge.  from http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/4/9257455/university-iowa-fanzine-fan-culture-preservation-project  Retrieved September 13, 2015,

      Summary: This blog posts details the Special Collection of the University of Iowa and their current project: saving fanzines. First question, what is a fanzine? A fanzine is a magazine usually for a specific fandom (Superman, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, you get the picture), but a fanzine is done usually by the community, and by amateurs. A modern online example would be TORN (TheOneRing.net) a fandom website that is 100% dedicated to keeping the Tolkien fandom updated on goings on in publishing, cinema, or other related Tolkien news. This tracks some of the earliest cases of "fandom" and how the communities developed

     Evaluation: Fanzines are important and show the different ways that users of information can collaborate on a single project. It's certainly interesting historically because we can see how fandoms have changed through the century and how communities developed and interacted with information. It's also interesting because it shows how the average user can be a creator! 

Collection development using interlibrary loan borrowing and acquisitions statistic

Paul Zurawski

Byrd, G. D., Thomas, D. A., & Hughes, K. E. (1982). Collection development using interlibrary loan borrowing and acquisitions statistics. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 70(1), 1–9.

Title: Collection development using interlibrary loan borrowing and acquisitions statistics.

Author: G D Byrd

Source: Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1982 Jan; 70(1): 1–9

Number of pages:  10

Summary: This article discusses the importance of utilizing ILL services as a means of extending the reach of the library and covering more topics than space and budget allows, especially in terms of library collection development. The paper followed three libraries and their ILL statistics, as well as the materials being borrowed, as well as what it means in terms of reaching their goals. The author discusses traditional collection development policies and how ILL can help libraries cover these essentials in a cheap effective way.

Evaluation:

While this article is older, from 1980's, a lot of this information is great food for thought. ILL is an excellent tool to help bring materials to patrons that the library is unable or do not want to buy for whatever reason. When the collection is unable to meet the needs of the patron, borrowing the material from another library helps all involved, instead of sending the patron away without any options. When figuring out if a book should be purchased to further the collection, they need to consider if the title is worth the shelf space and money, otherwise borrowing it from another library makes more sense. Plus it enables all libraries to join their collections together, hopefully saving money and redundant purchases.

Using Evidence in Practice: Evidence for Development and Enhancement of a Popular Reading Collection in an Academic Library

Bailey, Rachel

Hackman, T., Corlett-Rivera, K. & Larson, E. (2014). Using evidence in practice: Evidence for development  and enhancement of a popular reading collection in an academic library. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 9(4), 82-85.

Summary: Users of the McKeldin Library at the University of Maryland often requested non-academic books. Because of this, the Librarian for English and Linguistics proposed the addition of a popular reading collection. This article addresses the process the librarian goes through to acquire these materials as well as students’ responses to the new collection.

Evaluation: I am glad that the librarian listened to the wishes of the library’s clientele. Although McKeldin Library’s main function is for academic pursuits, it’s nice that the requests of users were taken into account. Since the students, most likely, visit McKeldin often, it’s nice that they can get all their reading needs in one place.