Department-specific collection assessment
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/CC-02-2019-0005 |
| Date | 23 August 2019 |
| Published date | 23 August 2019 |
| Pages | 22-30 |
| Author | Xiaocan Wang,Jie Huang |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Collection building & management |
Department-specific collection assessment
Xiaocan Wang
Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, Missouri, USA, and
Jie Huang
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to introduce the pilot project of collection assessment performed by an academic library for the Computer
Information Science (CIS) Department specifically and share the experience involved in this assessment.
Design/methodology/approach –In this descriptive research, the library gathered and analyzed a set of evaluation reports for CIS-re lated print
and electronic materials. This assessment includes analyses of physical items, periodicals, electronic resources, pe ers’databases, faculty syllabi, as
well as departmental allocation fund.
Findings –This project shows the importance of collaboration between the library and academic departments on collection evaluation and
assessment. It demonstrates that the assessments of a department-specific collection can provide the library with insights into the quality of the
collection and help librarians better understand the information requirements of the faculty and students in the department. By analyzing the data
collected in the assessment, the library can spend the tight budget on the most needed core materials related to the curriculum and research of the
department. This project provides a good example for future routine assessments.
Practical implications –The procedure, results and future work of this assessment provide other academic libraries with insights into and practical
solutions to department-specific collection assessments.
Originality/value –The study describes a set of collection assessment activities specific to a disciplinary department unde rtaken by Spiva Library.
Few studies have been conducted to study department-specific collection assessments. This type of study can assist a university library to develop a
core collection in support of teaching, learning and research for individual academic departments.
Keywords Collection management, Collection development, Collection analysis, Academic library, Library collection, Collection assessment,
Collection building
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
As a critical part of collection development, collection evaluation
and assessment are seriously considered by libraries. For decades,
many researches on assessment emphasized its importance. In
1998, Ronald F. Dow introduced the assessment program
implemented at the River Campus Libraries of the University of
Rochester. They determined to use the assessment of educational
impact as an alternative measure to evaluate the quality of library
services (Dow, 1998). The North Texas Regional Library
System pointed out in its report that, to ensure that collections
are relevant and meet the information needs of the community
the library serves, collection evaluation with data analysis
provides valuable insights into the collections’strengths and
weaknesses (Evaluating your collection, 2015).
Agee and Henry and their associates emphasized the
importance of evaluation and collection analysis in their
research articles.Oseghale also wrote:
Academic library collections are built to meet specific researchand information
needs of the institution’s academicprogrammes.[...] All programmes mustbe
covered to facilitate effective teaching, learning, research, and community
services. Collection analysis and evaluation are crucial to ensuring efficient,
effective, and usable collections. [...] Libraries must ensure that what is
collectedmatchesor meets the expressedneeds and information expectation of
the university communities. One of the way(s) of ensuring that such needs are
met is through collection evaluation within the frameworkof the curriculum.
(Oseghale, 2008,p.1)
Nowadays, when many academic libraries face flat budgets or
budget cuts, evaluation and assessment become more crucial
ways to ensure that collections meet teaching, research and
information needs of university communities. In the paper
writtenbyBorinandYi,theystate,“In these tight economic and
budgetary times it is becoming increasingly important to provide
accountability for the way collections budgets are managed and
spent”(Borin and Yi, 2011,p.120).Otherlibraries,suchasthose
of the University of California at San Diego and the University of
Kansas, use assessment and analysis to evaluate their collections
so that right materials would be retained and added to collections
to meet patrons’needs (Currie and Morris, 2017;Wiersma,
2017). Research papers not only stated the importance of
assessment and analysis of collections but also provided different
methods and ways of assessment such as using user survey and
course syllabi to assess collections and applying mixed-method
approach of citation analysis and faculty interviews (Goodchild
and Zhao, 2017;Liebst and Feinmark, 2016;Lukes et al., 2017).
Because of the budgetcut at the state level and progressively
increasing resource expenses, Spiva Library of Missouri
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9326.htm
Collection and Curation
39/1 (2020) 22–30
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2514-9326]
[DOI 10.1108/CC-02-2019-0005]
Received 12 February 2019
Revised 11 March 2019
Accepted 28 March 2019
22
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