Libraries need solid information upon which to base collection development decisions. Specific evaluative methods for determining scope, access, and usefullness are described. Approaches used for data collection include analysis of interlibrary loan requests, comparison with major bibliographies, and analysis of accessibility through available…

Because advances in medical science can lead to rapid changes in current health knowledge, a library collection of medical science materials can become dated rather quickly. This factor, as well as the many variables of library use and operation which impact the availability of current materials on the library shelves--loan periods, weeding…

Discusses the problem of rising costs for serial subscriptions and declining purchasing power of education libraries, and describes three studies undertaken in a university library to obtain reliable data for recommending the continuation or cancellation of education periodical subscriptions. Eleven references are listed. (CHC)

A document retrieval study conducted before and again after the building of a more centralized library at Syracuse University is used as an example of the kind of data gathering which can lead to improved decision making and evaluation of library services by library administrators. The study is discussed in detail to facilitate replication and to…

This manual is designed to help bibliographers, librarians, and other materials selectors plan and conduct systematic collection evaluations using both collection centered and client centered techniques. Topics covered in five chapters are: (1) planning the assessment; (2) collection-centered techniques, comprising the compilation of statistics,…

This document examines the importance and difficulties in resource sharing and acquisition by libraries and introduces the procedures of the Site Appraisal for Area Resources Inventory (SAFARI) system as a method of comparative evaluation of subject collections among a group of libraries. Resource, or collection, sharing offers specific…

Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of patrons and reference librarians as sources of data for the evaluation of the effectiveness of answers to reference questions. Describes the Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation program and considers staffing patterns, time spent, collection size, and bibliographic instruction. Reference Transaction…

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) E-Metrics study was designed as an 18-month project in three phases: an inventory of what libraries were already doing about data collection for electronic resources and an identification of any libraries that could provide best practice; identifying and testing data elements that could be collected and…

The Illinois project entitled Measurement and Evaluation of Public Library Services is being conducted by the Library Research Center (LRC) at the University of Illinois. The long range goal of the project is to make available meaningful information for the evaluation and improvement of local public libraries. Two immediate objectives are to test…