This study examines management of microforms at libraries and institutions maintaining an active interest in their own microform collections, defined for the purpose of this study as those not only holding, but still acquiring microforms. Survey results presented here, which identify factors that contribute to retention and discard decisions – including holdings of the same content in different formats – are considered in the context of decision theory. Findings could inform current and future decisions relating to the microforms discussed here as well as to holdings in formats dependent on other technologies that will eventually change.
Libraries supporting health sciences programs must periodically weed collections to remove outdated materials. Both print and e-book collections should be weeded. This article outlines the process Auburn Montgomery librarians followed to weed the NetLibrary e-book collection supporting the School of Nursing curriculum. The nursing courses are taught primarily online or as hybrid courses, increasing reliance on remotely accessible electronic resources. While this e-book weeding project is focused on a specific subject area and the number of e-books weeded is small, the basic method can be applied to larger e-book weeding projects in subject areas other than nursing.
With a growing interest in evaluating the effectiveness of libraries, it is increasingly important that libraries find efficient ways to evaluate the collection development and acquisitions process. This requires a dual approach to explore both what was collected and actually used and also what was not collected which should have been. This study presents a way that both of these areas can be studied for smaller academic libraries and suggests ways these results can be interpreted and used to reallocate scarce budgetary resources or provide evidence for more funds for further developing the collection.
The WorldCat Collection Analysis (WCA) tool was utilized to benchmark engineering monograph collections generally and mechanical engineering in depth. This was accomplished by quantitatively comparing the collections of 13 aspirational peer institutions and assessing local holdings based on those benchmarks. This study also explored trends in print and ebook engineering monograph holdings from 2005 to 2010. In addition to benchmarking, limitations and challenges of using WCA and aspirational peers are also discussed.
The Western genre, that is frontier adventure stories set west of the Mississippi River, has been enjoying a resurgence in popularity, yet there has been no substantive look at the collection of Western genre novels and films in libraries. The online catalogs of 100 libraries across the United States were examined, and a follow-up questionnaire was sent, to determine the scope of Western genre item holdings and the institutional attitudes towards this genre. This study found that Western genre items are still well represented in most collections. However, it also revealed weaknesses in the way genre collection development is conducted.
The Library of Congress and other national libraries will adopt Resource Description and Access (RDA) on March 31, 2013, but RDA is already an established cataloging code. Copy catalogers are likely to encounter RDA records in the near future, and need local standards to guide their work. This article provides technical service personnel who establish policies with the information needed to establish standards for copy cataloging RDA records, particularly monographs. An example of one successful standard, that of Kent State University Libraries, is provided for readers to adopt or adapt.
This study proposed the “house model” to construct an instrument to assess collection security implementation in university libraries. The factors and items are extracted from published literature on library security and library collection security issues. The instrument comprises five factors: collection security governance; operations and processes; people issues; physical and technical aspects of collection security and the security culture in the libraries. The instrument was tested on 61 senior and professional librarians from four Nigerian universities. Reliability tests indicate that all factors are relevant with Cronbach's alpha value of above 0.7 suggesting the reliability of the instrument for use in a wider sample.