Use Studies for Periodicals Collections Birdie MacLennan 11 Jan 1993 20:41 UTC
2 messages, 69 lines: ------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 09:05:00 EST From: Kamala S. Narayanan <NARAYANA@QUCDN.QUEENSU.CA> Subject: Use studies I think there are several ways to determine use studies. But has anyone found out an easy online method to determine who the users are i.e undergraduate or graduate or faculty or private researcher? Some specialized journals show very heavy use but maybe only one person is using it for his/her own private research. Some titles are used even if there is no known related research being carried out on campus. In fact, we have been forced to look at titles for cancellations even if they have been heavily used, simply because the department who pays for them, is no longer interested. Kamala S. Narayanan Ph: (613) 545 2831 Serials Librarian Fax: (613) 545 6819 Acquisitions/Serials Queen's University Kingston. Ontario K7L 5C4 CANADA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 12:44:41 -0500 From: Martha Gunnarson <mg@WPI.EDU> Subject: RE: Periodical use studies We have just completed one use study and are about to embark on another. We subscribe to around 1,300 current periodicals. To make the study manageable, we concentrated on the most expensive titles (those costing over US$750 per year.) Issues were flagged with colored dots (dots also placed on shelves to help locate the study titles) and each issue had an adhesive label (4" x 3/8") attached to the front cover and wrapped around to the back cover, effectively taping the issue shut. The labels were marked "TEAR LABEL TO OPEN." During the study the chosen titles were checked once a day Monday-Friday. Issues with broken or missing labels were counted, and new labels applied. Only issues on the current periodical shelves were included, once issues were bound they were dropped from the study. Data was entered into dBase. The information in dBase included: Title, subscription costs for FY1991 and FY1992, fund information, departmental affiliation, frequency, and whether or not the title was included in the Uncover database. Each of the 120 titles in the study was assigned an identification number. Study data included date used and number of issues used on that date. Total number of uses for the study period and the cost per use were calculated. The cost per use was very helpful in justifying cuts to the faculty. Currently the library is underwriting the cost of ordering faxes of articles from Uncover2. The professional staff have been conducting one-on-one visits with faculty members, encouraging them to use the library program available on the campus network. Uncover is available through the library program, and we have the necessary passwords and ordering information for Uncover2 built into the program. We were able to show the faculty (and ourselves!) that the cost of ordering from Uncover2 was often much cheaper than maintaining subscriptions to lesser used titles. We were able to cancel enough to a) keep the costs in line with this year's budget, and b) add some money to the Uncover account to help pay for increasing demand. Martha Gunnarson Serials Librarian/Cataloger Gordon Library Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA 01609 mg@wpi.wpi.edu