The “80/20 Rule” and Core Journals

Abstract

This column examines the 80/20 rule, also termed a Pareto distribution, and explains these terms' historical origins. The column focuses on this pattern in the use of print serials, downloads from electronic databases, and citations to journals. The rule's relationship to Bradford's Law is explored, and some of the research pertaining to the 80/20 rule is reviewed. The pattern's utility for defining the core collection and serials collection management is discussed, whereas a number of limitations are pointed out. Some questions for further research are suggested. It is concluded that the 80/20 ratio (80% of use is derived from 20% of the titles), Thomas E. Nisonger is Professor Emeritus, ). He holds an MLS from the University of Pittsburgh and a PhD in political science from Columbia University. I thank my graduate assistant in Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science, Suzanne Switzer, for her assistance with this column in a variety of ways, including helping search the literature for specific examples of library usage patterns, helping compile the tables, and verifying citations. Downloaded by [Queensland University of Technology] at 20:42 13 October 2014 Serials in the Core Collection 63when found as an approximate pattern, is a valid method for determining the core concept in journal collection management.

Creating a medical education enterprise: leveling the playing fields of medical education vs. medical science research within core missions

“…Competing interests (e.g., research vs. teaching vs. service) pose a challenge to promoting innovation in education and encouraging scholarship. Further, the dissemination of scholarship has its own challenges, with only a small subset of journals that accept descriptive/innovation articles and journal reviewers setting high expectations (80/20) [17,18]. …”

Google Scholar Users and User Behaviors: An Exploratory Study

“…This graph brings to mind the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule or the principle of uneven distribution, where a subset of users are disproportionately productive. 42 This general principle of uneven or unequal distribution is the underlying premise for many laws in bibliometrics including Bradford's Law. However, Bradford's Law applies primarily to serials and was discovered through bibliographic analysis, whereas the 80/20 rule's application to libraries was discovered by studying use patterns.…”

Richard Trueswell's Contribution to Collection Evaluation and Management: A Review

“…More recently, Singson and Hangsing (2015) observed the same trend in usage of electronic journals across an academic consortium in India. Nisonger (2008) provides many more examples.…”

“…Trueswell (1969b) noted that heavily used books would need new book cards more frequently, perhaps leading to the destruction of the full cards prior to tabulation, and many librarians are familiar with "helpful" patrons who reshelve their own materials after using them in-house, resulting in under-reporting this use. Nisonger (2008) summarized an extensive, but not comprehensive, selection of studies that reported on the 80/20 Rule. In a subset of 19 articles reporting on the concentration of titles in print serials usage, Nisonger (2008) showed that most approximated the 80/20 Rule but noted that "the 80/20 numbers are not expected to work out precisely" (p. 65).…”

“…Nisonger (2008) summarized an extensive, but not comprehensive, selection of studies that reported on the 80/20 Rule. In a subset of 19 articles reporting on the concentration of titles in print serials usage, Nisonger (2008) showed that most approximated the 80/20 Rule but noted that "the 80/20 numbers are not expected to work out precisely" (p. 65). However, averaging the ratio of the percent of titles that account for a percent of use from Table 1 (pg.…”