The Collection Assessment is Done…Now What?

Abstract

The methods used to manage collections have changed dramatically in the last half century, a phenomenon that has been well documented in the literature. 1 This has been due in part to a reaction to the rapid growth of information resources, 2 increased costs of acquiring these resources coupled with decreased share of institutional funding towards libraries, 3 and the shift to digital formats, resulting in changes in methods of making these resources accessible to library patrons. Some in the field have gone so far as to suggest that collection management is undergoing a "paradigm shift." 4 These changes have increased the need for information about the collections themselves, notably inputs (costs and needs), outputs (purchases/acquisitions, circulations, and uses), and outcomes (citations, student grades, and faculty grant successes). 5 About collection evaluation Collection analyses, evaluations, and assessments are an important aspect of collection development services provided by librarians. Collection evaluation "encompasses analysis of the library's collection, its use, and ultimately its impact," with the "real objective" being not to measure a collection's quality, but rather its "utility-how effective the collection is in satisfying the purpose for which it is intended." 6 This emphasis on outcomes reflects the growing trend of assessment in librarianship as a whole, which is well summarized by Megan Oakleaf in her seminal work, The Value of Academic Libraries. In this report, Oakleaf recommends that librarians go beyond traditional measures of inputs and outputs, (primarily acquisitions [costs and counts]) and use data, and instead examine the impact that library services, including collections, have on student and faculty outcomes. 7