Abstract
Georgia State University’s print circulation has declined over 50% since 2010. Collection development librarians made several small-scale adjustments to address this trend, yet the drop off in use continued unabated. We had to totally rethink the book budget. To make changes strategically and responsibly, we needed answers to a variety of questions: Are there disciplines that do not need firm order allocations or even monographs? Does format matter? Does it matter how the titles are acquired with regard to approval versus firm order versus demand-driven acquisition (DDA)?
This paper discusses the multifaceted data-driven analysis we developed in order to provide a detailed and holistic picture of monograph collection performance and buying patterns. We share how we developed our analysis, what our data revealed, and the action items generated by our activities. This paper details how to combine large data sets from multiple sources for assessment, and how combining use and acquisitions data of print and electronic monographs helped us make improved purchasing decisions at Georgia State University.
Book Usage Is Rollin’ Down: Multifaceted Assessment of Monograph Collection Performance to Optimize Purchase Decisions
Georgia State University’s print circulation has declined over 50% since 2010. Collection development librarians made several small-scale adjustments to address this trend, yet the drop off in use continued unabated. We had to totally rethink the book budget. To make changes strategically and responsibly, we needed answers to a variety of questions: Are there disciplines that do not need firm order allocations or even monographs? Does format matter? Does it matter how the titles are acquired with regard to approval versus firm order versus demand-driven acquisition (DDA)?
This paper discusses the multifaceted data-driven analysis we developed in order to provide a detailed and holistic picture of monograph collection performance and buying patterns. We share how we developed our analysis, what our data revealed, and the action items generated by our activities. This paper details how to combine large data sets from multiple sources for assessment, and how combining use and acquisitions data of print and electronic monographs helped us make improved purchasing decisions at Georgia State University.