Focus on Assessment - Oct 12, 2009

The assessment of collections is an important activity that occurs at all Libraries locations and
involves many Libraries employees, from subject specialists to Libraries staff, in the stewardship
of the Libraries’ collections. One of the more commonly performed types of collection
assessment is the annual evaluation of thousands of library materials for retention, repair, or
storage. The process for this type of assessment varies depending on the purpose, and usually
includes an examination of the physical piece as well as its circulation and use history*.
Circulation and use history can be obtained in a variety of ways, ranging from checking
individual item number information in Workflows to the production of reports using Workflows
Reports or Director’s Station. The checking of individual item numbers is most commonly used
when making repair (e.g., rebinding) decisions, where the item has already been identified for
evaluation. Not all items are worthy of repair and may be discarded or replaced at this point.
The generation of reports in either Workflows or Director’s Station is a more efficient method to
identify potential items to evaluate and typically involves selecting a portion of the collection to
examine then applying parameters of interest such as age or circulation minimums. For example,
one could generate a report listing items in a particular location and call number range, acquired
prior to 2000, with circulation of less than 10. Such reports are used to identify potential
materials to withdraw or send to storage. (I say "potential" because there are other criteria in
addition to age and circulation that impact the decision whether to retain or store an item,
including factors such as uniqueness and future research value.) While time-consuming, such
assessments are a valuable on-going responsibility to maintain the vitality and quality of the
Libraries’ collections. — by LINDA MUSSER

*For more information about use history, consult the Access Services Training Bulletin
“Marking Items Used” at https://intranet.libraries.psu.edu/home/access/trainingbulletins.html.