Building holistic and agile collection development and assessment
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a flexible collections assessment rubric comprised of a suite of tools for more consistently and effectively evaluating and expressing a holistic value of library collections to a variety of constituents, from administrators to faculty and students, with particular emphasis to the use of data already being collected at libraries to “take the temperature” of how responsive collections are in supporting institutional goals.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a literature review, internal and external conversations, several collections pilot projects, and a variety of other investigative mechanisms, this paper explores methods for creating a more flexible, holistic collection development and assessment model using both qualitative and quantitative data.
Findings
The products of scholarship that academic libraries include in their collections are expanding exponentially and range from journals and monographs in all formats, to databases, data sets, digital text and images, streaming media, visualizations and animations. Content is also being shared in new ways and on a variety of platforms. Yet the framework for evaluating this new landscape of scholarly output is in its infancy. So, how do libraries develop and assess collections in a consistent, holistic, yet agile, manner? Libraries must employ a variety of mechanisms to ensure this goal, while remaining flexible in adapting to the shifting collections environment.
Originality/value
In so much as the authors are aware, this is the first paper to examine an agile, holistic approach to collections using both qualitative and quantitative data.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Shirron Ballard, Bob Martin, Amanda Hedrick, and Sarah Brett, who were key gathering and analyzing data for our pilot projects. Also core to the Allied Health Sciences collapsed fund pilot were members of the AHS cluster (Michael Mungin, Lara Sapp, Carolyn Schubert, David Vess, and Stefanie Warlick), as well as Monographic Services Manager, Kathi Scruggs, and Finance staff members Rhonda Reedy and Holly Thornton who worked with our vendor and systems to “make it happen.” And, finally, the members of L & ET’s Scholarly Content Systems and Digital Services, particularly Greg Spitzer and Jody Fagan, who spent many hours, respectively, creating, fine tuning, and testing the journal review tool.
Citation
Duncan, C.J. and O'Gara, G.M. (2015), "Building holistic and agile collection development and assessment", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 62-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/PMM-12-2014-0041
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited