The authors analyzed the holdings, circulations, and interlibrary loan (ILL) borrowing requests of the English-language monograph collection at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Data for each area were mapped to conspectus subject areas, using Library of Congress Classifications, and then compared. The resulting data and subject distributions were analyzed by overall holdings, transactions per item, percentage of collection circulated, and a ratio of ILL holdings to requests. The method of analysis used in this study could be fruitfully applied to other research collections to assist with remote storage, preservation, and collection development decisions.

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Use of circulation statistics and interlibrary loan data in collection management

This article reports the use of “percentage of expected use” (Mills 1981) and “ratio of borrowings to holdings” (Aguilar 1986) to analyze data gathered from the automated circulation and interlibrary loan system of the central university libraries, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. The study, limited to circulating monographs with selected LC classification subclasses, revealed the areas of the collections attracting heavy usage and high interlibrary loan requests. The study concluded that although the libraries are meeting the needs of undergraduate and graduate programs, there is need for a closer scrutiny of some areas of the collection that attract less circulation and interlibrary loan requests.

Use of Circulation Statistics and Interlibrary Loan Data in Collection Management

Numerous publications on patron-driven acquisition (PDA) for print books and similar materials have reported that patron-requested materials circulate more. Tying circulation to selector may be failing to address the complex of factors that contributes to items' circulation. In the present study, the authors revisit a PDA program's data and to determine whether PDA print books' circulation advantage persists when the potential interactions of several additional variables are taken into account. As with prior studies, library patrons were significantly better predictors of circulation than were librarians or approval plans. However, librarians proved to be significantly better predictors than were approval plans.

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Patron-Driven Acquisition and Circulation at an Academic Library: Interaction Effects and Circulation Performance of Print Books Acquired via Librarians’ Orders, Approval Plans, and Patrons’ Interlibrary Loan Requests

In this article the author analyzes circulation of print books at Seton Hall University Libraries using the WorldCat Analysis tool and Voyager data. Only 21.5% of the collection circulated between 2005 and 2009, but circulation varied by subject area. Circulation was higher for subjects with more current collections. Over one-third of recent science books circulated, while older science books had low circulation. Print book circulation declined by 23% between 2005 and 2009. Results of this study informed collection development and prompted a comprehensive weeding project, participation in an international scholarly reading study, and an e-book, patron-driven acquisition program.

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Are Print Books Dead? An Investigation of Book Circulation at a Mid-Sized Academic Library

There has been a flurry of interest in programs for collection development through patron-initiated requests However, some librarians have been concerned that such methods run the risk of producing idiosyncratic collections with poor usage and poor use value The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries have operated such a program through the Interlibrary Loan Department over a five-year period The following study assesses the relative performance of the program's interlibrary loan–acquired monographs in terms of prices paid per rates of annual circulation, relative use at the topical level, and annual rates of circulation

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Just How Right Are the Customers? An Analysis of the Relative Performance of Patron-Initiated Interlibrary Loan Monograph Purchases

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Terry R. Mills

Papers

The University of Illinois Film Center Collection Use Study.