ENGINEERING RESOURCES AT THE DLSU LIBRARIES: A

USAGE STUDYAna Maria B. FresnidoDe La Salle Universityana.fresnido@dlsu.edu.ph

ABOUT DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

Founded 1911 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools

Type Private, Catholic universityAcademic calendar

Three (3) terms per year (late May to early April)

Programs offered Doctoral, Master’s, Bachelor’s, Diploma, Certificate

Colleges /Schools (8)

Br. Andrew Gonzalez College of EducationCollege of Computer StudiesCollege of LawCollege of Liberal ArtsCollege of ScienceGokongwei College of EngineeringRamon V. del Rosario College of BusinessSchool of Economics

DLSU FACTS AND FIGURESTotal number of faculty       – Full-time faculty       – Part-time faculty

1038460578

Total number of undergraduate students       – Male undergraduate students       – Female undergraduate studentsFull-time equivalent number of undergraduate students (FTE)

15,2987,8307,468

13,709

Total number of graduate students       – Male graduate students       – Female graduate studentsFull-time equivalent number of graduate students

3,6201,5432,0772,115

THE DLSU LIBRARIESThe Learning Commons (Main Library) The Law Library

The Br. Benedict Learning Resource Center

Henry Sy, Sr. Hall

Andrew Gonzalez Hall

College Library Integrated School Library

Pre-School Library Makati Extension Campus

Graduate School of Business Libraries

DLSU LIBRARIES’ FACT AND FIGURES

Books 281,436 titles (440,994 volumes)

Theses and Dissertations 28,004 titles (32,724 volumes)Faculty Research and Creative Works 22,766 worksPrint journals 4,554 titlesOnline journals (based on A to Z list) 87,609 titlesOnline aggregator databases 122E-books (purchased and open access) 10,931 titlesFilms / Videos 11,613

Holdings

Ask LORA (Library Online Reference Service)(Webform; http://libanswers.dlsu.edu.ph/)Chat with LORA(Instant Messaging; see chat tab over http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/library)Text LORA(SMS +63927 847 11 27)Video Chat with LORA(Skype: library.dlsu)

Digital Reference Service

Staffinglibrarians - 29support staff - 45TOTAL 74

INTRODUCTION

FACTORS INFLUENCING COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

Books and other printed resources (as enduring collections) remain to be the backbone of the DLSU

Libraries.

E-resources has influenced the way the Libraries develop, build-up, maintain, circulate and make

accessible its collections.

Change in the information seeking behavior of patrons with the

introduction of ICT (information communication technology) in libraries has likewise shaped

collection development decisions

PRINTED RESOURCES VS. E-RESOURCES: COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES AT DLSUPrinted Resources E-Resources/DatabasesExtent of utilization does not determine collection growth

Extent of utilization and cost-per-article reading serve as basis for renewal/cancellation

Usage of books is monitored regularly as one whole collection

Usage is monitored regularly on a per title/database basis

Items with zero usage remain on the shelves (not weeded out)

Titles/databases with zero usage are automatically cancelled

OBJECTIVESTo find out the extent of utilization of the of the Libraries’ printed books and serials collections, specifically the engineering subject segment, to serve as basis for collection development decisions particularly in terms of collection build-up and maintenance (weeding) to subsequently increase circulation/usage.To determine what collection development decisions was done fairly/poorly, which may be used as basis for the improvement of collection development practices specifically for printed materials.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONSInclusion:• Circulation/re-shelving statistics of printed books classified under T-TS

(Technology and Engineering)• gathered from Sierra beginning January 2003 (date when the Libraries

started using Millennium) until July 2015 (as the database can only provided aggregated circulation statistics and cannot breakdown usage by period) or a total of 11.7 months

• Re-shelving statistics of printed engineering serials classified under Technology and Engineering (based on Ulrich)• statistics from July 2011 (date when the Libraries started automated

gathering of usage statistics of items read inside the Libraries) up to July 2015 or a total of 4 years.

Exclusion• Technology books/serials classified under TR (Photography), TT

(handicrafts, arts and Crafts) and TX (Home economics)

METHODOLOGYUse analysis • examination of circulation (checked out for home use) and

re-shelving statistics (items taken out of the shelves and were picked-up from reading tables) captured in Sierra (the Libraries’ integrated system)80/20 rule (i.e. 80% of the library’s circulation

comes from 20% of the items)• To determinate the level of utilization of the engineering

collections

FORMULA

Percentage circulated=No. of items in the identified subject segment that have circulated

USE ANALYSIS

Total no. of items in the identified subject segmentX 100

(1603 / 3143) X 100 = 51%Sample computation:

FORMULA

Circulation ratio =No. of circulations in the identified subject segment

Total no. of items in the identified subject segment

12,783 / 3143 = 4.07Sample computation

USE ANALYSIS

THE 80/20 RULE COMPUTATION PROCEDURES

Divide said number (e.g. 5000) to the total number of items in engineering (e.g. 25,000) then multiply by 100.

Identify the total number of items that make-up 80% of the circulation statistics (e.g. the 5000 titles)

Compute for the percentage running total in another column.

Compute for the running total in a new column.

Sort data extracted from Sierra (converted to Excel file) by the number of circulations in descending order (highest to lowest)

SAMPLE EXCEL SPREADSHEET

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

BORROWING PRIVILEGES

30 books/items for 100 days

Student Faculty 30 books/items for 14 days

ANNUAL AVERAGE CIRCULATION/ITEM

26 times for items

borrowed by students

3 to 4 times for items

borrowed by faculty

members

ANNUAL AVERAGE CIRCULATION/ITEM

26 times (for items

borrowed by students)

3-4 times (for items borrowed by faculty members)

PROFILE OF THE ENGINEERING COLLECTION

Class Letter Subject No. of

TitlesNo. of

VolumesT Technology (General) 2,284 3,143TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) 3,208 4,177TC Hydraulic engineering 165 207TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering 897 1,165TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 90 110TF Railroad engineering and operation 28 31TG Bridge engineering 67 72TH Building construction 604 748TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 1,849 2,467TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear

engineering 6,179 7,539TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 567 716TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 210 286TP Chemical technology 1,448 2,055TS Manufactures 1,774 2,388TOTAL   19,370 25,104

TABLE1: CIRCULATION/RE-SHELVING STATISTICS FOR PRINTED BOOKS, JAN 2003-JUL 2015

A B C D E F G HLC

ClassSubject No. of

ItemsNo. of

Items with Circulatio

n Data

No. of Circulation

s

Percentage Circulated(D/C*100)

Circulation Ratio of All

Items(E/C)

Circulation Ratio of

Used Items(E/D)

T Technology 3,143 1603 12,783 51.00 4.07 7.97TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering

(General) 4,177 2461 26,550 58.92 6.36 10.79

TC Hydraulic engineering 207 129 781 62.32 3.77 6.05TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering 1,165 791 7,578 67.90 6.50 9.58TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 110 80 661 72.73 6.01 8.26TF Railroad engineering and operation 31 18 156 58.06 5.03 8.67TG Bridge engineering 72 50 485 69.44 6.74 9.70TH Building construction 748 452 2,736 60.43 3.66 6.05TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 2,467 1485 14,166 60.19 5.74 9.54TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear

engineering7,539 4086 33,966 54.20 4.51 8.31

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 716 288 1,956 40.22 2.73 6.79TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 286 70 265 24.48 0.93 3.79TP Chemical technology 2,055 1113 9,335 54.16 4.54 8.39TS Manufactures 2,388 1355 11,071 56.74 4.64 8.17   TOTAL/AVE. 25,104 13,981 122,489 55.69 4.88 8.76

BOOKS LOGGING ZERO USAGE

11,123 (44.31%) of

the collection generated 0

usage. 8,243 (74%) of these items were acquired from year 2005 and below (10 years of

non-circulation)

Consequence Reduction in

shelving spaceDecline in the

circulation ratio

LEVEL OF UTILIZATIONUsage of 5096 (20.29%) engineering books make up 80% of the total circulationUtilization within the acceptable level based on the 80/20 rule

TABLE 2: BREAKDOWN OF FREQUENTLY CIRCULATED BOOKS BY CLASS LETTER

LC Class

Subject No. of Items

%

T Technology 533 10.46TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) 1,023 20.07TC Hydraulic engineering 40 0.78TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering 357 7.01TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 35 0.69TF Railroad engineering and operation 10 0.20TG Bridge engineering 30 0.59TH Building construction 137 2.69TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 636 12.48TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering 1,403 27.53TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 85 1.67TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 8 0.16TP Chemical technology 378 7.42TS Manufactures 421 8.26TOTAL 5096 100.00

TABLE 3: BREAKDOWN OF FREQUENTLY CIRCULATED BOOKS BY DATE OF PUBLICATION/COPYRIGHT

1900 and below1901-19101911-19201921-19301931-19401941-19501951-19601961-19701971-19801981-19901991-20002001-20102011-2013

No date

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500100512021

63129

252626

19581862

8168

TABLE 4: BREAKDOWN OF FREQUENTLY CIRCULATED BOOKS BY SUBJECT

Subject LC Class RankProduction management TS 1Human engineering TA 2Computer networks TK 3Thermodynamics TJ 4Fluid mechanics TA 5Mechanics, Applied TA 5Engineering TA 6Management information systems

T 7

Programmable controllers TJ 8Strength of materials TA 9Image processing TA 10

consider these subjects when acquiring engineering books

TABLE 5: TOP TEN MOST FREQUENTLY CIRCULATED BOOKS

Class Letter

Title Author Publication Date

Location

Total Circulati

ons

Ave. Circulation/Year

TS Operations management Stevenson, W. 2005 Circulation

546 46.67

T Qualitative analysis for management

Barry, R. 2009 Circulation

465 39.74

TD Chemistry in context Eubanks, L.P. 2009 Circulation

402 34.36

TP The biodiesel handbook Knothe, G., ed. 2005 Reference

215 18.38

TA Handbook of human factors and ergonomics

Salvendy, G., ed.

1997 Reference

193 16.50

T Nanotechnology for dummies Booker, R. 2005 Reference

180 15.38

TA Handbook of human factors and ergonomics methods

Stanton, N. 2005 Reference

171 14.62

TA The occupational ergonomics handbook

Karwowski, W. 1999 Reference

125 10.68

TA Ergonomics for beginners Dul, J. 1993 Reference

118 10.09

TK Electrical machines Siskind, C. 1959 Circulation

118 10.09

SERIAL PECULIARITY

Printed serials are usually not classified and

are simply arranged by title on the shelves.

A serial title would have

several issues thus the

probability of circulation is

higher compared to books.

TABLE 6: RE-SHELVING STATISTICS FOR PRINTED SERIALS, JUL 2011-JUL 2015

A B C D E F G HLC

ClassSubject No. of

ItemsNo. of Items

with Circulation

Data

No. of Circulations

% Circulated(D/C*100)

Circulation Ratio of All

Items(E/C)

Circulation Ratio of

Used Items(E/D)

T Technology 23 23 168 100.00 7.30 7.30TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering

(General) 41 41 752 100.00 18.34 18.34

TC Hydraulic engineering 6 6 87 100.00 14.50 14.50TD Environmental technology. Sanitary

engineering4 4 83 100.00 20.75 20.75

TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements

2 2 12 100.00 6.00 6.00TF Railroad engineering and operation  0  0 0 0.00 - -TG Bridge engineering  0 0 0 0.00 - -TH Building construction 6 6 62 100.00 10.33 10.33TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 23 23 434 100.00 18.87 18.87TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear

engineering33 33 167 100.00 5.06 5.06

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 3 3 15 100.00 5.00 5.00TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 1 1 1 100.00 1.00 1.00TP Chemical technology 23 23 272 100.00 11.83 11.83TS Manufactures 8 8 35 100.00 4.38 4.38   TOTAL/AVE. 173 173 2,088 100.00 12.07 12.07

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The number of circulations for printed books proved to be quite low but the state of its utilization is within the acceptable level having achieved the 80/20 rule.

The significant number of books logging zero usage in the last 10 years showed that the Libraries does not do regular weeding which is an important aspect of collection development.

The Libraries should start weeding out items not needed by its patrons in consultation with the faculty members (as subject experts) to increase the circulation ratio.

The Libraries is advised to regularly conduct of use analysis as part of its routine collection maintenance.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In further developing the engineering collection, the Libraries should also inform faculty members (who do the selection) in which areas to concentrate to allow for a more judicious collection development practice.

A written three-year acquisition plan taking into consideration the results of the use analysis is proposed.

Although the circulation ratio of the printed serials proved to be a lot higher than the books, it is important for the Libraries do a more thorough examination of the re-shelving logs on a per title/issue basis to re-assess the value of back issues and decide whether to keep them on the shelves or relocate them to a remote storage.

REFERENCES Applegate, R. (2013). Practical evaluation techniques for librarians. Santa Barbara, CA : Libraries Unlimited. Available from eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), Ipswich, MA. Accessed January 25, 2015

  Britten, W. A. (1990). A use statistic for collection management: the 80/20 rule revisited. Library Acquisitions: practice & theory, Vol. 14, pp. 183-189. Retrieved from http://ac.els-cdn.com/036464089090061X/1-s2.0-036464089090061X-main.pdf?_tid=1b2769dc-81fa-11e5-bb66-00000aacb35f&acdnat=1446534870_9fe0d890bdccb7cd26875b6720f5e4ea

  Knievel, J. E., Wicht, H. & Connaway, L.S. (2006). Use of circulation statistics and interlibrary loan data in collection management. Retrieved from connawayhttp://crl.acrl.org/content/67/1/35.full.pdf

  Lininger, A. (2012). 80/20 collection development. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2012/11/8020-collection-development/