Image from Calvin L.

Lewis’s book, A

Handbook of American

Speech (1916).

FINDING CHARACTER IN OUR

COLLECTIONS: PARTNERING WITH

STUDENTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

WHAT WE OWN

Karla Aleman, Morehead State University

Dakoda Trenary, Morehead State University

Carter Kozar, Morehead State University

2014 KLA & SLA-KY Joint Spring Conference

INTRO

AREAS OF INTEREST

English

International & Interdisciplinary Studies

Spanish & French

Geography

International Studies

Various Minors (e.g. Film Studies, Women’s Studies)

Honors Program

400s- Language

800s- Literature

910s- Geography

Fiction Collection

Multicultural

Collection

Departments Collections

COLLECTION ASSESSMENT

Purpose

To find out what we have and how it circulates.

Goals

Review all material within my area.

Spot trends.

Identify strengths and weaknesses.

Methods

Complete item-level assessment.

Work with students on assessing printed books (so far).

PARTNERING WITH STUDENTS

2 Undergraduate Research Fellows/Honors

Students

8 hours per week.

12 weeks per semester.

2 semesters unpaid.

1 Independent Studies Student

3 hours per week.

16 weeks per semester.

1 semester unpaid.

PROGRESS THUS FAR

Fall 2012- Planning

Spring & Fall 2013- Assessment Round One

Spring 2014- Analysis

Student Accomplishments

French section (over 2700 items)- 53% reviewed

English section (over 16300 items)- 8% reviewed

Includes General Lit., Rhetoric, and Criticism (800-809) and

American Literature (810s).

DATA COLLECTED

Basic Citation Info

Publishers

Publication dates- including reprint dates

First and Last Circulation Dates

Number of Copies

Physical Condition

Type of Source (Primary or Secondary)

Comments/Notes

**Date of Acquisition**

Secondary Sources/Scholarship Vs.

Primary Sources

Stable Condition Vs. Damaged Conditions

DEFINITIONS

VERY QUICK HISTORY

1887- Morehead Normal School founded by Frank

and Phebe Button.

1930- First library building opened.

1999- The Library transitioned from Unicorn to

Voyager.

ENGLISH LITERATURE

Dakoda Trenary

BACKGROUND:

Spring of 2013

8 hours a week for 12 weeks

Total: 96 hours

Fall of 2013

8 hours a week for 12 weeks

Total: 96 hours

Overall: 192 data retrieval hours

Not counting the hours of compilation

CIRCULATION STATISTICS FOUND:

Total Analyzed:

1,305 works

Scholarship: 841 total

12% has not circulated

Average last circulation date: 1993

Primary: 464 total

19% has not circulated

Average last circulated date: 1992

Overall, some material hasn’t circulated since 1946

CIRCULATION STATS CONTINUED:

(823.03) The Novel:

1971

(818.54) Primary Sources:

1979

(811.38) Whitman:1994

(810.82) Am. Lit. Collections:

1973

(810) American Literature:

1939

(808.5) Guides to Speaking and Writing:

1985

(808.1) Ideology of Poetry:

1984

(801.9) Lit. and Reading:

1981

(808.2) Plays:

1982

(808.51) American Public Speaking:

1987

(809.1) Poetry and the Poet:

1972

(809.04) Analysis of the Author:

1956

(811) American Poetry:

1979

(811.2-811.24) Revolutionary Era Poetry:

1955

(811.3) American Poets:

1959

(811.08) American Verse:

1980

(811.009) Marginalized Poets:

1983

(814.54) Short Stories and Humor:

1989

CIRCULATION STATS CONTINUED:1946-2013

N=464

CIRCULATION STATS CONTINUED: 1950-2012

N=841

PUBLICATION STATS:

Mean Publication Years:

English Primary Publication Average:

1962

English Scholarship Publication Average: 1962

What we found:

More money in the 1960’s and 1970’s

PUBLICATION STATS CONTINUED:

(823.03) The Novel:

1973

(818.54) Primary Sources:

1981

(811.38) Whitman:

1964

(810.82) Am. Lit. Collections:

1949

(810) American Literature:

1955

(808.5) Guides to Speaking and Writing:

1951

(808.1) Ideology of Poetry:

1955

(801.9) Literature and Reading:

1964

(808.2) Plays:

1960

(808.51) Am. Public Speaking:

1976

(809.1) Poetry and the Poet:

1966

(809.04) Analysis of the Author:

1958

(811) American Poetry:

1945

(811.2-811.24) Revolutionary Era Poetry:

1917

(811.3) American Poets:

1954

(811.08) American Verse:

1938

(811.009) Marginalized Poets:

1976

(814.54) Short Stories and Poetry:

1989

PUBLICATION STATS CONTINUED: 1820-2011

N=464

M=1961

PUBLICATION STATS CONTINUED: 1852-2011

N=841

M=1962

1915

1925

1935

1945

1955

1965

1975

1985

1995

2005

Publication Date

Most Recent Check Out

Correlation Between Publication and Circulation:

PUBLISHER STATISTICS:

Most common cities of publication:

New York: 604/1,305

Boston: 83/1,305

London: 59/1,305

Overwhelming publication locations

CONDITIONS

Primary Sources-

76% stable vs. 24% damaged

Secondary Sources-

85% stable vs. 15% damaged

FRENCH LITERATURE

Carter Kozar

BACK GROUND

Spring of 2013

8 hours a week for 12 weeks

Total: 96 hours

Fall 2013

8 hours a week for 12 weeks

Total: 96 hours

Overall: 192 data retrieval hours

1,431 books covered

53% of the French section

CIRCULATION STATISTICS FOUND

Total Analyzed:

1,431 works

53% of French Section

Scholarship: 469 total

38% have not circulated

Average Last Circ. Date: 1992

Primary: 958 total

56% have not circulated

Average Last Circ. Date: 1985

Overall:

Primary sources are more prevalent, but less circulated.

FRENCH PRIMARY CIRCULATION DATES

1917-2013

N= 958

FRENCH SCHOLARSHIP CIRCULATION DATES

1953-2013

N=469

PUBLICATION STATS.

Mean Publication Years

French Primary Average

1953

French Scholarship Average

1973

What we found:

Camden Carroll Library was able to purchase more

books in the 1960’s.

FRENCH PRIMARY PUBLICATION DATES

1798-2011

N=958

M=1947

FRENCH SCHOLARSHIP PUBLICATION DATES

1883-2010

N=469

M=1973

CONDITIONS

Primary Sources-

53% stable vs. 47% damaged

Secondary Sources-

82% stable vs. 18% damaged

FRENCH SECTION OVERVIEW

Includes Texts In:

French

English

Bilingual

Extensive variety of genres

Generally Complete Coverage

2,734 titles total

POPULAR FRENCH PUBLISHERS

Gallimard, Paris

Founded 1911 by Gaston Gallimard

Les Éditions de Nouvelle Revue Française

NRF still seen on books today

170 books in my section

International Publisher (10+languages)

Gallimard.fr

Genres Include

Anthologies

Biographies

Novels

Poetry

Theater

FRENCH PUBLISHERS CONTINUED

Librairie Garnier Frères, Paris

Founded 1833 Auguste, Hippolyte, & Baptiste Louis

GF Symbol

Includes

Flammarion, Dossier, Étonnats Classique

100 Books

Classiques-garnier.com

Genres

Classics

Dictionaries

Children’s Books

TAKE-AWAYS

CARTER’S TAKE-AWAY

Better Understanding of Dewey Decimal System

Basic Skills in Microsoft Excel

Practical French Application

An Appreciation for Books and their History

DAKODA’S TAKE-AWAY:

Library familiarity

Familiarity with the resources I will work more with

in the future

New knowledge of old works

Honors requirement completion

Resume builder

KARLA’S TAKE-AWAY

50% of French material & 15% of English material has

never circulated.

59% of books in French have never circulated, while

38% of non-French language books in the French

section have never circulated.

Half of the English section items haven’t circulated since

1993. Half of the French since 1987.

A high proportion of both the English and French

material was published in the 1960s and 1970s.

28% of the assessed items are damaged.

KARLA’S TAKE-AWAY

Honors students rock!

Found volumes returned to proper locations.

Learning a little about the Library’s history.

Benefits of integrating catalog information into

assessment.

A thorough knowledge of processing procedures

helps!

MORE INFO NEEDED

Date of Acquisition.

Number of times the items circulated OR…

Dates for each circulation.

Exploration of publishing history.

Full subject-coverage analysis.

WHAT’S NEXT

Continue with printed books review.

800s

400s

910s

Multicultural & Fiction Collections

Continue with other analog material review.

Video & Audio

Begin digital material review.

Ebooks

Periodicals

Streaming Video

PARTNERING WITH STUDENTS

Undergraduate Research Fellows

Independent Studies Students

Student Workers

Interns

Volunteers

REFERENCES

Borin, J., & Yi, H. (2011). Assessing an academic library collection through capacity and usage indicators: Testing a multi-dimensional model. Collection Building, 30, 120-125. doi: 10.1108/01604951111146956

Ciszek, M. P., & Young, C. L. (2010). Diversity collection assessment in large academic libraries. Collection Building, 29, 154-161. doi: 10.1108/01604951011088899

Gregory, T. R. (2007). Stacking up: A how-to guide to condition surveys. Collection Management, 31(3), 85-100. doi: 10.1300/J105v31n03_07

Tucker, J. C. (2012). Ebook collection analysis: Subject and publisher trends. Collection Building, 31, 40-48. doi: 10.1108/01604951211229836

Wilde, M., & Level, A. (2011). How to drink from a fire hose without drowning: Collection assessment in a numbers-driven environment. Collection Management, 36, 217-236. doi: 10.1080/01462679.2011.604771