mapping a dental library collection using oclc's worldcat
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TRANSCRIPT
Mapping a Dental Library Collection Using OCLC’s Worldcat Analysis Service
Presented by:
Jan Cox, Head Librarian
Barbara Gushrowski, Access & Instructional Services Librarian
Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians Annual Conference
Bowling Green, Kentucky
May 17, 2007
Background: Indiana University School of Dentistry
Established 1879 Only Dental School in Indiana Degrees/Programs: DDS, Dental Hygiene,
Dental Assisting Graduate Degrees: Endodontics,
Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, Prosthodontics
Background: Indiana University School of Dentistry (cont.)
Problem Based Learning Curriculum (PBL) Introduced 1997
Faculty: 107 Full time
113 Part time
100 Adjunct/Volunteer instructors Students: 655
Background: Indiana University School of Dentistry Library
Established: Faculty Library 1881 “Library” contains 900 volumes 1920 First Librarian hired 1927 Volumes: 58,569 as of 6/30/06 (monographs
& serials) Monographs: 26,465 as of 6/30/07 Staff: 5.79 FTE
OCLC WorldCat Collection Analysis (WCA) Service
April 2005 – OCLC announces WCA service
Designed as cost effective, “real-time” collection evaluation tool
Analysis Options: Age, Subject, Title
overlap, Title uniqueness, Peer Library
“Libraries can analyze their entire collection as a single entity, regardless of classification schemes used in their catalog, and libraries can compare their collection with that of other libraries regardless of the classification scheme used.” -- Source: Advanced Technology Libraries
Collection Analysis Opportunity
CIC/OCLC WCA Agreement – December 2005
54 participating libraries Peer libraries: 4 with DDS degree programs 125 year old collection Snapshots – book holdings, peer library
comparisons
Rationale For Participation
Administrative Communication
Grant Application Support
Accreditation Self-Study Support
Collection Development Planning
Rationale For Participation (cont.)
Cooperative Collection Development Opportunities
Deep Analysis of Subject Areas
Fiscal Accountability
Budget Request Justification
Challenges/Limits
Access to group libraries only
University of Michigan did not participate
Large amount of data
Unable to download directly into Excel – must convert
Challenges/Limits (cont.)
“No Call # Present” (aka Unknown)– Carry over from iCAS product not yet resolved
Comparison designed for LC/Dewey
Lack of NLM/MeSH sort
Rapidity with which data becomes out-of-date
Subcription Options
Consortial purchase– Less expensive– Can compare with any library in the consortia– Can create your own groups within the consortia
Stand alone purchase– More expensive– Able to select peer institutions from all OCLC users– OCLC sets up the groups
Advantages to WCA
If you are experienced with Excel the database is extremely easy to use
Lots of rich data to massage
Ability to measure collection strengths/ adequacy
Age analysis – Identification for updating/ weeding
Advantages of WCA (cont.)
Check the duplication rate with peer libraries
Identify duplication rate w/in core subjects
Identify duplication rate w/in non-core subjects
Identify time periods where duplication is highest/lowest
Getting Started. . .
1. Choose the type of analysisa. Publication date (age)
b. Overlap (how many titles you share)
c. Uniqueness (how many titles you don’t share)
2. Choose how to display data
a. Number only
b. Percentage only
c. Number and percent
Age Data Displayed as Number Only
Age Data Displayed as Percentage Only
Age Data Displayed as Number & Percent
Getting Started (cont.)
3. Choose your limits
a. Library (for us one or more CIC libraries)
b. Division (by LC classification)
c. Publication Date (date ranges – MARC 008; 260
$c)
d. Language (54 languages available – MARC 008)
e. Format (28 different ones – Maps, books etc)
f. Audience (adult – juvenile; MARC 008)
Limits Available
Limits cont.
Additional Analysis – Overlap
Additional Analysis - Uniqueness
Recognize Some of the Problems
Instant graph capabilities
– Data not normalized
– Comparing apples to oranges (or decades to single years)
Instant Graphs . . . .
Isn’t This Great!?!? (Until you look a little closer)
Overcoming the Graph Problem
Manipulation required to normalize
– Need to download all the OCLC records
– Sort by date
– Add fields to the spreadsheet
Normalizing the Data
Transfer the Numbers to the Spreadsheet
Now This Looks a Lot Better!
Problems for Medical Libraries
WCA maps individual records based on call number
– First looks for LC number - 050– Then a locally-defined LC call number - 090– Then the Dewey number – 082– Then a locally-defined Dewey number - 092– Then FINALLY NLM number – 060– Or locally defined NLM – 096
LC vs NLM – It’s a Problem . . . .
Conclusions
It’s a good product Good customer service
support Know what you want to
accomplish with WCA Know it’s limitations Ease on down the road!
References
Lyons, L. E. A Critical Examination of the Assessment Analysis Capabilities of OCLC ACAS. Journal of Academic Librarianship v. 31 no. 6 (Nov. 2005) p. 506-516.
OCLC Launches Worldcat Collection Analysis Service. Advanced Technology Libraries v. 34 no. 4 (April 2005) p 1, 10-11.
Spires, T. Using OCLC’s Worldcat Collection Analysis to Evaluate Peer Institutions. Illinois Libraries (Online) v. 86 no. 2 (Summer 2006) p. 11-19.
Contact Information
Jan Cox, Head Librarian, [email protected]
Barbara A. Gushrowski, Access & Instructional Services Librarian, [email protected]