1. Making Hard Choices
Using Data for Collections Decisions
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries
May 29, 2014
Istanbul, Turkey
Susan Edwards
University of California, Berkeley

2. Questions:
How well do our collections meet needs of researchers?
Are related disciplines equally supported?
If we need to close or combine libraries, which make sense?
New research trends/formats that impact collections?
Have we sacrificed books for journals – and does it matter?

4. -25%
25%
75%
125%
175%
225%
275%
325%
375%
1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010
%ChangeSince1986
Source: ARL Statistics 2009-10 Association of Research Libraries, Washington, D.C.
Expenditure Trends in ARL Libraries, 1986-2010
Serial Expenditures
(+379%)
Library
Materials
(+289%)
Operating
Expenditures (+110%)
TOTAL
Expenditures (+172%)
Total
Salaries (+158%)
CPI (+99%)
Monograph
Expenditures (+73%)
Journal costs
continue to
outpace library
budgets
Journal & Books Cost Outpaces Budget Increases

5. We didn’t want to just make it up….

6. Who Uses the EdPsych Library?
Lots of Education, Little Psychology

7. Who Uses the Social Welfare Library?
Almost all Use Is by Social Welfare!

8. RLG Conspectus: Collection Levels
Research: A collection that includes the major
published source materials required for
dissertations
Comprehensive: A collection which, so far as is
reasonably possible, includes all significant
works of recorded knowledge

9. Methods
Citation analysis of dissertation bibliographies:
Education (2009 -2010)
Psychology (2009-2010)
Social Welfare (2009-2011)
All citations hand entered and verified.
Systematic sample with a random start, confidence
interval: 95% (+/-3)

10. Dissertations Total Citations
Citations
Entered
Education 57 6576 1340
Psychology 28 3899 644
Social Welfare 22 3719 741
Total 107 14,194 2725
Sample Size

11. Findings

12. What Are They Citing?
Journals Books Free Web
Education 46% 47% 7%
Psychology 84% 15% <1%
Social
Welfare
59% 33% 8%

13. Triangulation confirms finding:
Psych uses few books, Ed uses many

14. How Much Do We Have?
(Of what doctoral students cite)
Journals Books
Education 98% 88%
Psychology 99% 87%
Social Welfare 97% 73%
(+/-4%) (+/-4%)

15. Unexpected findings

16. Citing Older Material
Journals Books
Education 11 years 13 years
Psychology 8 years 14 years
Social Welfare 10 years 11 years

17. Oldest Citations
Books Journals
Education 1861 1935
Psychology 1871 1877
Social Welfare 1937 1889

18. Education Psychology Social Welfare
Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology
Neuroimage Child Development
Child Development
Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology
Developmental
Psychology
Journal of Educational
Psychology
Journal of Neuroscience
Children and Youth
Services Review
Developmental
Psychology
Nature (4th)
American
Psychologist (4th)
Journal of Research in
Science Teaching (5th)
Neuropsychologia (4th)
Development and
Psychopathology (4th)
Journal of the Learning
Sciences (5th)
Nature Neuroscience
(5th)
Future of Children
(5th)
Reading Research
Quarterly (5th)
Neuron (5th)
Child Abuse &
Neglect(5th)

19. Next Stage
All Dissertations from 2008-2012:
• Business
• Economics
• History
• Political Science

20. What’s New
• LAUC Research Grant
• Citation Data from ProQuest (45,000)
• First Finding: 28% 15% 1.2% … 2!

21. Credits:
Phase One
• Lynn Jones, co-author
• Lyn Paleo, Evaluator
• Jon Stiles, Statistics
• Jeffery Loo, Graphics
• Student Employees, data
entry
Phase Two
• LAUC Research Grant
• Hilary Schiraldi, Business
• Jennifer Dorner, History
• Jim Church, Economics
• Jon Stiles, Statistics
• Lynne Grigsby, Dark Archive
• Austin McClean, ProQuest
• Student Employees: data
entry for print, first pass.

22. Contact for more information