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Dissertation Information for Elizabeth Helen Vernon

NAME:
- Elizabeth Helen Vernon

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Simmons College (USA) (2000)

ADVISORS:
- Sheila S. Intner
- Peter D. Hernon

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: A methodology to establish a review cycle to select monographs for transfer to remote storage

Abstract: A common problem in research libraries is that collections tend to grow beyond existing facilities, while the construction of new libraries or the extension of existing library space is very costly and not always feasible. Offsite--"remote"--storage provides an alternate housing option. Remote storage raises many issues for libraries, such as perceived or actual reduction in accessibility, and the costs of retrieval and re-accessioning of materials. For such reasons, research libraries try to select materials for offsite storage that are less likely to circulate than those held in the stacks. However, the review process for selecting books for transfer to remote storage can be time-consuming and costly. It is not efficient nor cost-effective to review every book in the collection, so there needs to be some mechanism to establish a review cycle for books held in the stacks for possible transfer to remote storage.

This study tests a method of setting a review cycle for books housed in the stacks for possible transfer to remote storage. This method was designed minimize costs in staff time while maximizing the efficiency of the review process. Working from the assumption that library collections age--that library materials are, on average, less likely to circulate the older they get--the study examined the predictability in the decline in the circulation rate of monographs as they age, in order to produce index values based on "number of years elapsed since date of publication" to use to establish a review cycle.

The monograph holdings and circulation data of the Widener Library of the Harvard College Library, Harvard University were used as case study. Several years of data on titles held and titles circulated were extracted from the Harvard online catalog HOLLIS, and the ratio of titles circulated to titles held by year of publication was graphed. Once the predictability of the decline of the circulation rate overall was determined, the parameter "language" was added to the study, in order to determine if the shape of the circulation curve by date of publication were the same for all languages. Data for the top eight languages (English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Hebrew) in terms of Widener monograph holdings size were extracted and analyzed. It was determined that the shape of the circulation curve for English is very similar to that of the overall curve, but those for the other seven languages were quite different, both from that of English and the overall curve.

It is possible to establish a review cycle for possible transfer of monographs from the stacks to remote storage using the circulation rate curve as the guide. Although a variety of complex criteria need to be used for the review of individual books for possible transfer to remote storage, simple and straightforward criteria (date of publication and language) can be used to identify which subsets of the collection should be reviewed at any given time. The index values produced by this study might not be applicable to other libraries, but the methodology is easily transferable to other libraries.

MPACT Scores for Elizabeth Helen Vernon

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:11:34

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Students under Elizabeth Helen Vernon

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None