Academic

A study reported in 1974 investigating the materials used by master’s and doctoral candidates completing theses after 1966 in public health at 5 universities (Yale; Harvard; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Berkeley; and California State University, Northridge), involving 3,456 citations taken from 44 theses, showed thatthe distribution of materials by format was as follows:

                journals                                      1,785 (52%) citations

                books                                            961 (28%) citations

                documents                                     293 (8%) citations

                unpublished                                    242 (7%) citations

                serials                                             131 (4%) citations

                theses                                              44 (1%) citations                (Source)

A 1977 study of book circulation in Columbia-Greene Community College (sample size 1,317 items or 6% of holdings) showed that35% of the titles circulated during a 15-month period.        (Source)

A study reported in 1977 at the University of Pittsburgh, based on the complete circulation history of monographs during the period October 1968-June 1976, showed thatapproximately 40% of the new acquisitions did not circulate. Specifically, of 36,892 books/monographs acquired in 1969, 14,697 (39.8%) had never circulated in a 7-year period. Further, of the 22,172 items that did circulate 1 or more times during the first 7 years, 72.76% were circulated 1 or more times during their first or second year in the library. “The six-year circulation history of all books and monographs acquired in the calendar year 1970 exhibited a strikingly similar pattern.”                         (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatover a 1-year period the circulation pattern showed a “log normal distribution.” Further, during a 1-year period the number of items that circulated 2 times was roughly half the number of items that circulated once; the number of items that circulated 3 times was roughly half the number of items that circulated twice; and so on. For example, for 1974:

                circulating 1 time                                        63,526 items

                circulating 2 times                                       25,653 items

                circulating 3 times                                       11,855 items

                circulating 4 times                                         6,055 items

                circulating 5 times                                         3,264 items               (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatexternal circulation was a good indicator of total book/monograph use. For example, based on 30-day samples of in-house use taken over a period of 2 academic terms and involving 29,098 items, 75% of the items used in-house had also circulated externally by the end of the sample period, with an additional 4% of the in-house items circulating the following year. Further, of 4,250 books/monographs loaned on interlibrary loan during the period January 1969-December 1975, 3,246 (76.4%) had external circulations, with the remaining 1,004 items accounting for only .34% of the total circulation during the period of the study. Finally, of 33,277 books/monographs selected for reserve during the period January 1969-December 1975, 27,854 (83.7%) had external circulations, with the remaining 5,423 items accounting for only 1.84% of the total circulation during the period of this study.                      (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that, if a book did not circulate within the first 2 years of ownership, “the chances of its ever being borrowed were reduced to less than 1 in 5.” Further, if the book did not circulate within the first 6 years of ownership, its chances of “ever being borrowed were reduced to less than 1 chance in 50.”                (Source)

A survey reported in 1978 of 31 Ph.D. dissertations in the field of business/management (13 from the State University of New York at Buffalo and 18 from SUNYAB incoming faculty but completed at other schools) showed thatthe 7 most frequently cited subject areas (based on 1,161 citations to monographs and serials) were:

                business (HF 5001-6351)                              14.7% citations

                economics: labor (HD 4801-8942)                 11.5% citations

                economics: production (HD 1-100)                 10.8% citations

                psychology (BF)                                               8.2% citations

                sociology (HM-HX)                                         7.3% citations

                finance (HG)                                                     6.4% citations

                economic theory                                                6.0% citations                (Source)

A study reported in 1978 at the University of Pittsburgh of 98% + of its circulation records for the book/monograph collection during the period October 1968-December 1975 (1,500,000 total circulations) showed that16% of newly acquired items were used in the first year; 24% were used in the second year; and 8% in the third year.             (Source)

A study reported in 1979 at the Polk Library of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, of books circulated to faculty and students during 6 sample days (1,371 titles circulated) showed that157 (11%) books circulated every 30 days or more frequently; 392 (29%) books circulated every 90 days or more frequently; 879 (64%) books circulated once a year or more frequently; and 1,360 (99.1%) circulated at least once every 8 years or more frequently.                        (Source)

A study reported in 1979 at the Polk Library of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, of a random sample of 1,098 books in the collection showed that129 (11.8%) had been in the collection for at least 7.5 years and had not circulated compared to 351 (32%) that had circulated and 618 (56.3%) that had not been in the collection that long.             (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that, of the 129 books that had been in the collection for at least 7.5 years and not circulated, the reasons for their nonuse appeared to be:

                specialized (historical sources, technical/scholarly, foreign language)                    64 (49.6%) books

                 obsolete (superseded, outdated controversy)                                                     35 (27.1%) books

                out-of-fashion literature and art                                                                           23 (17.8%) books

                irrelevant/no obvious reason                                                                                  7 (5.4%) books                   (Source)

A 1980 survey of law school libraries with collections in excess of 175,000 volumes (sample size: 50; responding: 37 or 70%) showed thatthe demand for old case books was:

                for faculty, frequent (1 library), occasional (18 libraries), almost none (17 libraries), and no answer (1 library);

                for students, frequent (2 libraries), occasional (8 libraries), almost none (24 libraries), and no answer (3 libraries);

                for other patrons, frequent (1 library), occasional (6 libraries), almost none (27 libraries), and no answer (3 libraries).                (Source)

School

A study reported in 1979 of term paper bibliographies of high school students (270 students/papers from 6 high schools, involving 3,165 identifiable references) showed thatthe number of references in individual papers ranged from 2 to 47, with the average 11.7 and the median and mode both 10. The median number of monographs cited per paper was 7.1, while the median number of journal articles cited was 2.9.                        (Source)

A 1981 study of 53 ninth-grade honors students in science in a suburban Philadelphia public high school showed thatout of 47 bibliographies 83% had magazine citations; 66% had book citations; 45% had encyclopedia citations; 44% had government document/pamphlet citations; 24% had newspaper citations; and 4% had nonprint citations. Out of a total of 409 citations, magazine citations constituted 46% of the total, books 25%, encyclopedias 10%, government documents/pamphlets 10%, newspapers 7%, and nonprint 1%.                         (Source)

Special

A 1973 survey of all county law libraries listed in the 1972 American Association of Law Libraries Directory of Law Libraries (population: 260; responding: 86 or 33.1%) showed that75 (85%) respondents reported that the library book collection was adequate to meet the needs of those who use the library. Further, of 62 respondents, 38 (61.3%) reported that 1% or less of their material is unused or unneeded; 8 (12.9%) reported that unused and unneeded material ran 2 to 10% of the collection; and 6 (9.7%) reported that unused and unneeded material exceeded 11% of the collection. [No data was given for the remaining respondents.]                 (Source)

A 1980 survey of law school libraries with collections in excess of 175,000 volumes (sample size: 50; responding: 37 or 70%) showed thatthe demand for old case books was:

                for faculty, frequent (1 library), occasional (18 libraries), almost none (17 libraries), and no answer (1 library);

                for students, frequent (2 libraries), occasional (8 libraries), almost none (24 libraries), and no answer (3 libraries);

                for other patrons, frequent (1 library), occasional (6 libraries), almost none (27 libraries), and no answer (3 libraries).                        (Source)

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

Go to top