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Collection Strategy Guide

A guide to share information about performing collection analysis and how to learn more about collection strategies

Types of Analysis

* Interdisciplinary Analysis - SOURCES: cited reference searches; bibliographies; Worldcat searches; local records; subject headings; call numbers; YBP interdisciplinary lists. GOALS: Creating/enhancing the inter-disciplinarity of a library collection; map out what areas (ie LC; subject headings) are interdisciplinary in nature; examine citations to see interdisciplinary publishing trends; explore whether interdisciplinary research needs are being met

  • Ostos, M. (2017). What do they use? Where do they get it? An interdisciplinary citation analysis of Latin American studies faculty monographs, 2004–2013. College & Research Libraries, 78(5), 567.
    • Used works cited of faculty publications within an interdisciplinary program and compared sources to library's holdings
  • Currie, L., & Monroe-Gulick, A. (2013). What do our faculty use? An interdisciplinary citation analysis study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(6), 471-480.
    • Reviewed faculty publications from a variety of interdisciplinary areas and compared to their libraries' holdings
  • Dzurak, E., Falloon, K. A., & Cope, J. (2015). Evaluating and planning for interdisciplinary collection development: a case of an East Asian collection at the College of Staten Island Library. Collection Building.
    • Analyzed the libraries' holdings and compared to citations in the field to assess whether it was ready to support a new interdisciplinary program. 
  • Bartolo, L. M., Wicks, D. A., & Phillips, V. A. (2001). Collection Development and Interdisciplinary Endeavors: Collaborative Efforts for Educational and Work Environments.
    • Used the curriculum to see if the assess whether the collections and their YBP approval plans matched current research expectations. Mapped out how certain courses may be tied to interdisciplinary areas of study.
  • Kim, H., Park, H., & Song, M. (2022). Developing a topic-driven method for interdisciplinarity analysis. Journal of Informetrics, 16(2), 101255

* Gap Analysis- SOURCES: Call numbers;  interlibrary loan data; age of publications through local records; circulation data; interviews GOALS: Compare commonly ILL requested call number areas against library holdings; compare the size of collections and content held within certain areas;

  • Bronicki, J., Ke, I., Turner, C., & Vaillancourt, S. (2015). Gap analysis by subject area of the University of Houston Main Campus library collection. The Serials Librarian, 68(1-4), 230-242.
    • With a review of the collection they discovered that their print monograph collection was quite aged. They also assessed what subject areas were largest and smallest within their collections
  • Angel, C. M. (2011). Gap analysis of the university of South Carolina's digital collections department. OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives.
    • Used interview data and experience to assess the gaps within the university's digital collections department
  • Schwartz, C. A. (1993). Gap analysis of book publication and library holdings in psychology. American Psychologist, 48(11), 1151.
    • Compared the total output of print books published within psychology to the materials collected by their library
  • Giannopoulos, E., Snow, M., Manley, M., McEwan, K., Stechkevich, A., Giuliani, M. E., & Papadakos, J. (2021). Identifying gaps in consumer health library collections: a retrospective review. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 109(4), 656.
    • Analyzed their patrons' submissions of search request forms, used by patrons when further search help is needed, compared common search themes to their collections.

* Citation Analysis - SOURCES: Web of Science; Scopus; Google Scholar; GOBI Affiliated Institution search within approval note; Institutional websites; GOALS: Learn what publishers or titles hold relevance within institution; Compare use of sources with holdings; Explore the Various Publication Outlets and Formats; Open Access Trends

  • McMonigle, P. (2020, June). Using Citation Analysis as a Collections Management Tool. In 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access.
    • Use of analysis to track patterns of sources for authors and by tracking these patterns libraries can track which sources will be most valuable to their researchers. There is mention os using Proquest Dissertation and Theses to track what sources graduate students are using for their programs.
  • Thomas, W. J., Vandagriff, S., & Jabaily, M. J. (2022). Student Use of Library-Provided Materials: Citation Analysis across Three Fields of Study and Using Local Citation Analysis for Improving Serials Collections. The Serials Librarian, 1-10.
    • Citation analysis can help determine what materials to retain or add to a library collection. By reviewing faculty publications, this study shows where their library is satisfying their research needs within certain programs.

*Benchmarking Analysis - SOURCES: Comparison between similar institutions using certain variables like size, cost of tuition; size of collection, etc  find comparable institutions through the National Center for Education Statistics; GOALS: Learn how collections match up; figure out the future needs of the collection when new programs are formed by reviewing comparable institutional collections

  • Thomas, W. J., Vandagriff, S., & Jabaily, M. J. (2022). Student Use of Library-Provided Materials: Citation Analysis across Three Fields of Study and Using Local Citation Analysis for Improving Serials Collections. The Serials Librarian, 1-10.
  • Antoniy, R., Nataliya, K., & Vasil, K. (2017, September). The analysis of the United States of America universities library information services with benchmarking and pairwise comparisons methods. In 2017 12th International Scientific and Technical Conference on Computer Sciences and Information Technologies (CSIT) (Vol. 1, pp. 417-420). IEEE.
  • Juntunen, A., Laitinen, M., Saarti, J., & Taskinen, A. (2020). Academic library directors' use of statistical data-benchmarking tools for the libraries. Qualitative & Quantitative Methods in Libraries, 9(2).

*Bibliometric Analysis - SOURCES: quantitative publication data; Scopus; Web of Science; analysis tools may include Gephi, Leximancer, VOSviewer GOALS: Used to statistically analyze publications this might include document types, language, publication output, citations, authorship pattern, etc with this author output and impact can be tracked

  • Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285-296.
  • Mishra, M., Dash, M. K., Sudarsan, D., Santos, C. A. G., Mishra, S. K., Kar, D., ... & da Silva, R. M. (2022). Assessment of trend and current pattern of open educational resources: A bibliometric analysis. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(3), 102520.
  • Zainab, A. N., & Goi, S. S. (1997). Information needs and use of humanities researchers: a bibliometric analysis and review of literature. Kekal Abadi, 16(3), 1-15.
  • Kolle, S. R., Shettar, I., Kumar, V., & Parameshwar, G. S. (2018). Publication trends in literature on eBooks: A Scopus based bibliometric analysis. Collection and Curation, 37(3), 119-127.

*Diversity Audit - SOURCES: Bibliography lists with diverse authors; social media; internet research; blogs; personal sites, approval plans; subject headings  GOALS: identify gaps in the collection; Evaluate collection for certain variables such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, cover art, antiracist/social justice themes, 

  • Voels, S. (2022). Auditing Diversity in Library Collections. ABC-CLIO.
  • Wells, V., Gibney, M., & Paris, M. (2022). Student learning and engagement in a DEI collection audit: Applying the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. College & Research Libraries News, 83(8), 335.
  • Emerson, M. E., & Lehman, L. G. (2022). Who Are We Missing? Conducting a Diversity Audit in a Liberal Arts College Library. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(3), 102517.
  • Monroe-Gulick, A., & Morris, S. E. (2022). Diversity in Monographs: Selectors, Acquisitions, Publishers, and Vendors. Collection Management, 1-21.

*Exploratory Content Analysis - SOURCES: Descriptions within literature, web pages, problem statements, or job postings; GOALS: Examining the content within descriptions and literature; Coding a framework to discover patterns or trends creating a framework or categories

  • Fuhr, J., & Popowich, E. (2022). Relational practice of Canadian academic librarians: Exploratory content analysis using relational-cultural theory. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(6), 102593.
  • Ewbank, A. D., & Kwon, J. Y. (2015). School library advocacy literature in the United States: An exploratory content analysis. Library & Information Science Research, 37(3), 236-243.

*Statistical Analysis - SOURCES: circulation data; ILL data; use of tools such as SPSS;  GOALS: understanding of relations between circulation and LC; borrower preferences for certain years or format etc; 

  • Decker, E. N. (2023). A statistical analysis of the tangible fine art book collection at an academic library. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 49(2), 102648.
  • Sung, J. S., Whisler, J. A., & Sung, N. (2009). A cost-benefit analysis of a collections inventory project: A statistical analysis of inventory data from a medium-sized academic library. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 35(4), 314-323.

*Cost-Benefit Analysis - SOURCES: budget and cost data;  GOALS: compare the costs and benefits of an introduced collection; analyze a gift collection; evaluate resource allocation

  • Scigliano, M. (2002). Consortium purchases: case study for a cost-benefit analysis. The journal of academic librarianship, 28(6), 393-399.
  • Sung, J. S., Whisler, J. A., & Sung, N. (2009). A cost-benefit analysis of a collections inventory project: A statistical analysis of inventory data from a medium-sized academic library. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 35(4), 314-323.
  • Ballestro, J., & Howze, P. C. (2006). When a gift is not a gift: Collection assessment using cost-benefit analysis. Collection management, 30(3), 49-66.

*Circulation Analysis - SOURCES: circulation statistics; classification data; GOALS: assess collection holdings and use; plan for future collection development

  • Rose-Wiles, L. M., Shea, G., & Kehnemuyi, K. (2020). Read in or check out: A four-year analysis of circulation and in-house use of print books. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(4), 102157.
  • Brush, D. (2007). Circulation analysis of an engineering monograph approval plan. Collection Building.
  • Littman, J., & Connaway, L. S. (2004). A circulation analysis of print books and e-books in on academic research library. Library resources and technical services, 48(4), 256-262.

* License Analysis - SOURCES: journal license wording; GOALS: evaluate and negotiate agreements

  • Zhang, M., & Eschenfelder, K. R. (2014). License analysis of e-journal perpetual access. The Journal of academic librarianship, 40(1), 62-69.
  • Thompson, L. L. (2003). Analyzing electronic license agreements: strategies for success. Journal of electronic resources in medical libraries, 1(1), 91-102.

*Text-mining Analysis - SOURCES: big data; sources such as library licenses;  GOALS:  discover trends within disciplines; examine wording in licenses

  • Mohammadi, E., & Karami, A. (2022). Exploring research trends in big data across disciplines: A text mining analysis. Journal of Information Science, 48(1), 44-56.
  • Grewal, P., & Huhn, K. (2016, April). Text & Data Mining Clauses in Academic Library Licenses: A Case Study. In Concordia University Libraries’ 14th Annual Research Forum, Montreal.
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