Search

Librarians at a large, federally funded, multidisciplinary research organization sought to assess the value provided by the library's collections. One method for capturing this value includes determining how well their library's collections meet researcher needs, as expressed by the materials those researchers choose to cite in the production of new scholarly communications. A cited reference analysis was performed on the publications originating from the institution to provide the necessary data for the assessment, as well as to aid in the creation of a core list of journals which will inform future collection development efforts. This paper fills a gap in the library and information science literature by addressing the citation behaviors of researchers at a large multidisciplinary government research facility, a setting that has not been examined previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to test the application of the Pareto Principle on the research productivity of journals. Oncology was selected as the subject of study and data were extracted from the "Web of Science." A series of keywords specifying Oncology and sub-fields have been derived from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). A string of 15 search terms (Lead, Related, and Narrow) was connected using the Boolean operator "OR" to retrieve results limiting the scope to journal articles of India and Iran consecutively. The results weren't strictly as per Pareto's Principle of 80/20 rule, but almost close (i.e., 75/25 in the case of India and 65/35 in the case of Iran). The results derived provide strong evidence that the Pareto principle fits the research productivity of journals to a great extend. The study could help libraries to improve the efficiency of collection development and financial management policies. The results will be highly applicable for the acquisition of scholarly journals for libraries, especially for library consortia. This law will be highly useful for cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of serial publications and will help in "subscribing the maximum collection at the least cost." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study surveys the development of collections of foreign-language ethnic newspapers in American libraries and archives since the 1960s. Relying on a review of historical and media studies scholarship as well as library and archival science literature, the article aims to identify the main sources of non-English ethnic newspapers available in the United States and to examine the difficulties such newspapers present for libraries, from older print publications to today's born-digital media, regarding collection development, bibliographic control, and preservation. After a brief historical survey of the foreign-language ethnic press in the United States, the article analyzes the development of library collections since the 1960s as well as libraries' efforts to preserve them and improve access to them. It then evaluates the state of digitization and online availability of foreign-language ethnic newspapers and initiates a reflection on the need to collect current print and digital ethnic newspapers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This guide presents several fundamental principles for the evaluation and selection of online resources in academic libraries. It first describes the universe of scholarly documents: the narrow scope of most academic library collections; the distinctions between information, documents, titles, information resources, and products; and the striking variations in impact and importance that can be seen among both articles and journals. Second, the article discusses the ways in which libraries can help meet academic needs by selecting only high-quality resources that strengthen the links between course requirements and broader educational goals. Specifically, it addresses the distinction between students’ wants and needs, the primacy of content, the importance of comparative assessments, the advantages of title-by-title selection, and the need for resource coherence by subject or function. Third, the article presents seven guidelines for assessing and promoting cost-effectiveness—guidelines that focus on indirect costs, opportunity cost, sunk costs, the difference between views/downloads and academic use, the need to avoid ongoing financial commitments, the evaluation of cost for resources with a finite lifetime, and the impact of librarians’ decisions on the pricing strategies of vendors and publishers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]