For the last decade or more, circulation numbers of physical materials have declined in academic libraries across the United States. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered society and daily life, not to mention library functions. In particular, fears of contagion via physical surfaces and transmission by contact led many…

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the establishment of metrics that can be used by libraries to analyze, anticipate, and plan for resource allocation for specialized print-based collections within an academic library. In the context of transactions associated with the circulation of library materials, that is checkouts, renewals, and…

As art libraries face challenges from an evolving environment, repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, and static or diminishing resources, finding sustainable pathways forward becomes an increasing priority. An important option for art research collections in achieving long-term sustainability is collaboration. This report explores…

This report provides actionable recommendations based on real-world case studies that libraries can apply to help make their own collaborations successful and sustainable. The report shares experiences from the Texas Data Repository, Portage Network, and Data Curation Network to illuminate the challenges, opportunities, and considerations of…

The OCLC Research report "Library Collaboration as a Strategic Choice: Evaluating Options for Acquiring Capacity" explores library collaboration as a key strategy for academic libraries in acquiring needed capacity, but also contextualizes it as one sourcing approach among a range of options available to libraries. The decision for…

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the use of data for assessing library collection utilization, to explore what tools are available to help guide purchasing decisions, and to create a blueprint for applying percentage-based allocation formulas to community college library collection budgets. Because there is little literature on…

Studies of data-driven deselection overwhelmingly emphasise the importance of circulation counts and date-of-last-use in the weeding process. When applied to research collections, however, this approach fails to take account of highly influential and significant titles that have not been of interest to large numbers of borrowers but that have been…

The economic downturn of 2007-08 forced many academic libraries in the United States to cancel journals. We surveyed life sciences librarians from ARL libraries to find out about their experiences with journal cancellations during 2008-12. Overall, we discovered that two factors were essential in decision-making: faculty consultations and data.…

The "Comprehensive Allocation Process" (CAP) is a reproducible decision-making structure for the allocation of new collections funds, for the reallocation of funds within stagnant budgets, and for budget cuts in the face of reduced funding levels. This system was designed to overcome common shortcomings of current methods. Its philosophical…

Presents a model for decision making concerning allocation of academic library materials to various levels of access (e.g., branch or central library open access shelving, compact shelving, depository facility, or interlibrary loan). Variables included in the model are the size of the collection, distribution of use, effects of time on use, and…

Provides advice for systems librarians facing the question of when to provide CD-ROM access and when to provide online access to databases for their patrons. Discusses price, updates, effective resource utilization, and determining users' needs. (AEF)