Academic libraries are used extensively by students, faculty, staff, and librarians for a variety of reasons. Students use the library for class assignments and papers, faculty use it for research and to stay current in their fields, staff and librarians may also use the library for research, and all patrons may use libraries for personal or professional interest. To accommodate these various uses, an academic library must provide many different resources to its patrons. One of the most important resources for current information in any field is the journal. Academic journals, or serials in general, are important for academic libraries to collect, but are also one of the most problematic formats for libraries.
Serials and academic journals are valuable materials used extensively for research by faculty, staff, and students in academic libraries. These libraries generally attempt to collect as many titles useful to their user population as possible. In recent years, most libraries have confronted several problems with serial collections. From 1986 to 2002, journal prices rose 215 percent and libraries spent 260 percent more on journals, despite only collecting 14 percent more journal titles (ARL, 2003). Annual subscriptions to journals can cost thousands of dollars for a single title, some topping $10,000 (Cornell). Costs have risen so much that some libraries have dedicated virtually all their collection budget to serials, at the expense of other valuable materials. Beside the cost of subscriptions, serials also strain library budgets because they generally require binding, storing, claiming, and, potentially, repairing (Vaughan, 2003). With a growing number
Serials Use Studies, 2 of serials titles available online, many libraries are subscribing to both print and electronic versions of a journal, which often means they have to pay for both versions. To add to the serials problems, most libraries face dwindling shelf space, while most academic journals require large amounts of space so they can “grow” as new issues are received.
Trueswell (1969) stated “approximately 80 percent of the circulation requirements
are satisfied by approximately 20 percent of the library’s holdings” (p.458). More recent
studies have found this “80/20 rule” true for their library collections (Veenstra & Wright,
1988; Hill, Madarash-Hill, & Hayes, 1999; Sennyey, Ellern & Newsome, 2002; Enssle &
Wilde, 2002). This rule holds true for serials collections. Therefore many low-use
journals could possibly be cancelled to save money and space. Many libraries are
considering reducing print serials holdings to relieve the budgetary and space constraints
they create. “Reducing” these materials could involve selecting low-use titles to move
from a main library to storage, or determining titles that could be cancelled, or possibly
discarded, completely. Before a library can cancel a low-use journal, however, it must
determine which journals have low usage. To do this, many libraries undertake use
studies to measure journal usage and how frequently each title is used.
Use studies of library materials often depend on circulation statistics for their
data. However, this is generally not possible for serials collections because these
materials are often non-circulating (Blake and Schleper, 2004). Therefore, libraries must
identify other means of measuring use. This paper examines different methods academic
libraries use to measure serials use. For this research, reports of serial use studies from different libraries were examined, along with perceived strengths and weaknesses ofthese methods.
Beyond space and funding other reasons exist for conducting use studies in
libraries. Veenstra and Wright (1988) state “local journal use studies have an important
role in effective library administration” (p. 164) and suggest that, without current use
studies of the periodicals collection, librarians will not be as aware of the needs of their
users. Even if the library is within its budget and has plenty of space, its collection may
not address the needs of its users. Saxton (2003) similarly suggested that, without regular
use studies, libraries may maintain subscriptions to serials that were initially purchased
for programs that no longer exist or faculty members who no longer are at the institution.
Identifying these materials and their use is important to maintaining a collection relevant
to a library’s users.
A working understanding of use studies, how they are conducted, and the
strengths and limitations of different methods of measuring use, is important for any
academic library. All academic libraries subscribe to large numbers of serials, and all
will face budgetary, space, or other problems with these materials. Use studies allow
libraries to make informed collection decisions that best speak to the needs of their
patrons