The Emerging Health Library An EvidenceBased Overview

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The Emerging Health Library An Evidence-Based
Overview

• By Stephen Due

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Emerging Health Library

• Case study on periodicals
• Case study on lending books
• Case study on library buildings

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Case Study on Periodicals

• Document delivery request data
• Full text download data
• Photocopier data
• Citation data
• Survey data

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My Library Article Requests 1998-2007
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U Cal Biomedical Library Article RequestsData
from article by Starr and Williams (2008)
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VHLC Article Requests From BMJ Journals
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• Current periodicals are in demand. There is an
  increasing decline in requests for articles from
  periodicals as the issues get older

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Use of Photocopier in My Library
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Use of Photocopier in 4 Libraries
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Conclusions on Periodicals

• Increase current online periodicals
• Decrease print back runs
• Are we ready to discard old print?

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References

• Kaplan R, Steinberg M, Doucette J. Retention of
  retrospective print journals in the digital age
  trends and analysis. Journal of the Medical
  Library Association 2006 Oct94(4)387-93,
  e198-200.
• Starr S, Williams J. The long tail a usage
  analysis of pre-1993 print biomedical journal
  literature. Journal of the Medical Library
  Association 2008 96(1) 20-7

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Case Study on Lending Books

• Loans snapshot
• Internal predictors of book loans
• External predictors of book loans
• Can we increase book loans?

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My Library Books on Loan 6 October 2008
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Internal predictors of loans

• Existing copies highly-borrowed
• Previous editions highly-borrowed
• In high-use area of the collection
• Pitched at correct level for users

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My Library Most Popular Books
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External predictors of loans

• On reading list or core list
• Favorably reviewed
• Recommended by library client
• Best-seller with bookseller

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My Library Book Loans Per Year
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Conclusions on lending books

• Keep collection current
• Select books with strong loan predictors
• Loans can be increased!

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Case Study on Library Buildings

• Surveys of libraries
• Surveys of users
• Recent buildings

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Library Building Surveys

• New buildings dramatically increase library use
  (Shill and Tonner 2004)
• New buildings should focus on learning not access
  (Bennett 2003)
• Library users want study space (Shedlock 2008)

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• I would design a real library for the
  twenty-first century all people space and
  technology. Build for people users and staff!
  Do not build for collections
• James Shedlock, Health Sciences Library
  Director, Northwestern University, Chicago, 2001

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Conclusions on Library Buildings

• Library as a place is still highly valued
• New / redesigned libraries are needed
• Less periodical print storage
• More computing facilities
• More people space

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Lewis Science Library at PrincetonOpened 11
September 2008

• The library's mission is to further the
  advancement of learning at Princeton University
  Librarian
• The library has scarcely any books in public
  areas - spaces for people and technology
  dominate. Newspaper report

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References

• Bennett S. Libraries designed for learning CLIR,
  2003
• Ludwig L. Designing a library. Bulletin of the
  Medical Library Association 200189(2)204-11
• Shedlock J. Library space planning survey. Galter
  Health Sciences Library News September 2008
• Shill HB, Tonner S. Does the building still
  matter? College and Research Libraries
  2004123-50

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Emerging Health Library Today

• Converting print journals to online
• Making stacks into study space
• Developing lending collections
• Building for people not books

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The End ?