Joseph Williams, MA, MLS

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Joseph Williams, MA, MLS Collection
Development and Acquisitions Librarian The
Stephen B. Luce Library at Fort Schuyler Maritime
College, The State University of New York
Measuring the Maritime Curriculum Library
Collection Assessment
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Confusion Reigns
When navigating research materials!
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• The Literature How collections are selected
• Social and Psychological Studies
• Cooperative Collection Development
• Inventories
• Conspectus
• There are few quantitative studies that account
  for curriculum needs

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Enrollment
Optimal Collection
Intended Depth
Course Centrality
Research Level of Course
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College Catalog
This information is winnowed from the College
Catalog to create a catalog weight
How many times does the course appear?
Is the course in a major or minor area of study?
Is the course a required course for majors?
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This information was gleaned from the registrar.
The figures were multiplied by the catalog weight
to create a significance factor
Enrollment
Percentage of course enrollment by FTE
Number of Students per course
FTE for a given year
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This information was gleaned from examining
course syllabi. These factors were used to
compose a research factor on a scale of 0.0 to 1
Research Factor
Would ancillary materials be of service to the
course?
Does the course have any work that requires
library research?
What is the level of that research?
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Collection depth is the measure of how extensive
a collection on a particular area should be.
This is derived from Conspectus methodology.
Courses are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5
Intended Depth
What is the colleges core mission?
What is the librarys collection mission?
What are the major subject areas of study?
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Examine college catalog, count the number of
times a course appears required in major.
Assign additional points to course if it is part
of a major program
Summate stats and create catalog weight
Count the number of enrolled students per course.
Divide that by FTE to result in Occurrence factor
Multiply Occurrence by Catalog weight. Results
in significance factor
Assign a research factor to all courses
Total the products of all courses and give each
course a percentage. This represents the
theoretical allocation that course subject should
have
Multiply Catalog Weight Occurrence Factor
Research Factor Desired Depth
Assign a collection depth factor to all courses
Group courses by subject, combine percentages
Optimal Collection
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The Theoretical Optimal Collection
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• As an allocation formula
• To build and weed academic collections
• Inventories
• Conspectus

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Joseph Williams, MA, MLS Collection
Development and Acquisitions Librarian The
Stephen B. Luce Library at Fort Schuyler Maritime
College, The State University of New York
Measuring the Maritime Curriculum Library
Collection Assessment