Overview

Assessment is increasingly integral to building, managing, and justifying library collections. Unfortunately, assessment can also be a daunting undertaking. And though every institution is unique, as this manual demonstrates, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. Spanning both concept and practice, Kelly offers a holistic assessment framework suitable to a variety of collections and contexts. With a structure that makes it applicable as both a training tool for practicing librarians and a useful course text for library students, this manual introduces foundational assessment methodologies then provides concrete guidance on how to contextualize those methodologies within a holistic collections assessment program; covers topics such as assessment goals, assessment stakeholders, selecting data and methodologies, working through project constraints, and project planning; includes sample assessment program structures and other useful templates; provides step-by-step instructions for more than a dozen specific methodologies, describing which aspect of the collection is being measured, what goals the methodology can address, technological requirements, recommended visualizations, and other helpful pointers; and shares best practices for communicating effectively with internal and external stakeholders about assessment projects, with sample communication plans that can be easily adapted. Bridging the divide between the big picture and the nitty gritty, this manual guides the reader through the development and implementation of a collections assessment program tailored to local needs and resources.

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9780838918685

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Reviews

"""A thorough, flexible, and modular guide to the holistic assessment of library collections ... Throughout the book, Kelly recognizes the need for diversity in collections and seeks to ensure that her readers do so as well, routinely warning of potential hazards in the metrics she discusses. For example, she notes the tendencies of core title lists, circulation and citation studies, and impact factors to confer privilege on already-dominant voices and to center those patrons who are already well served ... Could serve well as a base for a course module designed as an extended case study."" -- Technicalities ""This is an extremely organized guide to collection assessment. Though Kelly's background is primarily in academic libraries, the book's content is relevant to collections practices ""in any type and size of library"" (p. xix) ... Required reading for those new to collection assessment, this excellent book provides all the information needed to begin a collection assessment project."" --Choice ""This manual gives users the flexibility to choose their own collection development path; readers can easily jump to the most relevant chapters or sections. VERDICT: Recommended for librarians who work with collections, or for instructors who are interested in adopting this work as a teaching tool."" --Library Journal"

A thorough, flexible, and modular guide to the holistic assessment of library collections ... Throughout the book, Kelly recognizes the need for diversity in collections and seeks to ensure that her readers do so as well, routinely warning of potential hazards in the metrics she discusses. For example, she notes the tendencies of core title lists, circulation and citation studies, and impact factors to confer privilege on already-dominant voices and to center those patrons who are already well served ... Could serve well as a base for a course module designed as an extended case study. -- Technicalities This is an extremely organized guide to collection assessment. Though Kelly's background is primarily in academic libraries, the book's content is relevant to collections practices in any type and size of library (p. xix) ... Required reading for those new to collection assessment, this excellent book provides all the information needed to begin a collection assessment project. --Choice This manual gives users the flexibility to choose their own collection development path; readers can easily jump to the most relevant chapters or sections. VERDICT: Recommended for librarians who work with collections, or for instructors who are interested in adopting this work as a teaching tool. --Library Journal

Author Information

Madeline Kelly is the Director of Collections at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, where she oversees Acquisitions/Serials/ILL/Course Reserves, Collections Assessment, Cataloging and Metadata Services, Circulation, and Maps within the Western Libraries. Kelly has authored articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings on collections assessment, and has presented and delivered workshops on the topic regionally and nationally. In her previous position as Head of Collection Development at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, she developed and implemented a holistic collection assessment program and undertook dozens of assessment projects on an as-needed basis. At the consortial level, Kelly has served on numerous committees, including a statewide e-resource assessment task force that culminated in the implementation of new holistic evaluation metrics. Kelly received her BA in English and Spanish from the University of Mary Washington and her MLS from Simmons College.

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