Assessing Collection Usefulness: An Investigation of Library Ownership of the Resources Graduate Students Use

Abstract

A two-phase assessment tool was developed for evaluating the “fit” of the University of Georgia Libraries’ collections with the needs of their patrons. First, a citation analysis of a sample of 2001 theses and dissertations revealed the specific titles and materials used by a disciplinary cross section of graduate students. Second, searches were conducted in the OPAC and in electronic resources to determine library ownership of those cited works. The process then was repeated with a sample of graduate works completed in 1991 in order to investigate whether the further stretching of library budgets due to the influx of electronic resources has had an impact on the usefulness of the overall collection.