Quantitative Approaches to Qualitative Collection Assessment

In recent years there has been increased recognition of the need for both descriptive and analytical data about library collections. Coordinated efforts like the RLG Conspectus and ARL's National Collection Inventory Project are attempts to identify collecting strengths among the nation's research libraries. In many cases, however, participation in these programs has raised the consciousness of collection officers to the realization that they know less than they would care to admit about the holdings of their own libraries. What institutions report are often little more than a series of educated guesses which has led to the need for verification studies as a check on the validity of the data being gathered. In other areas, too, the need for more and better data has become apparent as managers within and outside the library are less willing to accept intuitive and impressionistic responses to their questions about acquisition budgets and priorities for preservation, storage, or retrospective conversion. Thus, there is increasing discussion in the literature of the need for, and approaches to, collection assessment and analysis.