THE DLSU LIBRARIES' ENGINEERING COLLECTION: AN ASSESSMENT REPORT USING THE LIST CHECKING APPROACH

byElizabeth B. Padilla

Ana Maria B. FresnidoVivian C. Soriente

Cynthia L. CordovaDLSU LIBRARIES

INTRODUCTION

DLSU Libraries’ Collection Development Mission

• To build and maintain an adequate and well-balanced collection that responds and supports the needs of its library clienteles

• To develop a mixed collection of resources that adheres to standards, both qualitatively and quantitatively

Standard Tools Used for Assessing the Engineering Collection

• 2001 - Books for College Libraries (BCL)

• 2004 - Best Book for Academic Libraries (BBAL)

• 2014 - Choice Magazine

Objectives of the Study

to ascertain the present profile of the engineering

and technology collections;

to find out how it has grown in the last five years and at what pace it is developing in relation to the number

of publication output produced in the last 5 years;

to examine how the present collection fare with the titles listed in the Choice

Magazine (issues for 2010-2014);

to identify the quality of the collection based on Choice Magazine; and

to identify the gaps in

the collection

METHODOLOGY

Assessment Techniques

• Collection profiling – provides a breakdown (number of titles/volumes) of the engineering holdings by class letter

• List check or check listing - compares the library’s holdings against a standardized or authoritative list.

Collection Profiling Procedure

Examine difference between holdings and publication output to identify strengths and weaknesses of the engineering collection in terms of quantity

Determine number of publication output using Books-in-Print (BIP) Global EditionFrom year 2010-2014 (5 years) Parameters: written in English, for college level and published in the

United States, United Kingdom and Canada

Extract engineering holdings from SierraNumber of tiles/volumes per class letter

9

List Checking Procedures

Analyse results and integrate finding with results of other techniques

Determine percentage of library’s holdings in relation to the number of titles being checked

Record number of titles held that are listed in Choice

Check list completely against OPAC Exact match – put check mark Other edition – indicate date No match – put “0”

Select the list appropriate to the subjects and the goalsChoice Magazine, 2010-2014

Scope and Limitations

Inclusion• printed books classified under the

following:

Exclusion• Printed books classified

under – TR - Photography– TT - Handicrafts– TX - Home

• eBooks and other resources in other formats

• books that are currently housed at the Science and Technology Complex - Integrated School and Pre-School (audience level)

T Technology (General)TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)

TC Hydraulic engineeringTD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering

TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements

TF Railroad engineering and operation

TG Bridge engineeringTH Building constructionTJ Mechanical engineering and machinery

TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics

TN Mining engineering. MetallurgyTP Chemical technologyTS Manufactures

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Profile of DLSU Libraries’ Book Holdings in Engineering & Technology

Class Letter Subject No. of Titles

% No. of Volumes

% Rank

T Technology (General) 2,284 11.79 3,143 12.51 3rdTA Engineering (General). Civil engineering

(General)3,208 16.56 4,177 16.63 2nd

TC Hydraulic engineering 165 0.85 207 0.82 11thTD Environmental technology. Sanitary

engineering897 4.63 1,165 4.64 7th

TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 90 0.5 110 0.43 12thTF Railroad engineering and operation 28 0.14 31 0.12 14thTG Bridge engineering 67 0.34 72 0.28 13thTH Building construction 604 3.11 748 3 8thTJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 1,849 9.54 2,467 9.82 4thTK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear

engineering6,179 31.89 7,539 30.03 1st

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 567 2.92 716 2.9 9thTN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 210 1.08 286 1.13 10thTP Chemical technology 1,448 7.5 2,055 8.18 6thTS Manufactures 1,774 9.15 2,388 9.51 5thTOTAL 19,370 100 25,104 100

Engineering Publications Output, Years 2010 to 2014

(based on BIP)

Class Letter

Subject

Publications Output per Year Total 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

T Technology 1677 1213 1857 1324 1159 7230TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering

(General) 4088 3464 5956 3202 3489 20199

TC Hydraulic engineering 136 93 104 61 90 484TD Environmental technology. Sanitary

engineering832 796 1082 509 482 3701

TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements

37 8 22 20 15 102

TF Railroad engineering and operation 140 152 99 7 19 417TG Bridge engineering 30 27 41 23 25 146TH Building construction 683 740 661 324 277 2685TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 1718 1516 2096 1182 1497 8009

TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering

5191 4617 6555 3722 3571 23656

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 1263 1363 1415 455 510 5006

TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 163 185 209 185 160 902TP Chemical technology 1271 1378 2178 1297 1114 7238TS Manufactures 550 545 588 294 304 2281TOTAL 17779 16097 22863 12605 12712 82056

Findings

• The total number of DLSU library’s printed books as of July 2015 is 19,370 titles– Current holdings represent the 50-year collection

development effort of the Libraries in building its engineering collection

• The total number of engineering publication outputs (based on Books-in-Print (BIP) Global Edition in the last five years (2010 to 2014) is 82,056 titles

Breakdown of Book Acquisition in Engineering by Mode of Acquisition,

AY 2010-11 to 2014-15 (5 years)Class Letter Subject Mode of Acquisition Total %

Purchase DonationT Technology (General) 159 55 214 10.09TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering

(General)336 40 376 17.74

TC Hydraulic engineering 12 6 18 0.85TD Environmental technology. Sanitary

engineering77 55 132 6.23

TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 10 2 12 0.57TF Railroad engineering and operation 1 1 0.05TG Bridge engineering 11 11 0.52TH Building construction 104 9 113 5.33TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 185 30 215 10.14TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear

engineering483 77 560 26.42

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 58 42 100 4.72TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 18 10 28 1.32TP Chemical technology 131 32 163 7.69TS Manufactures 135 42 177 8.35Total 1720 400 2120 100.00

Breakdown of Book Acquisition in Engineering by Publication/Copyright,

AY 2010-11 to 2014-15 (5 years)

Publication Date

Class LetterTotal

T TA TC TD TE TF TG TH TJ TK TL TN TP TS1979 and below

7 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 7 3 3 1 2 33

1980-1989 10 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 4 1 0 4 7 381990-1999 16 19 2 5 1 0 0 3 0 28 12 0 6 8 1002000-2009 41 111 4 61 1 0 1 26 68 142 41 14 55 52 6172010-2015 140 237 12 63 10 1 10 81 139 378 43 11 97 108 1330Undetermined 1 1 2Grand Total 214 376 18 132 12 1 11 113 215 560 100 28 163 177 2120

Findings

• In the last five years, the DLSU Libraries acquired a total of 2,120 titles

• TA (Engineering, General/Civil Engineering) and T (Technology, General) had the most number of holdings acquired

• The rate of acquisition is increasing steadily• The average yearly acquisition is 424 titles which

is equivalent to 2.58% of the total engineering publications output

List Checking of the Engineering Collection against Choice Magazine

Breakdown of Choice Title Listings by LC ClassLC Class Subject No. of Titles %T Technology (General) 83 11.05TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) 76 10.12TC Hydraulic engineering 18 2.40TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering 95 12.65TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 3 0.40TF Railroad engineering and operation 4 0.53TG Bridge engineering 5 0.67TH Building construction 11 1.46TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 104 13.85TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering 134 17.84TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 118 15.71TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 15 2.00TP Chemical technology 74 9.85TS Manufactures 11 1.46TOTAL 751 100.00

Breakdown of Choice Title Listings by Publication Date

Publication Date No. of Titles

%

2006 1 0.132009 88 11.722010 204 27.162011 150 19.972012 115 15.312013 125 16.642014 67 8.92No Date 1 0.13 TOTAL 751 100.00

Recommendation Level

Meaning

4 Essential: A publication of exceptional quality for academic audiences and a core title for academic libraries supporting programs in relevant disciplines.

3 Highly recommended: A publication of high quality and relevance for academic audiences.

2 Recommended: A publication containing good content and coverage and suitable for academic audiences.

1 Optional: A publication that, due to limited value or deficiencies, is marginal for academic audiences.

0 Not recommended: A poor quality publication or one not suitable for academic audiences.

Choice’s Recommendation Levels

List Checking ResultsLC Class Subject Choice

Entries

Available Not Available

Exact HitsHits in Diff.

Edition / Version

Total Hits % No Hits %

T Technology (General) 83 7 1 8 1.07 75 9.99

TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) 76 6 4 10 1.33 66 8.79

TC Hydraulic engineering 18 0 0 0.00 18 2.40

TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering 95 2 5 7 0.93 88 11.72

TE Highway engineering. Roads and pavements 3 0 0 0.00 3 0.40

TF Railroad engineering and operation 4 0 0 0.00 4 0.53

TG Bridge engineering 5 0 6 6 0.80 5 0.67

TH Building construction 11 0 0 0.00 11 1.46

TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery 104 6 6 0.80 92 12.25

TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering 134 13 1 14 1.86 120 15.98

TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics 118 2 2 0.27 116 15.45

TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy 15 1 1 0.13 14 1.86

TP Chemical technology 74 3 1 4 0.53 67 8.92

TS Manufactures 11 4 4 0.53 10 1.33 TOTAL 751 44 18 62 8.26 689 91.74

Findings• The DLSU was able to acquire 58 “best” titles from AY 2010-11

to 2014-2015 out of 645 best titles.• 4 or (6.45%) of the titles acquired by the Libraries listed in

Choice were assigned recommendation levels 0 and 1, which is an indication of poor selection judgment as far as the four titles are concerned.

Recommendation Level Available Not Available

0 2 251 2 192 33 3863 22 2494 3 10

TOTAL 62 689

Breakdown of Choice Titles by Recommendation Level

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

• The DLSU Libraries engineering book collection is deficient in terms of quantity due to the very low acquisition rate.

RECOMMENDATION• Carry out a more aggressive

acquisition program to catch up with the number of engineering titles being published annually.

• Considering the cost of developing the engineering collection, it would be best to prioritize areas supporting the university programs where the gaps are wide (TA, TP, TH, and TJ, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

• The engineering collection also fell short in terms of quality, that is, as far as Choice Magazine is concerned.

RECOMMENDATION

• Find ways on how to improve on the selection process ensuring that most of the essential titles are acquired

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Look closely into the collection development practices and find ways on how to improve on the selection process ensuring that most of the essential titles are acquired.

• Identify a selection tool which can be used by faculty members in recommending books for acquisition would be desirable.

Thank you!