The Complete Collections Assessment Manual: A Holistic Approach

by Madeline M. Kelly

Every institution is unique--but as this manual demonstrates, when it comes to assessing library collections 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 for library students, this manual

- introduces foundational assessment methodologies and 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; and

- 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 points.

Genres: Librarianship, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Steve]

Clear, well-organized, readable, very useful manual.

[Colleen]

Not really a book to "read" it's one to keep close at hand since it has a how-to for most kinds of collection analysis.

[Donna Church]

A great manual on different aspects of collection assessment with tools and ideas.