Core Lists

You can described the "core" literature for interdisciplinary fields by comparing your holdings against the list of reference works in the definitive, well-established ALA's Guide to Reference . It includes:

Cognitive Sciences
Communication & Media Studies
Cultural Studies
Environmental Studies
Gender Studies
Womens' Studies

With this comparison, the strength of the "core" collection can be assessed. For example, the Department of Communication Studies may be very interested to learn that of the 285 definitive reference works listed by the Guide, the library held 94%, though only 70% of the bibliographies (fictional data). The new online edition of the Guide greatly improves the efficiency of this work as an assessment tool. 

Core Lists Maintained by Libraries and Library Organizations

(1) Some web pages of library organizations, such as sections of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), keep up-to-date core lists.  There is, for example, a set of Core Books as well as Core Journals and other resources provided by the Collection Development Committee of the Women's Studies Section of ACRL.  Your Gender Studies department might be interested in knowing that the library has a solid collection of 395 of the 412 core monographs in Women's Studies (fictional data). Not only does the quality of the collection sound impressive, this finding creates an opportunity to encourage funding for the missing four percent.

(2) Look for "New Books" lists on the library web pages of peer institutions.  For example, the library at UCSD posts "New Books in Communication" (new acquisitions) per quarter; a comparison of those holdings to NUL's will provide an indication of the quality and quantity of current selection practices.

Data & Methods Bank