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DataBank: Qualitative Methods

List Checking

There are many types of lists against which the collections' holdings can be compared to obtain both a measurement of quality and a list of targeted titles to purchase. The old standby is bibliographies. However, it can be very time consuming to compare holdings against lists in print bibliographies, and it is becoming more difficult to find such works that are both excellent and updated. Here are two alternatives:

Look for "New Books" lists on the library web pages of peer institutions. For example, University X is well known for its philosophy department, and its library posts new acquisitions per quarter; a comparison of the holdings at University X to NUL will provide an indication of the quality of current selection practices for this subject at NUL.

Check for prize-winning resources. This is easiest to do with monographs. Amazon, for example, offers a large array of prize-winner lists, many of which go back to the first award issued. Although prize-winners are not unique titles, they nonetheless can be said to represent certain richness within the collection. For example, when analyzing a literature collection, it might be of interest to see what percent of Mann Booker Prize finalists and winners are in the collection, whether there is a high percentage of all back to the first in 1969 or from just the past two years. Or, check out how many of the mystery books nominated for the Edgar Award (including one entitled The Librarian) are on the library's shelves. These percentages are quick and simple to establish and provide a good indication of the quality of the collection… as well as nice publicity as in letting students know that the collection contains every Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama, back to the first issued in 1917.