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- Message-ID: <9301262053.AA16621@odin.mda.uth.tmc.edu>
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.medlib-l
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 14:53:00 CST
- Sender: Medical Libraries Discussion List <MEDLIB-L@UBVM.BITNET>
- From: James Foster <sa83101@ODIN.MDA.UTH.TMC.EDU>
- Subject: Re: journal use statistics
- Lines: 20
-
- Evaluating journal "use" is obviously and important, albeit difficult, aspect
- of any collection development program. In smaller collections (I managed about
- 60 active titles) it may be possible to use a variety of citation analysis
- techniques to determine variation in usage among a collection of journals.
- In my case, I recently looked at all the papers published by researchers at
- my site and plotted how the journals they cited in their recent papers c
- corresponded to our collection. In this way I could "see" which journals were
- used. Obviously, much of this methodology is subject to criticism and, in
- fact, may not even be applicable to other larger institutions. However, there
- are ways of attempting to determine use without trying to determine if a
- volume has been picked up or moved. I'm interested in hearing about other
- experiences with citation analysis studies. Thanks.
-
- James Foster
- Librarian
- University of Texas
- M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
- Science Park-Research Division
- Smithville, TX 78759
- jfoster@odin.mda.uth.tmc.edu
-