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1 – 5 of 5Steve Rokusek, Susan Bernier and Jeremy Michael Brown
This article details the process used at the Florida Gulf Coast University library to plan and implement a collection deaccessioning project as part of a larger building master…
Abstract
Purpose
This article details the process used at the Florida Gulf Coast University library to plan and implement a collection deaccessioning project as part of a larger building master plan.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a brief literature review, a historic usage analysis of the collection and the multi-phase deaccessioning project. The phases included a standard inclusion query, manual list inspection and department feedback. Discard rate was measured at each phase.
Findings
Different challenges were found at each phase. Although teaching faculty were skeptical, the authors involved them early to their benefit. Each collection presented interesting challenges; notable was that although the reference collection was almost completely deaccessioned, the retained items presented unique accessibility challenges. The main stacks required a new deaccessioning workflow due to the volume of materials. The findings include final retention rates per call number range. Although the authors were able to meet the plan’s goal, they discovered the need for further collection curation: there is no substitute for traversing the stacks in person.
Practical implications
We present a successful methodology with a high efficacy, high community engagement and low controversy, which can function as a model at other regional academic institutions.
Originality/value
This paper is a comprehensive review of one successful rightsizing effort set in the context of a new strategic plan and can function as a model at other regional academic institutions.
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Keywords
Vincent Geloso and Michael Hinton
We construct a new consumer price index for Canada covering the period from 1870 to 1900. Unlike previous indexes, it includes prices of clothing and household furnishings. This…
Abstract
We construct a new consumer price index for Canada covering the period from 1870 to 1900. Unlike previous indexes, it includes prices of clothing and household furnishings. This is important because these previously neglected components accounted for roughly 20% of consumers' expenditures. Moreover, the price of cotton goods, the most important textile product used for clothing and household furnishings, fell by half between 1870 and 1900 (much faster than other components of the price level). This has ramifications for both the level and trend of Canadian GDP. Because the largest changes in estimation concern the 1870s, we show that the country grew substantially faster than generally believed. It outpaced the United States so much that it entered the twentieth century with an improved economic standing relative to its southern neighbor.
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The indexes to The Times of London are unique in providing access to an unbroken record of events as recorded by one of the world's most prestigious newspapers over a period of…
Abstract
The indexes to The Times of London are unique in providing access to an unbroken record of events as recorded by one of the world's most prestigious newspapers over a period of two hundred years. They are, therefore, an important tool for the researcher, yet there has been little comment on their quality. This study provides an introductory comparative analysis of the two main indexes: Palmer's Index to the Times Newspaper and The Times Index. The two are evaluated according to selected criteria of good indexing such as consistency, concept versus keyword approach, and the use of subject headings and cross references. Samples from both the newspaper and the indexes have been taken over fifty‐year intervals to determine whether there have been any changes in indexing techniques over time. The findings reveal the superior qualities of The Times Index and outline the problems that the researcher may encounter in using Palmer's.
Yiping Jiang, Yanhua Chen and Xiaobo Chi
The practice of renovation and construction of university libraries is flourishing, but how to attract readers to use the library is an issue that urgently needs to be explored…
Abstract
Purpose
The practice of renovation and construction of university libraries is flourishing, but how to attract readers to use the library is an issue that urgently needs to be explored. Spatial cognition is a subjective judgment of a person's tendency to take action in the future and implies behavioral intention. Based on the sensory–image–cognition relationship, a theoretical model of university library readers' spatial cognition is conducted, and the influencing factors and mechanisms of spatial cognition are explored based on empirical data to provide theoretical references for spatial practices in university libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
A visual and art-based mental map approach is introduced based on a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire is mainly used for the specific evaluation of spatial use and the breakdown of the detailed elements, while the mental map method is mainly used for the evaluation of readers' spatial cognition. Relevant empirical data are collected from the library of the Zhejiang University of Technology.
Findings
The results indicate that readers' spatial sensory experience and mental imagery have positive effects on readers' behavior via the mediator spatial cognition, readers' spatial sensory experience and mental imagery have a positive effect on readers' spatial cognition and spatial cognition has a significant effect on readers' behavior.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this study is to construct a theoretical model of readers' spatial cognition and to explore the factors that have an impact on spatial cognition and the influence of cognition on behavior. This provides a more rational and in-depth thinking paradigm for the study of university library space and provides theoretical references for library practice.
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