| 1.Total Collection | 1a.books | 1b.journals | % total books | % total jrnls | 2.Total Circulation Circulating different than reshelved | books | journals | Total shelving hrs | 3a. books hrs Perceived average to reshelve Circulating and Internal | 3b. journals hrs | 4. Actual number items reshelved using stats | 5. Perceived Shelving Accuracy as % | 5b. Measurement used A. Spot check B. Locate C. Routine check | 6. % Staff reshelving. Assuming this is percentage of Circulation staff | 7. Hours reshelving/per month | 8a. Who reads A. Fac B. Sta C. Las | 8b. Frequency | 9a. Number of hrs to read entire collection | 9b. Formula used | WHO | 10. Most shelving errors | 11a. Number bks lost/yr | Total Loss | 11b. Number jrnls lost/yr | 12. Are the most frequently used items also the most frequently mis-shelved? | 13. Shelf training method | 14. Tracking process for missing item | |||||||||||||
| 103,899 | 28,080 | 75,819 | 27% | 73% | 64777 | 5,505 | 59,272 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 138,676 | 90% | routine check | 50% | 120 | b& c | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1. Milton S. Hershey Medical Center | books | 25 | 30 | not sure | in-service | After thorough search item is listed as missing. Re-ordered after 3 months. | ||||||||||||||
| 279,091 | 75,517 | 203,574 | 27% | 73% | 74678 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 379,737 | 82.50% | spot check | 100% | circulation staff | 840 | b& c | daily plus 3 day end of semester blitz | 9 days | n/a | 2. Health Science Library University of Florida | books | 241 | No | n/a | The staff person assigned this duty usually locates item. | ||||||||||||||||
| 177,994 | 46,415 | 131,579 | 26% | 74% | 45,408 | 14,314 | 31,094 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 191,540 | 90% | combination | 100% | n/a | b & c | once a year | n/a | n/a | 3. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences | nursing books & journals | 30 | 15 | Yes | written instructions, demo, then in-service | Cards are filled out by patrons or staff who can't locate item. Each floor supervisor takes the cards for items that should be found on their floor and they search all areas for 5 consecutive days. If still not found the Night Manager takes the cards and searches periodically for the next 3 months. If it is still not located, it is declared lost. | ||||||||||||||
| 244,748 | 96,681 | 148,067 | 40% | 60% | 52,834 | 51,034 | 1,800 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 500,593 | 87.50% | combination | 100% | n/a | b | 1 hour each per week | n/a | n/a | 4. University of Colorado Health Science Library-Denison Memorial Library | books | 120 | 22 | not sure | in-service | We have one person assigned to look for missing items. That person searches daily. | ||||||||||||||
| 433,600 | 108,000 | 325,600 | 25% | 75% | 57,222 | 9 | 6 | 3 | n/a | 90% | combination | 90% | student assistants | 350 | c | 3-4 times/year, generally once a semester | 70 hrs for books; 50 hrs for journals | 1 hr/range x total # ranges= time | 5. Health Science Library University at Buffalo | books | 50 | No | a, b & c | The stack areas are checked repeatedly, checking on shelves in close proximity to missing item to see if it was just mis-shelved. Call numbers are checked for possible variations that could lead to incorrect shelving. | ||||||||||||||||
| 159,000 | 58,000 | 101,000 | 36% | 64% | 75,000 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 325,000 | 89% | routine check | 70% | 480 | b | monthly | 70 hrs for books; 105 hours for journals | 1.5min x # of shelves/ 60 min= total hrs for journals | 6. University of New Mexico- Health Sciences Center Library | books | 107 | 51 | No | shadowing | Systematic search of all collections, study carrels, and staff areas. | ||||||||||||||||
| 292,000 | 58,400 | 233,600 | 20% | 80% | 357,608 | 71,522 | 286,086 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 425,000 | 75% | routine check | 4% | 400 | c | daily | 360 hrs for books; 1450 hrs for journals | 6hrs/day x 200/hr=1200 per day 72,000vol/200=360 hours; 286100 volumes/200=1430 hours | 7. University of Iowa- Hardin Library for the health Sciences | books AIDS area | 130 | 46 | No | a & b | Library user fills out a search card. Library Assistant verifies information and searches the stacks. User is notified of search results. | ||||||||||||||
| 408,600 | 406,000 | 2,600 | 99% | 1% | 41,000 | 41,000 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 460,000 | 75% | combination | 99% | circulation staff | n/a | b & c | twice /week | n/a | n/a | 8. Yale University - Cushing/Whitney Medical Library | books | <100 | <60 | Yes | a, b & c | We track lost/missing books by searching for the items in likely and unlikely areas in the library. | |||||||||||||
| 182,344 | 49,432 | 132,912 | 27% | 73% | 33,256 | 24,123 | 9,133 | 27 | 15 | 12 | 120,551 | 75% | missing book report | 11% | 320 | b | continuously | 86 hrs for books; 215 hrs for journals | 86 hours for books x # journals = time for journals | 9. University of Mississippi Medical Center | books-nursing textbooks; journals that begin with the word journal | 7 | 0 | Yes | in-service | Check all physical locations such as photocopy area, student and faculty carrels- any area that they can hide. Then look at call number and try to think of ways that it could be misread. | ||||||||||||||
| 265,894 | 95,250 | 170,644 | 36% | 64% | 29,513 | 22,659 | 6,854 | 72 | 48 | 24 | 256,726 | 98% | combination | 13% | 40 | c | 20 minutes daily | 230 hours | collection / # items per hours | 10. University of California- Davis- Carlson Health Sciences Library | books- SF Veterinary medicine | 85 | Yes | in-service | Check item record in computer system for status and do a five week physical search. | |||||||||||||||
| 60,263 | 58,776 | 1,487 | 98% | 2% | 12,433 | 12,383 | 50 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 134,814 | 75% | combination | 100% | 100% of circulation staff: 20% of total | 280 | b & c | continuously | 294 hrs for books; 415 hrs for journals | # of books divided by 200 bks read per hour= # hours for books; # of journals divided by 300 journals read per hour = # hours for journals | 11. Saint Louis University- Health Sciences Center Library | books | 30 | 30 | No | a, b & c | Patron completes a tracer request at Circulation and the tracer is searched routinely. If item does not surface after 6 months, tracer goes to Technical Services to decide disposition of item (replace, withdrawal, etc.) | |||||||||||||
| 170,461 | 57,245 | 113,216 | 34% | 66% | 76,078 | 39,873 | 36,205 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 188,912 | 90% | spot check | 100% | 100% of circulation staff; 24% of total | 250-300 | b | continuously; entire staff 1 week every other year | 71 hrs for books; 139 hrs for journals | 21 people x 2 hours per day x 5 days= 210 hours; % books x 210 hours = # hours for books; % journals x 210 hours = # hours for journals | 12. Mount Sinai Medical Center- The Gustave L. & Janet W. Levy Library | books- WY section; journals- Clinics in titles | 30 | 20 | not sure | verbal & written instructions, shelving test, spot-check | This library attached a 6 page description of the process that they use to track down missing books and journals. | |||||||||||||
| 75,953 | 16,777 | 59,176 | 22% | 78% | 24,811 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 99,332 | 90% | b& c | 28% | 92 | b & c | books every 3 months, journals every 3 months | y 6 months, journals every 3 months | n/a | n/a | 13. University of South Alabama- Biomedical Library | books | <10 | n/a | No | shelve with them & then test | Journal items: by walking through the entire journal stacks. Books: either by different call letters but same number and by searching other location such as ref, special collection, etc. | |||||||||||||||
| 260,760 | 121,224 | 139,536 | 46% | 54% | 80,623 | 25,075 | 55,548 | 72 | 48 | 24 | 251,359 | 90% | a& b | 100% | student assistants | 332-416 depending on time of year | c | once/year | n/a | n/a | 14. University of Wisconsin- Madison Health Sciences Library | journals | 69 | 601 | Yes | a & c | We have patron fill out a search form. We check system for status. Check shelf again for call # location, then look in most lofical places where users may have left the book and other call 3 areas which can be confused with it. We recheck the same areas each day. After approximately a week, item is charged out to "missing." | |||||||||||||
| 108,000 | combined | #VALUE! | 0% | 23,098 | 23,098 | 0 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 100,748 | >75% | routine check | 100% | student assistants | 240-320 | b & c | 6 times/year | 50.5 hrs for books; 55.5 hrs for journals | 101 book sections x 30 min/section = 50.5 hours; 144 bound journal sections x 10 min/section = 24 hours; 42 sections unbound journals x 45 min/section= 31.5 hours | 15. Wright State University- Fordham Health Sciences Library | unbound journals | 20 | <3 | Yes | a, b & c | Stack maintenance staff are asigned to look for missing items daily. They have a routine of locations to look. They look for 6 months before the item is declared lost. | ||||||||||||||
| 44,642 | 43,527 | 1,115 | 8,805 + AV | 0 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 30,880 | 98% | combination | 2.50% | 100 | c | weekly | 21 hrs for books; 17.6 hrs for journals | n/a | 16. Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Oliver Ocasek Regional Medical Information Center | books | 8 | 8 | 0 | Yes | a & b | Create a missing book slip and search the shelves monthly for 6 months. | ||||||||||||||||
| 630,000 | 81,000 | 81,000 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 788,000 | 100% | spot check | 13% | 1000 | c | continuously | 70-280 hours | calculated by talking with shelvers | 17. Countway library of Medicine | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | not sure | a, c used in recruitment | 1) user fills out form 2) staff looks for volume for 6 months 3) if not found, charged to missing (75-80% are found) |
Last Updated on 9/11/98
By Greenblatt Library