Developing a Weighted Collection Development Allocation Formula 6/27/2010 Developing a Weighted Collection Development Allocation Formula Jeff Bailey, Library Director Linda Creibaum, Acquisitions and Serials Librarian Star Holloway, Serials Access Librarian Dean B. Ellis Library Arkansas State University November 7, 2017 Copyright Jeff Bailey, Linda Creibaum and Star Holloway, 2017

Ground Rules Questions are welcome at any time, but we may defer answering a question until later in the session Interactive discussions are welcome There will be a break about halfway through

Background and History In 1997 the Arkansas State University library had no equitable means of making allocations Funds had not been reallocated/redistributed in many years One department accounted for nearly 20% of all collection development expenditures There was no funding to support new programs

Background and History (continued) We searched literature to discover data-driven methods of making allocations, including the use of a formula We chose to use a formula based on one developed by Colorado State University and described in SPEC Kit #36 Then we got to work

First Steps: Gathering Data Do these steps before selecting formula factors …and always document everything!

List Potentially Relevant Data Doing this is much like a brainstorming session Average cost of materials Number of degrees awarded per department or program Faculty per department or program Number of course sections offered Number of courses in catalog Number of degree programs Number of majors in each program Total semester credit hour production (actual enrollment) Use of materials

Gathering Data (continued) Evaluate and refine the list Eliminate duplicates and non-viable suggestions Identify the factors that are most relevant to your campus

Some of Our Ideas What we used and what we didn’t Average cost of materials (from Library and Book Trade Almanac) Number of degrees awarded per department or program Faculty per department or program (FTE faculty) Number of course sections offered Number of courses in catalog Number of degree programs Number of majors in each program Total semester credit hour production (actual enrollment) Use of materials

Gathering Data (continued) Determine what data are available or could be gathered Both internal (within your library and within the field) and external (campus, community, company, etc.) Eliminate possible factors for which data cannot be obtained Gather samples of available data

The Formula The original factors we used Total semester credit hour production (actual enrollment) Number of classes offered Number of degrees awarded Faculty per department Average cost of materials from Library and Book Trade Almanac Other factors that could have been used Number of degree programs Departmental external funding and/or research productivity Use of materials Number of courses in catalog

The Formula Weights Rating each factor is key to the equitable distribution of funds Weighting is the assigning of values to indicate the importance or impact of each factor in the formula relative to the other formula factors The assigned weight values are inserted into the Excel spreadsheet and are used in formula calculations

The Formula Assigning weights to each factor These should be based upon each institution’s priorities and culture Library Committee Faculty Senate Institutional Administration Something else? We subdivided some factors before assigning weights Do test runs and adjust weights if needed

(by non-mathematicians) How the Formula Works (by non-mathematicians)

Screen Shot of a Previous Formula Run 6/27/2010

Running the Formula You can do separate formula runs for… Books Journals Print Online resources (databases/ejournals/eBooks) Any other budgets your library may have Or any combination of these We chose to run a single formula for all allocations

Additional Thoughts… Before running the formula, determine how much of your budget to allocate and how much to keep back for library use (if any)

Additional Thoughts… You may want or need to make adjustments to individual allocations after running the formula Do no harm Nonparticipation Special entities or campus initiatives If we use an adjusted, non-formula allocation, we end that allocation in 00 (for instance, $33,500) to indicate at a glance that it is an adjusted allocation

Some Advice Your formula will probably need to be modified at some point in the future We have changed our formula Weights were adjusted Added departmental external funding as a factor in 2012 Removed it as a factor in 2014

In Conclusion… Document, document, document! Make the decisions and modify the formula to fit your library’s needs Feel free to contact any of us with questions you may think of later

To download an interactive copy of the demo spreadsheet www.astate.edu/a/library/charleston

Serials Access Librarian Acquisitions and Serials Librarian Contact Information Jeff Bailey Library Director jbailey@astate.edu 870-972-2724 Star Holloway Serials Access Librarian sholloway@astate.edu 870-972-2549 Linda Creibaum Acquisitions and Serials Librarian lcreibaum@astate.edu 870-972-3354 Dean B. Ellis Library Arkansas State University P.O. Box 2040 State University, AR 72467