Workshop 5 December 2011 Christine Ellwood Assistant Director (Content) University of York Copac CCM tools project Subject strengths

Identifying collection strengths Aim Identify collections which will be of particular value and significance in the long term (Heritage collections) Definition National or international significance for the research community Key constituents of the “National Distributed Research Collection” advocated in reports from the RIN and others Evidence required (either or both of) National holdings: Collection is particularly extensive compared with the holdings of other UK libraries for the same subject area Unique and rare titles: Collection contains high concentration of items which are rare or unique (i.e. few copies are recorded in Copac) Method Without the CCM tool: based primarily on subjective assessments by staff familiar with the collections in question With the CCM tool: use statistical evidence drawn from the Copac database

Case study Colour chemistry at Leeds Existing knowledge Holdings particularly rich as there was a Department of Dyeing in the original 19th century Yorkshire College Comparison with Chemistry Selected items with an ISBN in Colour Chemistry and Chemistry Search ISBN to accommodate existence of duplicate records for the same title within the Copac database

National holdings Test the ‘Heritage’ criterion : The Colour Chemistry collection is particularly extensive compared with the holdings of other UK libraries for the same subject area

Colour chemistry - national holdings Leeds is shown to hold significantly more items than any other library, so this collection is indeed exceptional. Only 1 other library (the BL) holds 2/3 of the titles. Colour Chemistry

Chemistry - national holdings The holdings for Chemistry are also strong and no other library bar the BL can manage more than 75% of the titles held by Leeds. Only 5 other libraries hold 2/3 of the titles. Chemistry

National holdings Comparison summary Colour chemistry Leeds is shown to hold significantly more items than any other library, so this collection is indeed exceptional. Only 1 other library (the BL) holds 2/3 of the titles. Chemistry The holdings for Chemistry are also strong and no other library bar the BL can manage more than 75% of the titles held by Leeds. 5 other libraries hold 2/3 of the titles. Copac CCM tool added value Comparisons are quick and easy Graphs demonstrate differences in a striking visual manner Results suggest it might be possible to describe in quite precise and mathematical terms the difference between a heritage collection and one which is merely “strong”

Unique and rare titles Test the ‘Heritage’ criterion: Collection contains a high concentration of items which are unique or rare (i.e. few copies are recorded in Copac)

Colour chemistry – unique and rare titles The graph shows that a relatively high proportion of items are only held in Leeds. It is possible to drill down and identify these items. There is also a relatively high proportion of items held in a small number of libraries. Colour Chemistry

Chemistry – unique and rare titles For Chemistry as a whole the proportion of titles held only in Leeds is much lower. Chemistry

Unique and rare titles Comparison summary Colour chemistry The graph shows that a relatively high proportion of items are only held in Leeds. It is possible to drill down and identify these items. There is also a relatively high proportion of items held in a small number of libraries. Chemistry The proportion of titles held only in Leeds is much lower. Copac CCM tool added value Comparisons are quick and easy Graphs demonstrate differences in a striking visual manner Specific unique or rare titles can be identified and then marked for retention in the catalogue ChemistryColour Chemistry % held in 3 libraries or less825 % held in 4 libraries or less1132 # of libraries with 2/3 of titles62

Summary of potential benefits Answering strategic questions about the status of the collections in individual libraries Opportunity to deepen our understanding of the parameters around collection development in terms of: Overlap between the holdings of major UK research libraries in particular subject areas Differences in that overlap between different subject disciplines and areas The proportion of unique titles within those collections Identifying specific unique or rare titles Informing development, retention and withdrawal activities