Presentation made to Prairie Area Libraries Conference, Moine, IL April, 22, 2010

1. Making a Collection Count: Why a Physical Inventory is Essential to a Dynamic Library

2. Physical Inventory – What is it? On-going process of comparing the “shelf list” (holdings) to actual items.

3. Inventory Strategy: Step 1 Choose a manageable piece of collection Started with audio book collection High per unit cost Newer collection Holdings at beginning of project (2006) ~1000 items according to first shelf list. Estimated value at that time: about $65,000

5. Be aggressive!

9. Inventory Strategy: Step 5 Inventory remaining items Cart up a shelf at a time Scan into your ILS’s inventory feature Mark off items on the shelf list as you go along Volunteers are a great resource for this part!

10. Inventory Strategy: Step 6 Track down items on the shelf list that were not confirmed in your first pass. Place holds for items that were checked out when made your first sweep Follow up: mark missing? Damaged?

11. Inventory Strategy: Step 7 Make a policy for how long to keep records for items that are not confirmed Missing, damaged, assumed lost, etc. Set a maintenance schedule for your next inventory in that collection Items with no activity in a certain amount of time

13. Items shelved in the wrong place

14. Items that are broken, dirty, and disgusting!

15. Items attached to the wrong record

16. Holdings for items discarded ages ago

18. Limit customer and staff frustration

19. To create a starting point for evaluation

20. Library & Librarian performance

23. Shelf Location, Department

24. Item type

25. DVDs, Book on CD, Large Print

26. Location in a “collection”

28. Intangible Reasons Solid collection information and data shows vigilance with public assets Staff familiarity with collections You look smart, professional, and RELEVANT!

29. Using Inventory Data SSLDL’s Audio Book Collection Results (1 Day’s Work) 5 missing items found 1 item still checked out on patron record 14 items cataloged as wrong format 2 items not found (Stolen? Lost? Discarded?) ~50 confirmed status/location Error Rate: 4.4% Reclaimed items: 20 (~$65 each = about $1,300 value) Lost/stolen/missing:2 (about $130 value) Items confirmed: ~50 (about $3,250)

30. Using Inventory Data:Creating Collection Objectives A general statement of what materials will or will not be included in the collection. They are different for every library and community Can be different for each collection Collection Data is Dynamic! Is your collection doing the job it’s supposed to?

31. Audio Book Collection Objective Popular materials of current interest Since cost is a factor with audio books, titles that have a limited shelf life will be given low priority Examples: some series fiction, political material addressing current events, travel info, certain types of science or health material that could be outdated quickly

32. Audio Book Collection Objective(Continued) Consideration and comparison to statistics in downloadable audios will also be investigated. Other considerations for the collection: Classic fiction and nonfiction titles that coincide with local school and university curriculum objectives, foreign language instruction for both students and travelers

34. A standard by which something can be measured or judged

35. Most expensive collections get most attention

36. Non-financial reasons are important and considered!

37. Circulation Goals

39. 10-12 checkouts within 1 year of purchase

40. Popular Non-Fiction

41. Bestsellers, self help, biography, etc.

42. 8-10 checkouts within a year of purchase

43. Informational Non-Fiction

44. Language instruction, Shakespeare/Poetry, etc.

46. Total cost (worth) of a collection

47. Number of units in a collection

49. Contact Me!Mary Kelly marykelly48@gmail.comhttp://practicallibrarian.blogspot.comHave some truly awful things to share?http://awfullibrarybooks.infoemail: awfullibrarybooks@gmail.comPresentation available online at www.slideshare.net/marykelly48