From: "Averil Robertson" <acr39_at_hotmail.com>
Thank you to everyone who replied to my query about OCLC/WLN ACAS. Here is
a summary of what I've discovered, as well as responses I received.
Averil Robertson
University of Hong Kong Libraries
OCLC/WLN Automated Collection Assessment Service (ACAS)
Summary
OCLC/WLN provide several types of products. Two of them are completely
automated. They build on the Conspectus product previously marketed by WLN,
and use libraries' holdings in OCLC or their local system records to produce;
1. Automated analyses of collection age and content (this includes overlap
measures for groups of libraries.) Output is on an iCAS CD-ROM. (iCAS
stands for interactive collection analysis system.) For this type of
analysis, they take bib records either from your local system or OCLC
archive (the choice is yours) and map the call numbers to either the LC or
Dewey WLN Conspectus tables. There are several options you can select for
your basic iCAS and options you can select for secondary analyses such as
language, adult/juvenile, title level. OCLC can analyse collections using
more than one classification scheme. The results, based on the selected
dates/date ranges, are output on a CD-ROM with both graphical and
statistical data of the collection.
If the library is part of a consortium and has a shared database, OCLC can
analyse the collections and report the above along with uniqueness and overlap.
2. Automated comparisons with recommended lists, and with other libraries
(two or more.) OCLC currently has access to BCL3, OAT, and Booklist.
The output is in electronic format and provides 4 reports - a statistical
summary of the results; a match list (what you own that is on the list); a
close match list (title matches, but author doesn't) and the miss report
(what is in the list that your library doesn't own). The match lists
include brief bibliographic information and the Miss List includes the
descriptive cataloging for the title. There is a statistical summary also.
OCLC can also carry out a related analysis; you select the libraries you
wish to compare your collections to. You can scope by call numbers/ranges
and/or date, or analyze your entire collection. Two or more libraries must
be selected for this comparison. If you only want to compare with one
institution, that is possible - if they can get the permission of the
library. The library will receive the same reports as the list comparisons
explained above.
Output of both these types of products is sorted in conspectus order.
They also provide the WLN Conspectus Database Software, which libraries use
to print conspectus worksheets, create assessment records and produce
assessment reports. Because the conspectus is the copyrighted intellectual
property of OCLC, and they provide the complete conspectus as a file in the
software, they license this software - to individual libraries, groups and
consortia. There are single and multiple user versions of the software. It
is a stand-alone product that does not interface with bibliographic
records. Its sole purpose is to support use of the conspectus method of
collection assessment.
Comments from users/prospective users of the service, via the COLL-DV
discussion list
If it's the old WLN "Collection Analysis Program," we did it in 1992 and it
was more than worth the money.
Paul Metz, Director, Collection Management and College-Based Services
Virginia Tech University Libraries
We used the Conspectus process at Oregon State University with a fair
amount of success. The weakness is in finding current comparator
bibliographies.
Bonnie.Allen_at_orst.edu
We are using the Automated OCLC/WLN Conspectus at the University of
Montevallo and have found it to be very useful in assessing our collection.
We started the project last Spring and have completed several disciplines.
We selected the subject analysis as well as the analysis for two standard
bibliographies.
Pauline C. Williams
Collection Development Librarian
Carmichael Library, University of Montevallo
Montevallo, AL 35115-6105
I went to the OCLC ACAS presentation at ALA Midwinter last month. It was a
good presentation and appears to be a good product. The main problem from
my perspective was that while it will do an excellent job of collating and
sorting the data from MY collection at MY library, they have a very strict
no-sharing policy, which may hinder libraries from sharing such data with
anyone else. What that means to me is: I can learn every statistic about my
own collection, but cannot legally share it with other libraries, without
their express written permission, which usually means the other libraries
must also have bought an ACAS license.
I am not altogether sure what good it does to know your own statistics if
you cannot compare them to the statistics of other libraries. What do the
numbers mean if they cannot be compared? And until the number of
participating libraries grows, there will be a very small pool of libraries
whom you can share with. Obviously they are trying to protect their
business and force libraries to participate in order to share their data
with each other. In my opinion they have gone overboard in protecting their
data so far that the data is top secret information. But our library has
not joined and received the information, so I am only sharing what I
perceived from their presentation. Perhaps they are not so hard-nosed about
data sharing in reality?
John Kistler
Acquisitions/Collection Development Librarian
West Virginia State College
I've been using the Conspectus for more than 13 years now, both as the
basis for collection management for my own collection and as the basis for
multi-type cooperative collection development agreements locally and
statewide. Although I use the Conspectus software for assessment and
management, the fully automated reports are also very powerful tools.
I've had OCLC/WLN run a collection analysis, which reports holdings by
Conspectus division separated by individually-determined ranges of
copyright dates, every other year since 1993 to track the changes in the
collection over time. I then measure these changes against our collection
development goals and acquisitions/management activities to see how we've
done. The analysis can also be run for a group of libraries, and I know
several libraries have participated in such projects.
Some day I plan to run a title overlap/gap with the other major libraries
in Alaska, but I don't anticipate any problem with permission or sharing
data - you might check with OCLC/WLN to see, because I did not have the
same impression about severe restrictions that another person mentioned. I
would also love to have enough of a budget to warrant running my collection
against the 10-year Booklist file to see what we've missed.
I have used my assessment, management, and analysis reports for a wide
variety of projects, such as grant applications, facility planning, and
dealing with budget shortfalls, and I know my academic colleagues have used
the data for accreditation reports. The greatest strength of these projects
I see is in budget preparation and justification and in program accountability.
June Pinnell-Stephens
Collection Services Manager
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library
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Received on Wed Mar 14 2001 - 15:17:28 EST