 Obsolescence of special library periodicals: Sampling errors and utility contoursB. C. Brookes Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 1970, vol. 21, issue 5, 320-329 Abstract: Problems arising in the measurement of the rates of obsolescence of the sets of periodicals taken by special libraries are discussed. The relatively large errors that arise in sampling the negative exponential distribution are analyzed because they may account for some of the discrepancies reported and because they indicate the need for firmer statistical control of work on obsolescence than has yet been generally appreciated. When the rate of decline has been satisfactorily established there still remains the problem of deciding how to apply it. Issues of those periodicals that contribute most productively should be retained for a longer period than those of periodicals that contribute less. To solve this problem the concept of “utility contours” is introduced and exemplified in the design of a p % library. It is argued that no discarding policy is likely to be generally applicable: every special library must be regarded as a special case. Rather than suggest new measurements, therefore, the paper offers simple graphical techniques that are applicable to any special case. Date: 1970 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jamest:v:21:y:1970:i:5:p:320-329 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article More articles in Journal of the American Society for Information Science from Association for Information Science & Technology |
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