MEASURING READERS' FAILURE AT THE SHELF

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Abstract
This paper is concerned with the availability of books known to be held by the Library. It outlines a simple survey method whereby readers record the non‐availability of books which they are looking for. The survey has already been installed at four university libraries, but the results from only one library are considered here. These results show how a librarian can find out the degree of non‐availability or failure in any particular area of the library, the causes of failure, and even the particular items which are in heavy demand and not available. They also provide information on the degree of co‐operation by the readers, the number of titles failing once, twice, three times etc., the overlap of demand for popular books by different groups of borrowers, the waiting time for books that failed, the pattern of demand for particular books over a period of time, the relationship between failure and recall, the correlation of failure from one term to the next, and the relative use of books inside and outside the library. From the results it was possible to recommend certain changes in library procedure which should have reduced failure, and to compare the titles of books failing in the Main Library with the holdings of a departmental library. The time spent on the survey and the total cost of the survey are also given.

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