Undergraduate Periodicals Usage: A Model of Measurement

A practical method of evaluating periodical use within the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois was developed in 1980. This methodology involves limited labor and costs. No complicated computer tabulations were involved in the study, which: identified individual periodical titles and ranked them according to use; identified the status of the user; identified bound volume use by title and year; and determined the loss rate, by title, of current issues. The study also contrasted current issue use with bound volume use for each title. Using this information, those titles that will satisfy 90% of the patrons’ needs were identified.