College and Research Libraries


LAWRENCE J. PERK and NOELLE VAN PULIS 

Periodical Usage in an 

Education-Psychology Library 
A study was conducted of periodical usage at the Education-Psychol-
ogy Library, Ohio State University. The library's closed reserve system 
provided circulation data which were analyzed according to currency 
of usage and usage of specific titles. Such factors as loan period, 
binding, multiple copies, closed reserve, and indexing services were 
considered in relation to actual usage patterns for improved manage-
ment of the journal collection. The analysis incorporated discussion 
of the techni.ques and limitations of journal usage studies. 

THIS cASE STUDY of the periodical 
usage at the Education-Psychology Li-
brary, Ohio State University, was initiat-
ed to determine the little-use materials 
at a time when subscription rates be-
came a major concern. The inquiry was 
expanded to examine the usage by the 
date of publication in addition to the 
usage of each specific title in order to 
provide data needed for other possible 
changes in management policy. 

Over the years, a number of periodi-
cal usage studies have appeared which 
similarly gathered data for better ad-
ministrative decisions. Each has found 
that the circulation patterns reported 
were not unlike the others-that is, the 
current years accounted for most of the 
usage, contributed by a limited number 
of highly used periodicals. 1- 3 However, 
several writers have questioned the val-
ue of use studies which are based on the 
single measure of raw data, claiming 
that the conclusions can be misleading 

Lawrence ]. Perk and Noelle Van Pulis 
are information specialists, Mechanized In-
formation Center, Ohio State University 
Libraries, Columbus. The authors acknowl-
edge the suggestions of Ronald Force, head 
librarian, Education Library, OSU, and the 
assistance given them by student assistants 
in the sorting of data collected for the study. 

304 I 

if not dangerous. Raisig pointed out 
that such studies measure the physical 
volumes borrowed, not the intellectual 
units. For example, the record would 
indicate one physical volume used for 
possibly three citations pursued; and 
few or no records would indicate the 
citations a library could not deliver or 
the patron's behavior in pursuing them. 4 

Subramanyam added his caution against 
any ranking of journals based on one 
measure in addition to pointing out the 
specific limitations of such single mea-
sures as citation, source, and usage 
counts. 5 Sandison's shelf density study 
even questioned the existence of obso-
lescence.6 

These criticisms of use studies are 
valid and important contributions to li-
brary knowledge and methodology. 
Nonetheless, it is felt that this case 
study can be of value for several rea-
sons. 

First, the efforts to date have concen-
trated on the literatures of the natural, 
physical, and health sciences rather than 
on social science fields, such as educa-
tion and psychology. 

Second, the goals of this study 
stressed the identification of low-use 
items, and determination of rough 
blocks of titles for policy decisions was 



deemed adequate. Although some distor-
tion might have occurred by measuring 
only the usage of material available and 
not the total demand, the general pat-
terns were thought to be a sufficiently 
workable basis for coping with the 
shifting and often unpredictable needs 
of the academic population. 

Third, a case study such as this can 
point out its own limitations and 
strengths, which may be helpful to oth-
ers in planning a similar study. It also 
serves as a vehicle for discussing the re-
lationship of such data to periodical 
management concerns regardless of the 
specific figures stated. 

METHOOOLOGY 

The primary user populations of the 
Education-Psychology Library are the 
undergraduates, graduate students, and 
faculty of the College of Education 
and the Department of Psychology in 
the College of Social and Behavioral 
Sciences, Ohio State University. 

The data employed for the study are 
based on user circulation records of the 
ten most recent years of 804 journal 
titles. The issues of each title for 1962 
through 1972 were held in closed reserve 
for a two-hour loan period, requiring 
a slip to be filled out for each circula-
tion. These were arranged and counted 
in two ways. First, the slips were sorted 
by the year of publication. Figures can 
vary slightly, due to some split-year vol-
ume numbers for bound issues. Second, 
the slips were grouped by call number 
(title) and the number per title was re-
corded. It should be noted that this is 
a study of "title" usage. Few users were 
allowed to browse in the closed reserve 
area, so the choice of requests was based 
largely on known items, on the title of 
the article, or on the subject indicators 
in the indexes. In open stacks, rejection 
of an article probably would have oc-
curred before the circulation. 

A preliminary study based on twenty-
eight days in October 1972 and four 
randomly chosen days in November 

Periodical Usage I 305 

1972 surveyed 7,623 circulations. These 
provided the only data used for analyz-
ing usage in relation to currency. The 
examination of specific title usage also 
included slips from winter, spring, and 
summer quarters (January through Au-
gust) 1973, which brought the total to 
57,332 circulations. Because nonusage 
was of prime importance, the size of 
the data base was deemed justified for 
a thorough study. 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

Currency of Usage 

Table 1 displays the usage by date of 
publication. The pattern is typical of 
most use studies in that the most current 
issues were the most heavily used. The 
table indicates that eight years of hold-
ings provided almost 91 percent of the 
circulation, and five years, 76 percent. 
The data support the customary practice 
of restricted circulation for these high-
demand items. Apparently, ten years is 
a convenient but arbitrary cut-off point 
for placing items on closed reserve. A 
revised cut-off date would free lesser-
used older volumes for a longer loan 
period, although increased space would 
be required elsewhere to house them. 

Sandison's application of his density 
of use per meter of shelf space to 
physics journals at MIT questions the 
above pattern of obsolescence. While 

Date of 
Volume 

1972 
1971 
1970 
1969 
1968 
1967 
1966 
1965 
1964 
1963 
1962 
1961 

TABLE 1 
CURRENCY OF USAGE 

Year's 
Percent 

Number of of Total 
Circulations Circulation 

1,927 25.3 
1,496 19.6 
1,020 13.4 

763 10.0 
554 7.3 
440 5.8 
398 5.2 
309 4.0 
283 3.7 
235 3.0 
186 2.5 
12 .2 

100.0 

Cumulative 
Percent 
of Total 

Circulation 

25.3 
44.9 
58.3 
68.3 
75.6 
81.3 
86.6 
90.6 

100.0 



306 I College & Research Libraries • July 1977 

a decline in usage exists in the short 
term (several years), his measurement 
indicates even increased usage of the 
older volumes of certain journals. 7 

However, any data will indicate certain 
groupings of the journals, each of 
which can require a different housing 
in accord with their demand. 

One rather complex plan reported by 
Basile and Smith has ( 1 ) full runs of 
some journals in open stacks, ( 2) others 
with ten-year runs in open stacks, ( 3) 
five-year runs of all other titles, and 
( 4) the remaining volumes kept in a 
storage area apart from the library. 8 

They also stress the use of ongoing re-
search. One can begin with rough group-
ings and adjust later. 

Although it is obvious that the most 
recent issues are the most used, a specu-
lation could be made as to the effect of 
changes in binding policy on the usage 
patterns. Since most of the latest issues 
were unbound and those of the preced-
ing year were bound, it is possible that 
there would have been more circulation 
for those earlier issues had they been 
left as individual pieces rather than 
gathered as a single volume. In other 
words, the process of binding affects the 
usage patterns by removing items from 
circulation at their point of highest de-
mand. As Raisig noted, "Since it is the 
librarian's primary duty to make the 
serial's articles available and his second-
ary duty to preserve the serial's articles 
by collecting and binding them, it ap-
pears that a delay in serial binding of 
two or three years following publication 
might make more serial articles more 
easily available to more users."9 

Although from a service viewpoint 
it might be desirable to delay binding, 
the probabilities of deterioration and 
theft of individual issues have discour-
aged a change in binding practices. One 
means of increasing usage has been the 
purchase of second copies, which per-
mits alternate binding schedules and in-
sures availability of at least one copy. 
For some journals that are available in 

microfiche editions, second copies can 
be made available without the problems 
of binding and at considerable savings. 
It might be reasonable to treat the paper 
copy as expendable and have the micro-
fiche version for periods of low de-
mand. 

Specific Journal Usage 

The next step was to explore which 
journals were being used and to what 
degree. The results agree with the ex-
pectation that certain heavily used core 
journals contribute most of the circula-
tion while the remaining journals con-
tribute less in a decreasing pattern. 

High Usage. Table 2· reveals that the 
top 100 journals (one-eighth of the to-
tal) provided 72.4 percent and 150 pro-
vided 83.8 percent of the circulation. 10 

Such a concentration suggests possible 
special treatment. For example, those 
specific titles which represent the true 
demand items could be given extra pro-
tection from theft, could be the only 
titles kept on two-hour reserve, or might 
be those for which extra copies are 
needed. In fact, the Education-Psychol-
ogy Library did have at least two copies 
for one-third of the top 150 journals, 
more than three-fifths of the top fifty, 

Cumulative 
Number of 
Journals 

10 
20 
30 
40 
48.4 
50 
60 
70 
80 
90 

100 
150 
200 
300 
400 
500 
612 
804 

TABLE 2 

HIGH UsAGE 

Cumulative 
Percent 
of Total Cumulative 
Journals Circulation 

1.2 9,900 
2.5 16,328 
3.7 21,296 
5.0 25,566 

6.2 29,230 
7.5 32,316 
8.7 35,034 

10.0 37,519 
11.2 39,651 
12.4 41,561 
18.7 48,040 
24.9 51,961 
37.3 55,643 
49.8 
62.2 
76.1 57,332 

100.0 

Cumulative 
Percent 
of Total 

Circulation 

17.3 
28.5 
37.1 
44.5 
50.0 
50.9· 
56.3 
61.1 
65.4 
69.1 
72.4 
83.8 
90.6 
97.1 

100.0 



and all of the top thirteen. The high 
circulation figures for these items could 
be a reflection of demand as well as in-
creased availability due to multiple 
copies. 

The preceding discussion suggests that 
closed reserve could be limited to the 
most recent issues of the small number 
of core journals. This extra protection 
for high-demand items could inhibit 
theft and also could allow a delay in 
binding to increase availability. For the 
limited number of journals involved, 
temporary covers could be used to pre-
vent deterioration. 

Low Usage. At the other end of the 
spectrum are those titles which show 
little or no use. Table 3 shows that of 
the 804 journals, 23.9 percent were not 
used at all, while a total of 48 percent 
were borrowed no more than five times 
for the year. Therefore, there is much 
latitude for replacing unused titles with 
those more suitable to patron needs, a 
more efficient use of available funds. 
A list of little-used journals at the Edu-
cation-Psychology Library was compiled. 
However, any cancellations based on 
this list must also include a qualitative 
judgment, perhaps in consultation with 
the teaching faculty. 

If a simple use count is not consid-
ered a sufficient basis for cancellations 
one could apply a formula devised b; 
Holland in a similar study of little-used 
journals. Using the formula, one can 
determine the increased percentage of 
unsatisfied demand in relation to budget 

TABLE 3 

Low UsAGE 

Number of Number of Percent of 
Circulations Journals Total Journals 

0 192 23.9 
1 69 8.7 
2 44 5.5 
3 26 3.1 
4 28 3.5 
.5 26 3.3 

386 48.0 
6 or more 418 52.0 

804 100.0 

Periodical Usage I 301 

reductions when titles used x times are 
cut. 11 

Although the data in this study lack 
the adjustments to raw data suggested 
by Raisig and others, the data are based 
on a ten-year period that should give a 
rough parity to the titles. All physical 
usage was recorded except interlibrary 
loan and some minimal browsing. Such 
records do not consider Raisig' s "intel-
lectual units," which would ideally 
equate physical units if each article 
were bound separately. However, the 
two-hour loan period of this study al-
lowed for a high degree of availability 
of a volume and its many intellectual 
units. The nature of closed reserve, 
therefore, should provide a crude com-
pliance with some of the needed adjust-
ments, and the data should stand as rea-
sonably usable. A more detailed study, 
as Raisig points out, can be made man-
ageable by concentrating on the core 
journals, which concern the more criti-
cal decisions. 12 That core might be se-
lected from a citation study or perhaps 
this study. 

FACTORS AFFEGfiNG uSAGE 

The intent of this case study was to 
gather usage data to support mainte-
nance or revision of policies concerning 
the journal collection. The study cen-
tered on administrative decisions affect-
ing journal availability, such as length 
of loan period, use of closed reserve, 
purchase of multiple copies, binding 
frequency, and protection from theft. 
These factors affecting usage have been 
discussed above. Other variables relating 
to library policy and procedure are the 
availability of photocopying and inter-
library loan facilities. Factors which are 
external to the library include the users' 
academic level, course work, research ac-
tivity, and work habits. Class assign-
ments, bibliographies, browsing, and the 
"invisible college" also influence bor-
rowing patterns. Raisig discusses these 
and other "inconstant variables" which 
"derive from practices, coincidences, ac-



308 f College & Research Librar-ies • July 1977 

cidents, procedures, occurrences, and 
characteristics common to libraries and 
their patrons, employees, and serials."13 

Undoubtedly, among the major influ-
ences on journal usage are indexing and 
abstracting services, both manual and 
computer-based. An initial investigation 
of the relationship between four com-
monly used indexes and journal usage 
was made at the Education-Psychology 
Library. Each of the 804 journal titles 
was checked for coverage by the 
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 
Education Index, Current Index to 
Journals in Education, and Psychologi-
cal Abstracts. Of the 360 titles which 
circulated eleven or more times, 337, or 
93.6 percent, were indexed by at least 
one of the services, and all of the top 
50 were indexed. Only 34, or 17.7 per-
cent, of the 192 journals which did not 
circulate at all were indexed. 

The extent of cause and effect cannot 
be assumed due to other factors affect-
ing usage. However, it is apparent that 
the most-used journals are indexed and 
only a few of the unindexed titles were 
borrowed. Coverage by indexing services 
should be considered when choosing 
titles suitable to the user population. 

Also, usage of journals already in the 
collection can be affected by the choice 
of indexing and abstracting services and 
by the librarian's efforts in explaining 
and encouraging their use. 

SUMMARY 

The data collected in this case study 
provided a basis for practical decisions 
about the administration of a journal 
collection. Although research libraries 
tend toward building ideal collections 
for many reasons, such as satisfying un-
predictable user needs and prestige for 
faculty recruitment, today' s financial 
realities require optimum utilization of 
available resources. 

This journal usage study has revealed 
a large amount of unused material, 
funds for which could be better ap-
plied. Also, closer analysis of high-
demand items provides information for 
their improved management and maxi-
mum satisfaction of patron needs. The 
study also tried to indicate its own lim-
itations in light of use study criticism. 
It is hoped that others planning their 
own studies will be able to benefit from 
the contributions to improve this type 
of research. 

REFERENCES 

1. Paula M. Strain, "A Study of the Usage 
and Retention of Technical Periodicals," 
Library Resources & Technical Services 
10:295-304 (Summer 1966). 

2. Ching-Chih Chen, "The Use Patterns of 
Physics Journals in a Large Academic Re-
search Library," Journal of the American 
Society for Information Science 23:254-65 
(July-Aug. 1972). 

3. Dianne C. Langlois and Jeanne V. Von 
Schulz, "Journal Usage Survey: Method 
and Application," Special Libraries 64: 
239-43 (May-June 1973). 

4. L . Miles Raisig, "The Circulation Analysis 
of Serial Use: Numbers Game or Key to 
Service," Bulletin of the Medical Library 
Association 55:399-407 (Oct. 1967). 

5. K. Subramanyam, "Criteria for Journal Se-
lection," Special Libraries 66:367-71 (Aug. 
1975). 

6. Alexander Sandison, "Densities of Use, and 
Absence of Obsolescence, in Physics Jour-
nals at MIT," Journal of the American So-
ciety for Information Science 25:172-78 
(May-June 1974). 

· 7. Ibid. 
8. Victor A. Basile and Reginald W. Smith, 

"Evolving the 90% Pharmaceutical Library," 
Special Libraries 61:81-86 (Feb. 1970). 

9. Raisig, "The Circulation Analysis of Serial 
Use." 

10. A list of the 150 highly used titles is avail-
able from the authors. 

11. Maurita P. Holland, "Serial Cuts vs. Public 
Service: A Formula," College & Research 
Libraries 37:543-48 (Nov. 1976). 

12. Raisig, "The Circulation Analysis of Serial 
Use." 

13. Ibid. 

I