Fiction:Another Look Ol O Core Listof "Clossics"

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Publiclibrories ond Adull Fiction:Another Look ol o Core Listof "Clossics"

JudilhJ. Senkevitchond Jomes H. Sweeflond

f\ part o[ an ongoing effort to under- reluctant to weed lest they discard a work stand the nature of adult liction collec- that might return to favoi (Truett 1gg0). tions in public libraries and to develop This is particularly a concern in smaller metl.rodologies and tools to assist practi- libraries with very limited resources. tioners in evaluating fiction colleitions, There is both a need for and lack ofunder- we have conducted"a series of researcli standing of ways to identify adult fiction projects to examine various aspects of titles that will remain popular or endure. evaluating public library adult fiition. In Seeking to address that question, we an initial study undertaken in lgg2 of next undertook a study, funded by the evaluation practices and concerns in srnall OC-LC Online Computer Library Center and medium-sized \\/isconsin public li- to determine whethir a core lisi o[ adult braries, we found that a large majority of fiction titles widely held by public librar- librarians had evaluated their aduit ficiion ies could be identified for use in evaluat- collections within the previous five years ing adult fiction collections (Sweetland (Senkevitch and S,n'eeilandf994). How- and Senkevitch lgg5; Senkevitch and ever, in that study and otl-rers,researchers Sweetland f996). In that study, we also also found that many librarians in smaller examinedwhetlrer cornrnonly used collec- libraries do not distinsuish between tion development lists of recornrnended evaluationand r.r'eeding,and thnt they are titles or lists ofbestsellerswould be useful

([email protected],m JUDITH J _srrrrvrrcu edu) and f,rnrs H Swrsrurxo (ss,eetlnd@ csd urvn.r'edu) are associate professors at the School oi Llbr^ry and Information Scielce, Ur.riversityof wisconsin-Miiu'aukee. lvlanuscript received Decernber 5, l9g7; accepted for publication February I0, 1998 LRTS o 42(2) o Public Libraries and Adult Fiction /103 in pre&cting rvidely Iield works. Using the tematically the degree of volatility of titles OCLC Online Union Catalos (OLUC) of on the list, we undertook a second study, over 30 rnillion records,we iilentified the funded by OCLC, in 1995-96 In this sec- approximately 400 adult fictlon titles most ond study, we generated a new list of400 widely held by public library participants adult fiction titles most widely held by in OCLC (Senkevitch and Sweetland OCLC member public libraries in 1995 1996). \\/hile our findings suggested that and cornpared that list rvith the 1994 list this core list might be useful as an evalu- to examine the relative stability of the ation tool, they also raised questions about listing. The findings ofthis latter study are the stability of the hst \\/ould the same reported here. \A/hile a brief background-library titles remain on the list of widely held otr k"y issues relating to public works frorn one year to the next, or would collection evaluation and the role ofpopu - there be substantialchange in the make- lar materials is also provided, readers are up of the list? \\'e had an underlying as- referred to previous works (Sr,veetland sumption that a fiction work widely held and Senkevitch 1995; Senkevitch and bv nublic libraries would in sornesense be Sweetland I996) for a fuller discussionof "clisslc," and prevalence in public library these topics. collections rather than, for example, in- clusion in a "literary canon," formed the Rrsnencn eNo basis for the operating definition of "clas - Qursrrous Hvrornrsrs sic" in the study. The issue oflongevity on the list-the stability of a title-raised an The principal research questions ad- important question in this regard. dressedby this study are: As part ofthe 1993-94 project, OCLC staff produced two lists of widely held QuestionI Does the emphasisin pub- oublic librarv adult fiction titles: one list lic librarieson providingcurrent popu- in December 1993 that contained a total lar readir.rgappear to lead to relatively count ofthe holding codes for all manifes- rapidchanges in the titlesheld by those tations, and a second list in Aueust 1994 libraries? that contained a count ol" the indiudual 2. If not,could a corelist of such libraries holding a given title. \\1hile some Question titles be developedto assistlibrarians in variation in the titles included on the two collectionevaluation? lists might reasonably have been expected with the modification in the parameters of In addition, the study provided insights the database run, examination of the two into what constitutes a "fiction clxsic." lists showed that more than 207o of the Hypotheses tested included the fbllowing: titles changed frorn the first to the second list wtthin this brief period In addition, Hypothesis.L The listing of adult fiction the numbers of holdinss had increased titles mostu'idely held by OCLC menber substantially for many renraining titles in public libraries u'ill change urthin one the eight rnonths between the generation year, *'ith many titles dropping fron.rthe of the two lists, a phenomenon also not list and neu'titlestaking their place necessarilyexplained by the rnodification in parameters.Alnost by definition, a Iist Hypothesis2 Titlesu'ith morerecetrt pub- of "classics"would be expectedto change licationdates rvill shos'a largerincrease in rather slowly, if at all, over time. Fin&ngs nunrber of hoiding libraries thar-rthose ti- from the 1993-94 work, however, raised tless'ith olderpublicatiorr dates questions about the degree ofvolatility of Hypothesis3. Titlesu'ith olderpublication tl.re list of adult fiction most likely to be datesu'ill be more likely to drop fronrthe held by U.S public libraries that are par- list than thoseu.ith recent dates ticiDantsin OCLC. Therefore, in order to explore further Hypothesis4. Thosetitles added to the list the potential uselulnessof Juch a listing frorn one year to the nexts'ill be thoseu'ith as an evaluation tool and to examine sys- recerrtpublication dates I0A LRTS . 42(2) o Senkeoitchand Su;eetland

Hypothesis 5. Those titles s'ith more re- mended fiction and award-winners in the ceut publication dates u'ill shorv 4 grs21s1 weeding process. increasein number of different OCLC records (as a result of nes'editions and different Ibrmats) than those titles with older publication dates

BacxcnouNo collection is used as the basis for evaluation. Civen its apparent success for larger acadernic libraries. the approach has been adapted not only for nonfiction collections but also for fiction, even

1985), fiction rernains the most corn- mon adult material taken out of the library (Johnson 1989; Vavrek 1990; size ofthe given genre or category com- pared rvith the collection as a whole. Qual- ity judgments for fiction are made by look- ing at size and growth rate, number of authors and titles owned, and desired in- tensity of collection for each genre. A fur- Baker 1993; Shearer 1993; Senkevitch ther test ofquality refers to current lists of and Sweetland1994). awards and honors, presence on lists of Although it is clear that fiction for "classics,"and recent lists of ALA Notable adults is an important part of public li- Book awards (Baker 1994). brary collectioni,there has been surpris- It is clear that both librarians and the lngly little research on such collections public beheve that fiction for adults is (Sweetland l99l; Senkevitch and Sweet- an important part of public library col- land 1994). Researchersin a number of lections. Hourever, despite tlris. ihere stu&es have pointed out the value of dis- has been almost no researchon how to play and promotion in increasing circula- improve this important aspect of pubhc tion-notably Baker (1986, 1988), Long library service.Similarly, while librari- (f986), and Parrish (f986). While useful, ans aqree on the need for evaluation unfortunately, these and other authors and weeding of fiction collections, there is little information on how to do it. One aspect of the problern identified in earlier research (Senkevitch and Sweetland 1994) is the lack of reliable ways to identifv fiction "classics" when selecting and iueeding. This study ad- dressesfhat issue. As of August 1994, there were over lated individually, because such time 18,300 participating libraries in the OCLC rnight vary from two months to nearly ten years. In tl're revised CHEW (Continuous Revierv,Evaluation, and \A'eeding) rnanual on weeding, Boon (1995)suggests consider- ing a time-on-sl.relfsince last circulation of two years .rs a viable figure {br weeding decisions for fiction, in contrast to Slotei approxirnately4,000 public libraries: a varying figure. Boon also suggests consid- year later this nurnber had groun to about ering a title's presence on lists of recorn- 4,700 public libraries (McClain 1995). LRTS o 42(2) o Public Libraries and Adult Fiction /lO5

TABLE 1 TrrrnrvMosr-HELD TITLES oN OCLC gv NurvrsnnoF HoLDINGS,1995

No. ofUnique Change in Change in Library Rank by, Number of Date of Holdings in Holdings Holdings Author/Iitle Publication 1995 1994-95 1994-95

Jakes,John Nofth and South 1982 1,090 0 39 Keillor, Garrison Lake \\bbegon da1's 1985 1,078 0 45 UAmour, Louis, Last of the breed 1986 1,069 l0 43 \\'hitney, Phy4lis Dream of orchids r985 1,068 -1.0 4l LAmour, Louis The walking drum 1984 1,062 5 42 King, Stephen The stand 1978 r,057 20 D{' Holt, Victoria The time of the hunter's moon r983 1,056 -l D 36 \\'hitne1., Ph1'llis Flaming tree 1985 I,U)) -l 0 43 Flolt, Victoria Secret for a nightingale 1986 1,447 20 46 \\'alker, Alice The color purple 1982 t,04i 0 43 Flolt, Victoria The road to Paradise Island 1985 1,043 -1.5 39 Auel, Jean M The plains ofpassage 1990 1,041 45 44 Plain, Beh'a Crescent Ciq' 1984 t,041 DD 45 Marshall, Catherine f ulie 1984 1,040 40 Le Cane, fohn A perfect sp1, 1986 1,039 5 4l Lrrdlum, Robert The Aquitaine progression 1984 r,039 -5 40 Dailey, fanet Sih'er u,ings, Santiago blue 1984 r,038 -60 Santml'er,Helen Il "-and ladies of the club" r982 r,038 -40 38 Michener, JamesA Alaska 1988 1,037 ID 413 \\:hitnel', Phl4lis Emerald 1983 r,035 5 4l Hou,atch, Susan The u,heel offortune 1984 r,034 40 Holt, Victoria The Landorver legacy 1984 1,032 -20 38 LAmour, Louis The lonesome gods 1983 1,032 ID 40 Archer, Jeffrel'. The prodigal daughter 1982 1,031 Freeman. C)nlhia Alua)s and forever r990 1,028 20 42 Steel, Danielle. Crossings 1982 1,028 D 40 Ludlum, Robert The Bourne supremacl, 1986 L,Ozi -2.0 38 Clancy', Tom Clear and present danger 1989 1,026 90 46 McMurtr;', LarS' Lonesome dove 1985 1,025 30 Follett. Ken Lie dou'n u'itb lions I 985 I 023 47

Tlris represents approximately 43Voof all government publicationsby useof MARC United Statespublic libraries (American f,ocument tlpe fields, and identified fic- Library Directonl 1997) tion by use of the fixed field code. Multi- ple records for various editions of the iame title were then merged under a sin- MrrHops Using the OLUC, we workedwith OCLC resealch staff to generate a list of the approximately 400 adult fiction titles rnost widely held by OCLC member public libraries in 1995. Following the parameters used in the 199L94 analysis,we isolated tl.re records of public libraries from those checking for "iuvenile" codrng (for a of other libraries; eliminated non-English standard unabridged edition) in Books in materials, nonbook materials,serials, and Print Plus on CD-ROM. All titles were L06/ LRTS . 42(2) o Senkeaitchand Sueetland

Mosr-Hnr,pADULr u,"#3:t 3".", Dnoppsorr.r l99b A u tho r,/Ti tle Holdi in 1994 Rank in 1994 Byars, Bets;' Crom The not-just-an1,body family 1986 866 395 5 Collins. Holhu,ood rvir.es Jackie 1983 865 4030 Condon, Richard Prizzi's famih' 1986 872 3680 Condon, Richard Prizzi's glorl' 1988 875 3520 Delillo, Don Libra 1988 871 3750 Erdman, Paul Emil The palace r985 8i2 3680 Erdrich, Louise The beet queen 1986 865 4030 Flagg, Fannie Coming attractions l98t 897 2295 Gardner, E Icebreaker fohn r983 866 3955 Miller, Sue Famill, pictures 1990 867 3895 Steu,aft,Fred M Ellis Island 1983 87I 3750 Updike, S John r988 867 3895 Vonnegut, Kut. Bluebeard l9g7 g65 40J.0

also checked in \\/ilson's Fiction Catalog. Appropriate statistical tests were made \\'here priit a title was listed in Booksin using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Phrs asjuvenile and also included in Fic- Social Sciences)to determine tle validity ol'hypotheses.

ANALysrsoF FINDTNGS The {inal 1995 list of adult {iction most eliminated from further consideration at widely held by OCLC public librariesre- this point sultedin 40g fitles.with l S titlesdroppinq -addil from the earlier 1994 list and tO tional titles appearing.The vast majority o{'titles- are relatively recent, rvith publication dates since 1980. Table I lisis the 1995 30 most-held adult fiction titles, in order by number of OCLC public libraries holdine the work. Further details of' able to resolvethis in the merging proc- the results are discussedbelow. ess.However, in 8 cases,alteinaie list- ings,were generated fbr what appear^oi'these to be the sarnework. Becauseall instances involved works identified in the analysisprocess as "iuvenile," thev were set aside for future"study b"""rr.L the focus of this project ls adult fiction. However, when the iuvenile rvorks are appear on the 1995list, while only 16 new ultimatelyanalyzed as a separatelisting of titles appearedon the 1995 list. This rep- highl;, held works, additional effort willbe resentsa changeof approximately3.2% over one year. At this rate of change it would. in theory. take at least 30 years fbr the entire list to be replaced. Hypothesis 2. Titles uith more recent publication. dntes rcill shou; a lnrger increasein numberof holdinglibroriis than asit appliesto OCLC member libraries those titles u'ith older publicntion dates. LRTS o 42(2) . Public Libraries and Adult Fiction /I07

TABLE 3 Mosr-Hst,o Apulr Ftcrott oN OCLC, ADDEDtN 1995

Author/Title Date Holdings Rank Brad{brd, Barbarr The women in his lile 1990 908 3740 Cric'hton, Michael Congo 1980 923 3015 Fitzgerald, F Scott The great Gatsby 192-5 9lo 361.5 Gra{ton, Sue "C" is {br corpse 1986 907 3805 (Jreeley, Andrew M Angel {ire 1988 903 3980 380 5 Higgins, Jack Touch the devil 1982 907 3740 Irving, fohn The cider lrouse rules 1985 908 Keneally, Thomas Schindlert list 1982 924 2950 407 0 Macdonald, John D The lonely silver rain 1985 901 Michaels, Bartara Into the darkness 1990 908 3740 Plain, Belva Harvest 1990 912 JCO D Sanders, Lawrence The Timothy {iles 1987 901 407 0 Sandcrs, Lawrence The seventh commandment l99I 905 3895 Sheldon, Sidney The stars shine down 1992 904 3925 Steel, Danielle Messageltom Nam 1990 906 3850 Trumm. Marqaret Murder in the White House 1980 903 398.0

Of the 393 titles that remained on the list from 1994 to 1995, those with more recent publication dates &d show a-slightly largei increase in number of holding Iibiaries than those titles with older publication dates.The mean numberof libraries holding a given title increased (by 39) lrom 915-in 1994 to 954 in 1995; the matic way o{ illustrating this {act is to note median increased(by 4l) {rom 904 to 945. the cutoif point fbr the 400 most-held Depending upon how "older" and titles. In 19-94,this was 865 (i.e., the last "n&er" are defined, analysisusing t-tests title on the list was held by 865 libraries), and correlations suggeststhat there is a vet in 1995,the samenumber of'titleswas ieached at 901. Hr.lpothesis 3. Titles uith older publi- cutioi dates uiII be more likelq to drop

the oldest titles are removed, there is a very weak Pearson correlation of

lished in 198I and the newest in 1990,{br mean and median dates of ca' 1986. The 16 titles added (see table 3) had a mean publication date ofca. 1983. In compari- important to remember that OCLC is a ion, the 393 titles that remained on the very dynamic database; member libraries Iist had publication dates ranging {rom to add new holdings, and at the 1886 to t99t, with a mean publication ".rr-tti.rn"sametime newlibraries become members. date of ca. 1985 and a median date of For these new libraries, recurds are added 1986. T-tests showed no significant dill'er- lbr older holdings aswell asnew accessions. ence in dates between t[ose titles that As noted above,the number of public librar- dropped and those that did not drop fiom 108/ LRTS . 42(2) o Senkeaitch and Stteetland

the list. nor any significant difference be- tlid not show any statistically signilicant tween those dropped and those added. relationship with the numbeis ofiibraries However. caution rnust be exercised be- boldine the title. cause of the small numbers of titles in- Altliough there is no correlation be- volved in this analysis Hypothesis 4 Those titles added to the Iist from one tJearto the next uill be those uith recent publication rlates. The L6 titles added (see table 3) to the list in 1995 tended to be those with more re- records for it. In the 1994 list, this is cent publication dates; however, the -.8338and in 1995-.8297, both sisnificant overall difference in publication dates at <.000I. In other words, the older tlre between those titles idded and those record the greater the number of mani- dropped was not statisticallysigni[icant. festations. fhis is not surprising, because Only one of the I 6 titles adtiedIo the list older titles are more likily than nerver u,as published before lgg0, F. Scott ones to have been issued in various edi- Fitzgerald's The Creat Catsbq (f925). tions over the years. lncluding that title, tlre mean daie of titles added was ca. 1983.the median ca. Igg7. CHANGES On the other hand, only one of tl-renew IN RANKoVER ONE YEAR titles had a lg92 publication date. and As noted above.there u,asrelatively lit- one a l99I date; there were no titles tle change in the whole list of titles over added with publication dates more re- a year. However, the ranking of some cent than 1992. individual titles shifted drasticallv frorn Hypothesis 5 Those titles coith more the 1994 to the 1995 list. There'are a recent publication dates aaill shou a total of 422 titles in the combination of greater increase in the number of dffirent OCLC records (as a resuh of ne- iditiorc anrl tlffirent fommts) thin those titles uith ol-derpublication dates. This proved not to be the case.The 3g3 titles on both lists showed a mean number of OCLC manifestations in 1g94 of 8.7, with a me - the 1995-listing. Titles dropped from dian of 8; in 1995the mean number of the 1994 list tended to be thbie toward manifestationsper title was 8.gg. with a median of 8. However,77.4Vo(304) ot tlre continuing titles slrowedno change in the number of manifestations. 5f those title^s showing a change in the number of rnanifestitions froir l9g4 to creasewas I07 positions:5 titles did not 1995, 5 actuallyshowed a drop (possiblv change rank. and t2 changedonly a lralf due to consolidationof.ecoids'). 64 ti- position. These titles wii-h little or no tles showed an increaseof only I mani- change in rank appear to have little in festation, 13 an increaseof 2,2 an in- comrnon, other tliin that fact and their creaseof 3, and 3 titles an increaseof4 relatively hlgh rank. manifestations. Among those titles with increased manifestations are two of tl-re Is THEREa CoNsBNsus oldest titles (1886 and lg36). as well as Conr or ADULTFrcrroN? one ofthe newest (1991).For the 83 titles Our findings suggestthat the list of most- held fictlon titlii is relatively stable and tlrat the OLUC could. in faci, be used as a "consensuslist" of adult fiction suitable for public libraries However, while the LRTS . 42(2) . PublicLibraries and Aduh Fiction /109

catalog surrogate, 1995 OLUC contained, in theory the OCLC database as a and fbund tl'rlt 827o of titles were held by onlv t library examined. Authors of more recent studies using

407th were held by only 90I libraries' M'hen a list of the tirp a0-0contains titles owned bv only Ig.2Tobf public libraries in the system,one coultl question the mean-

uniquely among the 427 smaller acadernic librariei examined. They also are arnong

23Voand 51 7o of these recently publisl red titles tlrat were uniquely held among the Iibrarieswere checked only in public li- 427 libraries. and researchabout the braries, 327a were found to be held in Descriptions oI lists of library holdings only I library use of coliective of peer group Tl-re authors of the few studies dealing sugqest that the analysis coil"ectionsto create a baseline lbr evalu- atinq one's own collection might have valu-e.$rhile there is little literature re-

titles were held by the public library' while the 4 school librarief held between 18 and 22 of tl.retitles. Comparing holdings of selected fiction and nonfiction tities in 4 public libraries with 2 school libraries from eaclt comrnunity, Doll (1984) consistently found the public Ii- braries \vere rnore likely to hold the selected titles than the schools. Tl-re literature on academic libraries might provide sorne guidance, although mo-stoi these autlrori have only consid- ered nonfiction material. McGrath and Si- rnon (1972) found little overlap arnong the llo/ LRTS . 42(2) o Senkeaitchand Suoeetland

larity, and in favor of the fiction more IMPACToF Mrora oN LTBRARy likely to be retained over trme HoLDINGS

Couct usroxs eNo REcoMMENDATIoNSFoR FURTHER Rrsrencn

the titles that appearedon tlre list. or that showed considerableincrease in rankinq, can be connected with the creation of"a motion picture or television miniseries based on the work. During the course of this study, motion picturei or television miniseries were released based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula, The Creat Gatsby, and several ofJane Austen's novels, for eiample. \\1e plan to examine tl.ris phenometroir in deiail ln the near future. In the meantime, it u'ill be very interesting to see whether such titles rise However, the findings presented here into the top 400 by next year. suggestthat the OCLCIi;I of most-held adult titles is relatively stable over tirne; NATURE tl.rat newly published iltles do not auto- oF THE Mosr-Hslo Lrsr matically get purchasedbypublic Iibraries \Vhile onlytwo years'study doesnot provide in large quantities; and that such a listing sufffcient'data to rnake solid conciusions, could, in fact, be used as a consensuslisi ofadult fiction suitable for public library collection evaluation.

DEFTNINGA "CLessrc" The issueofwhat constitutesa fiction clas- 1990. The oldest title added, from 192b, might well be an anornaly, because the other 15 all date from the 1980s.The 1925 title added, Fitzgerald s Great Gatsby, might alsobe an eiarnple of tlre impact of a media event, as discussedabove.^ If tl.rispattern is typical over time, it suggestsseveral points. For one thing, at least the aduli fiction that becorne",

status or notoriety, it would seem librar- 'lurnp ies do not immediately on the youthful rea&ng. bandwagon,"but rathei confirrn serjous LR?S . 42(2) . Public Libraries and Adult Fiction /1ll interest in their community be{bre cata- most held lvorks as a public library collec- Ioging a nerv title. tion evaluation tool. The same data can also be used in another way to suggest that public li- WoRKs CITED braries, at least with adult fiction, are American library directory 1997-1998. 1997 their local clientele, in tl.rat sensitive to 50th ed. Neu'Providence, N.J.: Bos'ker. there is relatively little overlap among Baker, Sharon 1986 The display phenome- collections. non: An exploration into I'actors causing the increaied circulation of displayed books Library quarterly 56: 237 -57' Ornen Annas Ron Furunr SruoY -. 1988 Will fiction classification schemes In tl.re present study, we address library increase use? RQ 2i:366-76' ownership-not patron use-of adult fic- - 1993 The responsir:epubliclibrary col- it tion. However, we now have evidence that lection: Houa to det:elop and market Er-rqlervood,Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. the llst of "classics" is relatively stable. - t-gga denrand:The basisfor This suggeststhat the list could be used to Qualityand fiction collection assessment Collection patterns analyzepublic library circulation build.ine 12 (3/4): 65-68 of thesewidely held titles. Resultsof such Boon, Belinda 1995 The CREW method: deny the research would help confinn or Expanded guidelinesfor collection eaalu- ation and u,eedingfor small and medium' si;ed public libraries. Rev. and updated. Austin, Texas:Texas State Library. Cooperative collection rnanagement: The ctnspectus approach Ispecia-lissue]. 1994. (3/4). to tl-re demand-versus-quality debate Collection buildins 12 A. 1984 A study of overlap and and provide additional in;ightl into the Doll, Carol duplicationamong children's collections in natu?e and use of adult fiction collec- selected public aiid elenrentary school li- tions. Further, an analysis of data by braies Library quarterly 54: 277-89 region and size of library might providb Goldhor, Herbert 1985 A summaru and re- additional insights into library collect- aieu of the indercs of American public li' ins of fiction. brant statistics; 1939-1983. Urbana, Ill: Another area of future study con- Library ResearchCetrter, University of Il- cerns the cl.rildren's and young adult Iirrois, ERIC Document ED 264879 vgorkson the lists. It should be remem- Hardestv, Larry, and Collette Mak. 1994. bered that the original lists generated by Searching for the Holy Grail: A core col- for undergraduate libraries. OCLC each included 498 titles, \t'ith lection Jour- nal of academic librarianship 19: 362-7I approximately 90 titles in each list being Debra W. 1989. Public library circu- juveniles, even -Tohnson, currently marketed to lation holds steady in 1988. American li' thougl.r many are also listed in \\zilson's braries 20:705 Fiction Catalog. !\'/ewill work on this list Lonq, Sarah P. 1986. The effect offace-front to determine possible features of these di.play on the circulation of books in a titles over the next year. public library. Master'sthesis, University In addition, given the surprising stabil- of North Carolina at Creensboro. ERIC ity of the adult fiction list over one year Docuntent ED 278415 and the lack of sufficiently larqe nurnbers McClain,Pat 1995 E-mailmessage 5October. ofnew titles for rigorous analyiis.it would McClure, Charles, and others 1987 Planning role setting public libraries Chi- be very useful to retain the programrning and for cago: AI-A. used to generate these lists of highlyheld McGrath, William, and Donald Simon tl.re analy- f. adult fiction in order to extend 1972 LNR: Registerof books in Louisiana sis over a longer period of tirne, such as libraries; Basic doatments I Baton Rouge, five or ten years This would provide ad- La : Louisiatra Library Association ERIC ditional insights into the nature of public Document ED 070 470 library adult fiction collections and into Moore, Barbara, and others 1982 Title over- the longer-term value of an OCLC list of lap: A study of duplication irr the Univer- IIA LRTS . 42(2) o Senkeoitchand. Su,eetland

sitv of Wisconsin systern libraries College Shearer, Kenneth. 1993. Confusing s,hat is C: researchlibraries 42: l4-22. nrost rlanted uith t'hat is mosi used: A OCLC statistics, 1994 OCLC neusletter 210 crisis irr public library priorities today.pub- (Jul1,/August):1l lic libraries 3!: 193-97. Parrish, Nancy B 1986 The effect ofa book- Slote, Stanley I . 1989. Weedinglibrary collec- list on the circulation of fiction books tions,3d ed Enqleu'ood,Colo.: Libraries u,hich have not been borros,ed from a Unlimited public library in four years or longer. - l97l Identifying useful core collec- Mastert thesis. Universitv of North tions: A study ofrveeding fiction in public Carolina at Creensboro.ERiC docuntent libraries. Library quarterly 4l: 2514. ED 282564 Su,e_etland,James H 1991. Managing adult Potter. jon William C. 1986. Collect overlap in fiction collections in public lidraries. In the LCS netuork in lllinois. Librant ctiar- Managing fiction in libraries, ed Mar- terly 56: lf9-41. garet Kinnell, 8l-100 London: Litrrary Rozek, fane. lgg0. A small-scaleinvestigation Association. of the overlap of school and public l-ibrary Srveetland,fames H., and Judith J. Senkevitcb. collection de-velopment. Illtio is \ibrarr/s ,1995.Evaluatirrg public Iibrary fiction col- 72: 16l-63 lections: Is theri i co.e list oi classi<.s?In Segal, foseph P 1980. Et:aluating and ueed- Annual reaieu of OCLC research lgg4 ingcollectionsin small and midium-si^.ed Dublin, Ohio: OCLC, 59-6I public libraries: The CREW method Chi, Truett, Carol. 1990. Weedinq and evaluat- cago: ALA ing the rel'erence collection: A s(udv of Senkevitch, Judith, and fames H S*,eetland policies and practices in acaden.ricand 1994. Evaluating adult fiction in the public librarie s Reference librarian 2g: smaller public libiary. Re 34; 78-89. JJ-O / -. 1996. Evaluating public libraru adult Vavrek, Bernard. 1990.Assessingthe informa- Iiction: Can s'e define a core collection? tion needsof rural Americani. Clarion, pa.: RO 36: 103-17 College of Library Science, Clarion Un! Sha*. Debora. 1985.Overlap of morroqraphs versity of Pennsylvania in public and academic libraries i; Lidj- Westin, Alan F,, and Anne L. Finqer. 1ggl. ana Library 6 information science re- Using the public library in the computer search 7: 275-98 age. Chicago: ALA.