Book Availability: Academic Library Assessment

In the climate of increasing calls for academic assessment, the authors undertook a study to ascertain book availability in an academic library. The study described here uses the methodology pioneered by Tefko Saracevic, W. M. Shaw, Jr., and Paul Kantor and is a follow-up of earlier research reported in College & Research Libraries in 1987. The authors designed the study to identify any improvements in availability after the implementation of recommendations following the first study. The study provided a quantitative measure of library performance based upon the outcomes of card catalog searches. The research serves as a model for ongoing assessment in the library.