The Application of Bibliometric Techniques to the Analysis of Materials for Young Adults
Title:
The Application of Bibliometric Techniques to the Analysis of Materials for Young Adults
Author:
Barber, Raymond W. Mancall, Jacqueline C.
Appeared in:
Collection management
Paging:
Volume 2 (1978) nr. 3 pages 229-246
Year:
1978-06-01
Contents:
The information needs of young adults are no different from those of most people. They tend to be recreational, developmental, and occupational. In selecting materials to meet these needs recommendations of experts as well as what YA's actually use should be considered. Two studies look at this problem. In this first study, a data base of 19,405 titles has been compiled from 19 lists of "best" books for YA's. The compilers found that 22% of all titles occured on more than one list. Books with 3 or more references created a "core" collection of 1134 titles. The second study sampled 270 student papers written by college-bound students in grades 10, 11, and 12. The papers came from a cross-section of metropolitan area schools and were in the humanities and science. Sixty-seven percent of the references were to monographs, and 20% to journals; the remainder was to a range of materials and media. A typical paper used materials from 3 to 30 years old. Of all the references to monographs (2117), 578 were cited in one or more lists. The top two lists accounted for 69% of the 578 titles; the top three for 79%, with a 12% overlap. The question is raised whether the lists control what will be used, or whether they identify useful materials. The disposition of journal articles referenced by students followed Bradford's Law. A relatively large number of articles used were concentrated in a few journal titles, while many journals contributed very few articles. There is a need to describe more closely materials for YA use, particularly considering moves toward library cooperation. Reference data can provide one indicator of use. It can be an aid in the decision-making process for funding, for opening or closing stacks or shelving, or just to alert libraries to which materials are chosen most frequently for and by YA's.
Journal description