Monograph use at an academic health sciences library: the first three years of shelf life

Objective: To study the circulation of monographs during the first three ye ars of shelf life at an academic health sciences library. Method: A record was kept of monographs added to the circulating collection from mid-1994 to mid-1995. After three years, each monograph was located a nd the number of times it circulated during the first, second, and third ye ar of shelf life determined by counting Checkout stamps on the circulation slip. Results: Of the 1,958 monographs studied, 1,674 had complete data for the f irst three years of shelf life. Of those 1,674 titles, 81.48% circulated at least once. A total of 7,659 circulations were recorded; 38.69% occurred i n the first year of shelf life, 32.37% in the second year, and 28.95% in th e third year. The data did not fit the well known 80/20 rule. Instead, appr oximately 38% of monographs accounted for 80% of circulation. A small perce ntage, 2.21%, of monographs accounted for a substantial percentage of circu lation, 21.84%. Conclusions: A large percentage of the monographs circulated and use did no t decline sharply with age within the first three years of shelf life, indi cating a high demand for monographs at this academic health sciences librar y. These results, combined with the findings of earlier studies, suggested two possibilities. First, academic health sciences libraries might exhibit use of a higher percentage of monograph acquisitions than other types of li braries; or, second, a low monograph-to-user ratio might result in a higher percentage of monographs being used. Perhaps both factors contributed to t he results found in this study. Further investigation would be needed to de termine the extent to which library type and monograph-to-user ratio influe nced monograph use.