Tom Nisonger photo
SLIS professor Thomas Nisonger recently published an article titled "Journals in the Core Collection: Definition, Identification, and Applications" in Serials Librarian 51, nos. 3-4 (2007): 51-73.
The "core" collection is a well-established concept in library collection management, dated to at least the 1930s when Charles B. Shaw compiled A List of Books for College Libraries. This article provides an overview of the core concept applied to journals, defines the relevant terminology, and cites specific examples of core lists. Ten approaches for determining core journals (subjective judgment, use, indexing coverage, overlapping library holdings, citation data, citation network/co-citation analysis, production of articles, Bradford's Law, faculty publication data, and multiple criteria methods) are reviewed and the practical applications of core journals lists are explained. Theoretical and practical problems associated with the core concept and core journal lists are discussed and a taxonomy for classifying core journal lists is outlined.
Thomas Nisonger is one of the faculty sponsors of the SLIS Student Chapter of the American Library Association. He regularly teaches:
Posted June 08, 2007