Use Studies: A Selective Review

Librarians have conducted hundreds of studies exploring various aspects of collection use in libraries. Most studies are of journal collections in academic libraries; however, the principles of conducting use studies are generally applicable to other materials and other types of libraries. Use studies can be conducted in a wide variety of ways, and they can measure different aspects of the use of a collection. Each method has its own particular strengths and weaknesses. If a combination of methods is used, the weaknesses of each method can be offset by the strengths of the others, and a truer picture of overall use can then be obtained.