An Assessment of the Social Science Collections in the University Libraries of Hong Kong.

Abstract

Library collections need assessments to determine if they are effective and what remains to be done to have them improved. In order to achieve an accurate and successful collection evaluation, a combination of techniques is required. In appraising the social science collections in the libraries of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong, several methods were used. An initial step was to check the book and periodical holdings in the two libraries against three st and ard bibliographies, i.e., Books for College Libraries, Choice, and Classified List of Periodicals for the College Library compiled by Evan I. Farber. The second research instrument employed was a questionnaire survey which polled the opinions of the social science faculty and graduate students on the adequacy of the collections. The final phase of the research was to gather the library users' views on the various aspects of library services other than the collections. This was accomplished through the use of the interview technique. Results from checking the st and ard bibliographies have revealed that the two libraries had in average at least 50 percent of those books and periodicals checked. The questionnaire survey has revealed that the faculty and students considered: (1) the reference materials, books, periodicals, and newspapers were adequate for teaching, and less than adequate for research, and (2) government and international agency publications, dissertations/research papers, conference proceedings/semi-published materials, and maps/atlases/gazetteers were less than adequate for both teaching and research. Finally, the results of the interview survey have indicated that the library users' views of the various aspects of the academic library services in Hong Kong were generally favorable. In conclusion, fifteen recommendations categorized into three headings, i.e., (1) improvement of the existing collections, (2) future development, and (3) areas for further research, have been proposed. It is hoped that adoption of these recommendations will enhance the effectiveness of the social science collections in the two university libraries of Hong Kong.