Gap Assignment
A “gap” collection is one that pertains to a specific subject area or genre in which a library”s current collection is non-existent, sparse, weak and/or outdated. There are a variety of methods for determining a gap in the collection. A detailed collection analysis can sometimes reveal gaps in a library’s collections. Sometimes, gaps can be revealed through patron requests. With many large libraries moving towards centralized collection development, it is becoming more and more important for librarians to be able to identify and fill gaps in library collections.
For this assignment, you need to find a “gap” in the collections of the library that you have been studying throughout the semester. Given a budget of $2,000 (U.S. Dollars), select a collection of materials (books, e-books, reference, e-reference, musical score, CDs, DVDs, etc.) for this library.
Your selections must all relate to the same subject area (or genre) of your choice.
Pay special attention to the date of publication. For collections focused on technology, sciences, and current events, currency is an issue. If you are selecting for those areas, make sure that the publication dates are within the last five years. If you are selecting for literature or other areas in the humanities, currency is not as big of an issue. Either way, this MUST be addressed in your narrative.
Be sure that all of your choices are in print at the time selected. You cannot select materials that are out of print, rare, or antiquarian.
Use the Web-based version of Bowker’s Books in Print (Books in Print) for any bibliographic or pricing information not given in the selection or reviewing resources that you use.
Your selections must represent a variety of different formats (print, electronic, audio, etc.), and must be chosen from more than one selection or reviewing resource. You must have at least 3 different formats.
There will be two elements to this assignment. One will be the narrative portion that shows the thought processes used when making selections decisions. The second element will be the spreadsheet that contains the selections.
Narrative Portion:
Begin the assignment with a brief summary of how you identified the gap. (A detailed outline and explanation will be provided. Please follow it.)
Include a description of the gap and how you plan to fill it.
Answer the following questions in your discussion:
What criteria did you establish to determine what items to include in your list of selections?
What aspects of the subject did you choose to focus on? Were there certain areas or focuses that you excluded?
What selection criteria did you use? This can be coverage, intended audience, reading level, format, or anything else that you used to help you narrow or broaden your selections.
What selection and review sources did you use? (You need to use at least 4 different professional resources. You can use popular booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble but they do not count as professional resources. You should not use Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other popular booksellers for more than 25% of your selections.)
Why did you use those particular resources? If you used some trial and error to find the best resource, mention that.
Table of Selections:
The table portion of the assignment is the major focus. I will primarily be looking at your table.
Your selections must be entered in a Word or Excel table of your own creation. (The Excel file can be submitted as a separate attachment.)
The table must include the following headings:
bibliographic information (author’s name, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication),
format (book, e-book, compact disc, etc.),
price,
name of selection resource used (abbreviations accompanied by a legend listing the full titles are acceptable), every item should have a selection source listed
review source, You need to find reviews for 25% of the selections. If there is no review for an item, leave the cell blank.
ISBN/ISSN/other unique identification number,
other details (“paperback”, “revised edition”, record label number, “performer’s name”, etc.). Every single item should have enough information listed so that it can be uniquely identified.
Sample table:
Author
Title
Format
Publisher
ISBN/ISSN
Price
Selection Source
Review Source
Other Details
(Note: If you use abbreviations for the sources, you must provide a legend/key)
Other guidelines:
Media types: You must include at least 3 different types of materials. Some of the material types are books, DVD’s, audiobooks, periodicals, CD’s, etc. Books with different types of binding count as books. Paperback and hardback will be considered one material type.
Selection Sources:
EVERY ITEM SHOULD HAVE A SELECTION SOURCE LISTED!
You need to have at least 2 professional sources listed in the table. You cannot use a popular bookseller, such as Amazon, for more than 25% of the items. The purpose of this assignment is for you to get some practice identifying and using the selection tools that are commonly used during the collection development process.
3. Review Sources:
25% of the items selected must be reviewed.
Must use at least 2 different professional review sources.
In your table, you simply need to indicate where you found the review. You do not need to include the actual review anywhere in your paper.
Miscellaneous Guidelines/Expenditures:
Students must spend the entire $2000. A hundred dollars above or below is acceptable.
No more than 2 copies of any item can be purchased. If you include more than one copy of any item, you MUST provide justification for it in your narrative. Very few libraries purchase multiple copies of items unless it is a high demand item such as popular fiction.
No single item can cost more than $300. The purpose of this assignment is to use the selection and review sources. Also, with shrinking budgets, it is better to purchase less expensive items in order to expand the offerings. There are some subject areas that tend to have expensive items. If you have selected one of those areas, you will need to contact me for approval. A lot of libraries require approval for the purchase of items that cost over a certain amount.
Works Cited/Consulted:
For this project, you need to include a list of the works that you used to purchase items. You do not need to list an entry for every single review or every single item. For example, if you used School Library Journal to locate reviews, then you only need to list School Library Journal one time in your works cited/consulted.
Be sure to use the plethora of resources offered by UNT to help you with your selections. UNT offers access to Books in Print and Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, as well as many others. Be sure to make use of the Library Science databases offered through UNT as they contain book reviews. If you need help or ideas figuring out which resources to use, please post to the Gap Assignment discussion areas so that your classmates and I can help you locate resources that will help you fill the gap.
Identifying the Gap
The first thing to do for this assignment is to identify a gap in existing collections. There are several ways to do this.
Review the results of your needs assessment. Needs assessments may reveal gaps in the collection.
Look to see if the demographics of the area are changing or shifting. For example, if a large number of people in the service area are recently unemployed, you may want to consider adding a collection of books about creating resumes, job searching, and other information resources of that nature.
Look at request records. If a certain topic is being requested in large amounts, then it might be a good idea to consider developing that area.
Look at a collection analysis for old or out-of-date materials.
Personal observation based on informal assessments such as working with patrons regularly.
The above are ways that can be used IF you are currently working in the library. Since many of you are not working in a library and may not have access to the information listed above, you can be a little creative and select a topic that is interesting to you. The only caveat is that it MUST make sense to have these items in your chosen library. For example, it wouldn’t make sense for a public library to have an expensive collection of medical books.
Once you have chosen a focus, sit down with the selection and review sources and start browsing. You can start with recommended reading lists or other tools that are readily available. I recognize that many of you do not currently work in a library. As such, I expect you to use the UNT databases as well as other professional resources that are available to you. Professional organizations such as ALA often have lists freely available online. Do NOT list Amazon as a selection source unless Amazon is the ONLY place that you could locate the item. There are some items, such as videos, that are difficult to find anywhere but Amazon. I understand that Amazon is used by many libraries. The purpose of this assignment is for students to familiarize themselves with tools other than Amazon and other popular booksellers.
Lesson 4: Gap Assignment Outline
(Don’t forget to include a cover page and double space.)
Gap Details (2 points)
Gap Identification
Clearly identify and explain the gap that is being filled. Discuss how it was identified. Was the gap identified through the needs assessment, observation, circulation statistics, patron requests, ILL, or some other method? The gap must focus on a specific genre or topic. If you are having difficulties identifying a gap, it would make sense to locate materials relating to the pandemic. Another topic that most libraries could improve upon is diversity. If there is an underserved population, this would be a good time to identify it and select materials that would be relevant to that population.
Formats Included
Discuss the formats that will be included in the selection of materials. Keep in mind that you must include three different formats.
Gap Limits
The guidelines state that no single item can cost over $300. You can only include ONE copy of all items. You can include two copies of high-circulating items such as popular fiction. If you include two copies, you MUST explain why. Points will be deducted if you do not explain your justification. Also, you cannot include more than two copies of any item. If your library has other limits on materials selection, please mention that here.
Here is an example from a community college library where I worked: When selecting materials, be sure to keep the price for books at $50 or less. Also, there is a limit on the number of pages. Our instructions were to avoid books that have more than 400 pages. Multiple copies are only ordered if there are special circumstances. Also, every single item selected MUST have a review, preferably from Choice Reviews. We also have to consider the level carefully. All books that are considered advanced or for research purposes are avoided. The materials must be considered basic essential or basic recommended. The nursing books were the only exception to the above limits.
Resources Used (2 points)
Selection Sources
Discuss the sources that you used to fill the gap in your collection. Even if you don’t use all of the resources that you consulted, you can mention them in this section. The purpose of this assignment is for you to practice identifying and using collection development tools. A lot of times, librarians will consult numerous selection sources before determining which ones will actually be used to fill the gap. You must use at least two different professional selection sources. Popular booksellers will not be counted.
Review Sources
Discuss the review sources that you used to locate reviews. Finding reviews may not be as easy as finding selection sources. Even if you don’t use a particular review source, you can mention it here and describe the process that you used to ultimately locate relevant reviews. Again, this assignment is about using a variety of professional review sources.
Works Cited/Consulted (1 point)
For this assignment, you may simply list the resources that you used. In many cases, you may use the same source for multiple items. The works cited for this assignment can be a bit confusing because I am not asking you to list every single review. I am looking for a list of the items used. For example, if you access a book review from School Library Journal via our databases, then you need to list the journal, the database, and the date accessed. If you get information from Books in Print, then you need to list Books In Print via UNT databases. To format it, please use the recommendations from your citation format. I need to know which resources you used and how you accessed them. If you list a URL or database name without any other information, points WILL be deducted.
Table of Selections (5 points)
You can include your table of selections as a table within the document or you may submit it as a separate Excel file. The majority of points for this assignment will come from the table of selections. Your table must include a column for the title, author, ISBN, individual pricing, publication date, publisher, review source, and selection source.
Please use the following template:
gap template.xlsxDownload gap template.xlsx
Sample Table for Gap Purchases
Author Title Publisher Publication Date ISBN/ISSN Format Selection Source Review Source Other Details Quantity Price
All items must be published within the last 5 years and should be readily available. If the format does not have an ISSN or ISBN, use the standard number for that format. Specify whether the item is a book, DVD, audiobook, etc. Every single item MUST have a selection source listed. 25% of your materials need to have a review. If there is other information that can help uniquely identify the resource, you can include it here. You can only order ONE copy. If you include more than one of any item, you MUST explain why in the narrative. Use the list price. Do not worry about discounts or shipping.
