PHASE I—COMPARISON OF COLLECTON ON A SUBJECT/AUTHOR BASIS

Method: For this phase of the collection analysis, the works by and about 4 prominent architects were selected to compare our holdings with the holdings in 7 other libraries. The architects selected were Alvar Aalto, Renzo Piano, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier. I compared monograph holdings that were either about these architects and their works or monographs they authored.

The seven libraries were selected on the following criteria: Four (Cornell, Michigan, Rice, Berkeley) were identified as the top schools of architecture in their respective regions by the 2001 edition of The Almanac of Architecture and Design. The other three were regional peer institutions with architecture programs (Iowa State, KU, Oklahoma State).

I conducted a keyword search on Voyager for each architect and printed out the results. I then repeated the process for each comparison library. I tabulated the totals for each school and then searched each title in each of the other libraries to determine the number of unique titles owned by Weigel Library in comparison to the individual library as well as the number of overlap titles. As an example, our holdings for Alvar Aalto number 50 titles. Berkeley has 109 titles. Twenty-three (46%) Aalto titles held by Weigel Library are not held by Berkeley. Thus, though Berkeley has more extensive holdings, Weigel Library still has nearly 50% unique holdings in comparison. These results were tabulated and are presented in the table at the end of this report.

Results: As expected, the 4 top regional schools have more extensive holdings for each of these architects. Number of titles in Weigel Library for these architects was similar to or exceeded the holdings of the regional peer libraries.

Ranges for our unique holdings among the all the comparison schools are as follows: Alvar Aalto collection: 28-54%; Renzo Piano collection: 13-60%; Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe: 18-64%; Le Corbusier collection: 17-65%. Oklahoma State was the only school compared where we consistently had more titles and greater than 50% unique titles (range: 53-65%) across all four architects.

Conclusion: Weigel Library’s total titles analyzed in this study are not as extensive in comparison to the four top schools, averaging fifty-percent of their titles. The percent of titles unique to Weigel Library in comparison to each school indicates that our collection, while not as extensive, should be considered very adequate in terms of depth and uniqueness.

As mentioned previously, our total titles for each architect were very similar to the regional peer institutions utilized in this study with the exception of Oklahoma State. Again, the percentage of unique titles in comparison to these schools indicates a very strong collection.

PHASE II—PAUL WEIGEL COLLECTION ANALYSIS

One unique aspect of the collection in Weigel Library is the material acquired by Paul Weigel, the first head of the Department of Architecture and for whom the Library is named. During his 32-year tenure, from 1923 to 1955, Weigel purchased several hundred volumes containing plates of French and English cathedrals, opera houses and government buildings along with many other classic works. Few architecture school libraries, with the exception of the largest, have similar holdings. A bibliography of these materials has been made available by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. This bibliography, comprised of 337 titles, provides an excellent listing of historical and classic publications in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture.

Method: Each title contained in the bibliography of the Paul Weigel collection (http://www.lib.ksu.edu/branches/architecture/biblio.html) was searched in each library’s online catalog for a direct comparison of holdings on a title-by-title basis.

Results: Berkeley had the most of these titles (238) and Oklahoma State had the least (102). Titles unique to Weigel Library thus ranged from 29-70 percent. The tabulated results are presented in the table at the end of this report.

Conclusion: The results of this comparison present an excellent picture of the historical strength of the collection in Weigel Library.

PHASE III—SERIAL HOLDINGS

Method: Serial holdings in Weigel Library were compared to the “Core list of periodical titles for a first-degree program in architecture” (http://www.library.njit.edu/archlib/aasl/core-list/index.cfm) identified by the Association of Architecture School Librarians. This listing contains 55 core titles and 16 supplementary foreign titles.

Results: Weigel Library has 53 of the 55 titles listed as being core to a first-degree program and 13 of the 16 titles listed in the supplementary foreign list.

Conclusion: Weigel Library currently has a very strong collection of key journals in architecture and design education. The AASL core list is currently being revised to reflect titles that have ceased publication and those that have been identified for addition to the list. In anticipation of this revision, we have recently added several titles that have been selected for inclusion on this list.

PHASE IV—OCLC ICAS DATA

Method: Examined the ICAS data in the NA call number range to determine trends or noticeable gaps.

Results: Total of 10,217 titles as reported in ICAS broken down in the following year ranges:

This data is also presented in graphical form at the end of this report.

Conclusion: The collection of architecture titles continues to grow in Weigel Library. With a total of 10,217 titles, those items in the NA call number range make up right around one-quarter of the nearly 41,000 total titles in Weigel Library. Most of the material is post 1960 with the last two complete decades having almost one-half of the total volumes (5108 titles). Efforts should be made to assess the historical completeness of the collection in Weigel.

WEIGEL COLLECTION ANALYSIS