The Core List Mirage: A Comparison of the Journals Frequently Consulted by Faculty and Students

By employing a combination of electronic and manual methods, the authors of this study compiled separate lists of the journals most frequently used by Western Illinois University faculty and students. These lists of popular journals, although interesting in themselves, also reveal that journal consultation habits vary considerably between constituencies, even within one academic library. Thus, the ultimate “core list” remains illusory. The dissimilarity of the lists emphasizes the importance of using local data and recognizing the distinctive needs of both ends of the user spectrum when making journal-collection decisions.