Sampling and Short-Period Usage in the Purdue Library

Several possible methods of sampling the social science monograph titles in the general library of Purdue University were considered, and a "goo(r method was used to obtain estimates of their usage in the library and at home during the period July 1-August 4, 1964. The term relative usage was defined and used to study the effect of: (1) language, (2) country of publication, (3) year of publication, and (4) year of accession of a monograph title. An attempt was made to fit a regression model for titles in English by quantifying the last three independent variables with relative usage as the dependent variable. Functions based on the above variables have been developed to identify monograph titles for storage. A questionnaire was employed to study the usage of library facilities and to gather opinions of library patrons. Purpose of visiting the library, reason for checkout of library material, reason for preferring library or home for the use of library material, etc., were analyzed on the basis of the replies received.