A cross-sectional study of the use of library books by undergraduate students

摘要

Very few studies have proceeded beyond the analysis of circulation data to assess the utilization of library collections. In this study, over 700 undergraduate students in two universities were interviewed to determine their uses of the books they had borrowed from their respective library systems. The results show that the majority of borrowed books were used in the initial part of the loan period. Average contact times which were utilized to measure use were found not to be significantly different between the two universities with varying loan periods.