Where Have All the Dissertations Gone? Assessing the State of a Unique Collection's Shelf (Un)availability

Abstract

A study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library (UIUC) examined data from a random sample of PhD dissertation titles to determine the number of items missing from the portion of the collection housed in the Main Bookstacks. Results from the study indicated that a higher number of items were missing than originally estimated based on failures to find materials on the shelf. Analysis of the data resulted in recommendations to replace the titles that were missing to ensure access by future researchers to this uniquely held material.