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Data measurement shows that 40 per cent of our collections is unique

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The library recently used a data measurement programme called Greenglass to evaluate its collections.

To assess the strength of our collections, find gaps in subject coverage, and learn which areas we may want to focus our collecting efforts on in future, we took the opportunity to use the programme, which would also allow us to see how our collections compare with the libraries of all the institutes at the School of Advanced Study, and with other libraries in the UK and around the world.

Results showed that, whereas in similar studies the average figure is 2 per cent, almost 40 per cent of our combined collections are held in five or fewer institutions - proving our libraries’ collections to be unique and hard to replicate.

Looking forward, the programme will also able us to see where we have multiple copies across our libraries, providing us with ways to reduce the footprint of our collections. It will also allow us to update our records to ensure that they can be found easily by both our members and other scholars around the world - making our great collections more visible and discoverable.

This page was last updated on 1 November 2022