Collectlons assessment ín libraries for university education

Abstract

A comprehensive collection analysis has been performed in 1995-1996 in university libraries and in somé national special libraries of Hungary. The initial assumptbn was thai the present tevel of library conditions is much below the needs of undergraduate and graduate education, especially below the requirements of doctoral dissertations. The methodology of the analysis was based partly on the collection growth model developed for university libraries of the former German Democratic Republic, and partly on the comparíson of exísting collections with reference lists of core documents. The analysis by subject fields has confirmed the assumptíon of the severe acquisítion deficiencies of internatíonal literature in thé past 10-15 years in Hungárián university and central special libraries: they are able to supply for users as low as 10 percent in average of the titles they need. Many libraries are evén below this average, and only a few of them are in a better than average situation. The poor availability of special literature in Hungary can be changed only through external resources.