"In a study of the actual and perceived correlation of copyright date and patron borrowing patterns at Lambuth's Luther L. Gobbel Library, undergraduates did not perceive copyright date as an influence on their book selection. However, circulation records showed a strong correlation between copyright date and borrowing frequency. These findings suggest that, where physical appearance or content currency are responsible, undergraduates prefer to obtain information for academic use from books with recent copyright dates. Student perceptions were gathered through a questionnaire distributed with each borrowed book during the Fall 2001 semester. Characteristics (such as copyright date) of books borrowed during the Fall 2001 semester were obtained from the universitys Voyager electronic library system. The study was repeated during the Spring 2003 semester after courses in cataloging, library management, reference, and research had been taken to determine if bibliographic instruction and upgrades to the library's catalog would provide different results."

 

The special project was begun in the Fall 2001 while taking Evaluation and Research.  Because the project was completed so early in the degree program, the project was rerun in Spring 2003 to determine if changes would be noted after conducting an intensive bibliographic instruction program with the freshmen and sophomores and after completing the recon cataloging project.

 

Links are provided to letters supporting the project from practictioners from Jackson State Community College, Union University, and Lambuth University, all in Jackson, Tennessee.  There is also a link to courses and concepts learned at Southern Connecticut State University that aided in completing the special project.