Collections management is not simply about curating and maintaining resources. They must be made available in an understandable and accessible way. Silence on what a collection contains means items circulate less, patrons miss out on available information, and patron use/interest becomes difficult to judge. Book displays are great for the 20 +/- books that make the cut. What about the thousands of items left in the stacks because their covers are less interesting? In a society becoming ever more visually centered, how can plain covered works convince readers to choose them? In an institution that offers a wealth of information in numerous of forms, it becomes easy to miss valuable material.
This problem is compounded by the fact that physical collections are often searched through digitally. “Patrons and scholars are increasingly likely to first encounter a collection in a digital space rather than a physical one” (Wissel & DeLuca). This is where data visualization can have a huge impact. Applying this visual tactic usually reserved for disseminating statistical information to represent a physical collection of resources can engage users in a new way. It allows patrons to see everything a collection has to offer and understand it better.
Acknowledging that many users’ first engagement with a library collection is digital, the task becomes finding a way to present the collection in an appealing way. This means going beyond just the search bar, which requires patrons already know what they are looking for. Utilizing collections information to create “visualizations allow for serendipitous discovery in ways that a typical search tool precludes, and … that kind of potential for serendipitous discovery encourages exploratory information seeking” (Wissel & DeLuca, 2018). It allows patrons the opportunity to browse the collection in a manner more akin to perusing the bookstore.
For patrons who have a general idea of something they may like to read or encounter, the less specific a search has to be, the better. Since “the librarian’s task is developing and managing collections to enhance the users’ level of satisfaction and to increase user support,” providing an engaging digital experience has become essential (Johnson, 2018, p. 245). The extensive and varied collections of libraries make it difficult for users to visualize the breadth of what is available to them. This is especially true when parts of the collection take on different informational forms – books, items, audio/visual, digital. As Alex Byrne wrote in Uniting the Corpus of our Collections Through Visualization, it is difficult for patrons and librarians to “mentally ‘see’ collections” spread out around a facility (or sometimes multiple facilities).
How can we meaningfully comprehend their cultural and informational content across the myriad formats and topics represented in extensive collections? Our challenge does not stop with our physical collections...Visualizing an aggregation of intangible and evanescent items as a collection is challenging and presenting them together with our physical holdings as an integrated corpus of cultural and informational materials stretches our imagination. But, as our digital collections grow, we are mis-portraying our collections if we do not assist our clients to visualize them in meaningful ways and in ways which join them to our physical collections to form a united corpus. (Byrne, 2013).
Where bookstores are divided into very common, generalized sections, libraries use cataloging systems not always well understood by its patronage. Should a reader want to see what mystery books are available, that can prove a more difficult search if they do not comprehend the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress. “The librarian’s goal is to design a place, point of contact, or distribution system that allows patrons to find and access or get what they want—which may be information, an item, or the collections librarian’s attention — as quickly and conveniently as possible” (Johnson, 2018, p. 248). Unfortunately, searching library catalogs online can be a very limiting experience if one is not looking for very specific items, such as the title, author, keyword, etc. A common librarianship joke concerns patrons asking for “the red book with the flower on it” or some other vague request. This stems from patrons lacking a firm understanding of how library collections are assembled and maintained. It is then confounded by online searching where there are rarly visuals to recognize.
Viewing the collection in ways they can more fully comprehend leads to a better user experience and overall satisfaction with visits – online or in person. The “possibility for [visual] exploration can bring a deeper understanding of the collection to remote, digital audiences and this ‘browsability’” can lead to further discovery and interest (Wissel & DeLuca, 2018). See the graphs below of how The Valente Italian Library at Seton Hall University utilized visualization graphics to portray their collection to patrons (Wissel & DeLuca, 2018).
By breaking up the 29,000-volume special collection into subcategories, users can now see what is available to them from a variety of angles – language, century, subject, location. Even though they are not physically viewing every item or even every title, laying out the collection in this manner allows users to cognitively process the collection’s contents in a different manner.
Librarianship talks a lot about sharing the library’s story with its community. In its simplest form, visualization is another way to do just that. It shares a look at their collections beyond its four walls. Wissel and DeLuca suggest that even outside of promotions, visualizations could be used to enhance the collection and the library.
Beyond collection description and promotion, we see the use of data to tell visual stories as having many potential applications... Library data could be visualized to support decision making or raise awareness. Telling visual stories to patrons regarding database types, library usage statistics, citation details for in-house authors or the most widely utilized services or resources could be powerful awareness building tools. A closer look at acquisitions by subject and publication date would be an efficient way to find gaps in the collection and drive collection development decisions. (Wissel & DeLuca, 2018).
As with anything, there is a downside. Using visualized representation could present a rather large and intimidating task. There is no need to start with the entire collection, however. Collections can be broken into smaller chunks and represented as a chart of mystery books by decade, author, or sub-genre. Or it could be represented in a general way through fun infographics of various focus. The primary goal is to present the library and its holdings in an engaging way that draws in users, even from a distance. Presenting even a small portion of information in a visual way will help accomplish that end.
References
Byrne, A. (2013). Uniting the corpus of our collections through visualization. IFLA Journal, 39(1), 15–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035212472445
Johnson, P. (2018). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management: Vol. Fourth edition. ALA Editions.
Wissel, K. M., & DeLuca, L. (2018). Telling the Story of a Collection with Visualizations: A Case Study. Collection Management, 43(4), 264.
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