Measurement of journal availability in a biomedical library

During a twelve-day period in October and November 1971, users of the Woodward Biomedical Library were asked to report each time they failed to find a needed journal issue or volume in the library. They reported 370 cases of failure. In 100 of these cases (27%) the journal was not held by the library or had not yet been received; in 66 (18%) it was in some stage of the binding process; in 64 (17%) it was in circulation; in 34 (9%) it was in use in the library; and in 41 (11%) user error was involved. The 64 journals required while in circulation constituted 4.7% of a total of 1,373 journals circulated during the period. Indications are that circulation may not be as great a problem as users have supposed and that more attention should be given to other user problems with journals.