Collection management 2016: from anecdotal to analytic

Abstract

If you attended SLA’s recent 2015 Lawmaggedon webinar, you may have heard Jean O’Grady reference the term ‘anecdata’ — usage data based on the anecdotal, in the absence of any hard (or soft) usage data. I have seen the anecdotal trump data over the years: most notably a strong protest against a cancellation, only to find a thick layer of dust in front of the item in question.