Presented by Matthew Goddard. his presentation describes a simple and efficient method of using a discovery layer to evaluate periodicals holdings at the article level, and suggest a variety of applications.

1. NASIG 35th ANNUAL CONFERENCE | JUNE 9-11, 2020
#NASIG2020

2. Many thanks to our sponsors for making the
NASIG 35th Annual Conference possible!

3. FULL TEXT
COVERAGE
RATIOS:
A simple article-based method of
evaluating holdings at the level of an
academic program, course or subject
Matthew Goddard, E-Resources Librarian, Iowa State University

4. ▪Valuable?
▪How might you apply it?
▪How might you improve it?
▪More applications?
▪Who else is doing this?
4

5. 5
1.Background
2.FTCR – what is it?
3.Prereqs and premises
4.Caveats and qualifications
5.Applications
6.Two-way Q&A

6. ▪ >10,000 students
▪ ~160 degree programs + online
division
▪ Six librarians
6

7. 7
▪Too many new degree programs, too few librarians
▪Few tools available to objectively evaluate our current level
of support
▪Journal-level analysis increasingly divorced from user
experience

8. 8
1 cup discovery service
3 tbsp. full text filtering
1 student worker

9. 9
Given a search that
approximately represents a
given subject area, the FTCR
is the ratio between the
number of items that are
available (X) and the
number of items in the total
set (Y).

10. 10
▪Out of all possible relevant items Y, our library
holds X – our full text coverage ratio for this
domain is X/Y percent.
▪Roughly X/Y% of all items published in this area
are available to our users.

11. 11
▪Which of our undergraduate programs are
best supported by our serials collections?
▪Which programs do we need to invest more
in?
▪How much impact will journals package X
have on our support of degree program Y?
▪How much would cancellation of journals
package A have on our support of degree
program B?

12. 12
1. Formulate a search that approximates the body of
scholarly output relevant to a particular academic
program.
2. Define a discovery service search based on scope of
interest.
3. Do a full-text limited search – note the total results as X.
4. Do an “unlimited” search – note the total results as Y.

13. 13

14. • Ratios over time
• Ratios between
institutions
• Ratios between programs
14

15. 15
1. As much as possible, the index should represent the
complete corpus of relevant published items.
2. As much as possible, your discovery service’s full text
filter should be based on what is actually accessible.
3. Effective deduplication.
4. Accurate report of total number of items returned.

16. 16
▪The discovery service is the most comprehensive index of
relevant articles.
▪Full text filters are generally accurate
▪Open access content “counts”.
▪Hiding things from users is bad.

17. 17
▪What about quality?
▪ Response: Batting Average vs.Wins Above Replacement –
Both have their role; FTCR is the former.

18. 18
▪Searches (and especially keyword searches) cannot
perfectly represent all relevant items within a given
domain.
▪ Response: we’re not interested in actual numbers, only the ratio
between them.

19. 19
PROGRAM Search syntax X Y FTCR
Physician Assistant Studies, M.S. medic* 1,936,918 2,374,722 81.6%
Kinesiology, M.S. (online and
trad)
kinesio* 3,776 4,492 84.1%
Biomedical Sciences, M.S. biomed* 48,396 57,277 84.5%
Software Engineering, M.S.
"software
engineering"
10,332 12,215 84.6%
Athletic Training, M.S. athletic training 8,781 10,153 86.5%
Mechanical Engineering, M.S.
"mechanical
engineering"
21,658 24,686 87.7%
Communication, M.A. (Online) communication 910,803 1,032,744 88.2%
Social Work (MSW) "social work" 27,149 30,633 88.6%
Electrical and Computer
Engineering, M.S.
"electrical
engineering" OR
"computer
engineering"
38,932 41,725 93.3%
Civil Engineering, M.S. “civil engineering" 101,429 106,756 95.0%

20. 20
Program
Percent held
(Coverage Ratio)
English, B.A. 53%
Theatre, B.A. 58%
Real EstateMinor 59%
Christian Behavioral Science 59%
Marketing, B.S. 59%
Entrepreneurship, B.S. 60%
Creative Writing, B.F.A. 61%
Worship Arts and Ministry, B.A. 62%
Children's Literature minor 62%
Composition, B.M. 63%
Comedic Arts, B.A. 63%
Graphic Design and Visual Experience, B.A. 65%
Construction Management, B.S. 65%
Business Administration 66%
Christian Studies 66%
Accounting 67%
International Business, B.S. 67%
Global CommunityScience, B.S. 67%
Leadership Studies, B.A. 67%
art history 67%
Global Studies Minor 67%
International Studies, B.A. 67%
Classics Minor 68%
ProductionDesign, B.A. 68%
History, B.A. 68%
Piano Performance, B.M. 68%
Photography, B.A. 68%
Music, B.M. 68%
FineArt, B.A. 68%
Sports Analytics, B.S. 69%
Film, B.A. 69%
Data Sciences Minor 69%
Actuarial Science 69%
Illustration, B.A. 69%
Interior Design, B.A. 69%
Intercultural Studies, B.A. 69%
Pre-Law Certificate 70%
art therapy 70%
Sport Management Minor 70%
Mechatronics Minor 70%
Philosophy, B.A. 71%
Applied Theology 71%
Early ChildhoodStudies, B.A. 71%
Criminal Justice, B.S. 71%
Finance, B.S. 71%
Global JusticeMinor 72%
Liberal Studies, B.A. 72%
Product Design, B.A. 73%
Coaching Minor 73%
Physical Therapist Assistant, A.S. 73%
Music Education, B.M. 74%
Chemistry 74%
Public Relations, B.A. 74%
Physics Minor 75%
Behavioral Science 75%
Instrumental Performance, B.M. 76%
Missionary AviationMinor 76%
Architecture 77%
Forensic Chemistry, B.S. 77%
Industrial and SystemsEngineering (BSISE) 77%
Political Science, B.A. 78%
Foundational Mathematics, B.S. 78%
Mathematics, B.S. 78%
Journalism and New Media, B.A. 78%
Chemical Engineering 79%
Sociology, B.A. 79%
Clinical Health Science, B.S. 79%
Vocal Performance, B.M. 79%
Nursing (BSN) 79%
Healthcare Administration, B.S. 80%
Psychology, B.A. 80%
Public Health, B.S. 80%
Environmental Engineering Minor 80%
CommunicationSciences and Disorders, B.S. 80%
Mechanical Engineering (BSME) 80%
Nutrition and FoodSciences, B.S. 81%
Spanish for HealthcareProfessions Minor 81%
Applied Statistics 81%
Anthropology 81%
Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Engineering Minor 81%
Humanities Minor 81%
Radiologic Sciences, B.S. 82%
Exercise Science, B.S. 82%
Spanish, B.A. 83%
Computer Engineering Minor 83%
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, B.S. 83%
aviation 84%
Biomedical Engineering 84%
Kinesiology, B.S. 85%
Health Science, B.S. 85%
Biology 86%
Biomedical sciences 86%
Environmental Science, B.S. 87%
Engineering (BSE) 87%
SoftwareEngineering (BSSE) 87%
CommunicationStudies, B.A. 88%
Computer Science(BCS) 91%
Electrical and Computer Engineering (BSECE) 91%
Civil Engineering 92%
Aerospaceengineering, minor 96%
{
English, B.A. 53%
Theatre, B.A. 58%
Real Estate Minor 59%
Christian Behavioral Science 59%
Marketing, B.S. 59%
Entrepreneurship, B.S. 60%
Creative Writing, B.F.A. 61%
Worship Arts and Ministry, B.A. 62%
Children's Literature minor 62%
Composition, B.M. 63%
{
Biology 86%
Biomedical sciences 86%
Environmental Science, B.S. 87%
Engineering (BSE) 87%
Software Engineering (BSSE) 87%
Communication Studies, B.A. 88%
Computer Science (BCS) 91%
Electrical and Computer Engineering 91%
Civil Engineering 92%
Aerospace engineering, minor 96%

21. 21
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
ENROLLMENT
FTCR PROGRAM RANKING
(MASTER’S PROGRAMS)
HIGH
ENROLLMENT,
HIGH RATIO
LOW
ENROLLMENT,
HIGH RATIO
LOW
ENROLLMENT,
LOW RATIO
HIGH
ENROLLMENT,
LOW RATIO

22. 0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
ENROLLMENT
FTCR PROGRAM RANKING (MASTER’S
PROGRAMS)

23. ▪Valuable?
▪How might you apply it?
▪How might you improve it?
▪More applications?
▪Who else is doing this?
23

24. ENJOY!
mgoddard@iastate.edu
Matthew Goddard
All images public domain or used by permission of
Microsoft under the MS Office 2016 Desktop EULA.