← All tips

How to read your LibStop report

What each part of the collection report means and what to do first.

Your report has five parts. Here's what each one tells you and a good first step for each.

Metadata completeness

The share of records that have a value in each field, such as subjects, reading level or ISBN. Low subject or reading-level coverage makes your catalog harder for students to search and makes collection analysis less accurate.

First step: pick the field with the lowest percentage and see whether it's concentrated in one section, often donations or an older collection.

Data quality

Problems that make records unreliable: invalid ISBNs (the check digit doesn't add up), unreadable publication years, missing call numbers, and possible duplicate records. Multiple rows for the same title with different item barcodes are treated as extra copies, not duplicates.

First step: fix mixed call number prefixes (like "FIC", "Fic" and "F") so spine labels and shelf order match.

Collection age

The median publication year for each section. "Median" means half the books are older and half are newer, so one very old classic doesn't distort it. Sections where information dates quickly, like science, technology, health, geography and biography, are marked Aging when the median title is more than 10 years old.

First step: start with the oldest aging section. It's usually where weeding and new purchases make the most visible difference.

Weeding candidates

Items suggested for review based on age and use, following common age-and-use guidelines that vary by section. Fiction isn't flagged for age alone, only for not circulating. "Higher priority" means an item is both old for its section and hasn't been used.

First step: download the list and review one section at a time with the books in hand. These are suggestions, and your judgment decides. See Weeding: five places to start.

The PDF

A one-file summary you can share with a principal, district coordinator or library committee. It's a quick way to show why your collection needs time or budget, backed by your own numbers.