In the context of libraries and archives, an inventory refers to a detailed list or record of the items, materials, or resources held within a collection.
It helps to document and organize the contents, making it easier for staff to manage, locate, and track items.
An inventory typically includes information such as titles, authors, publication dates, call numbers, and other relevant details about each item in the collection.
It is the one method that libraries and archives use to determine whether some items in their collection are in need of preservation or conservation activities.
[1] Using a laptop and handheld bar code reader will "reduce human error and inconsistencies, while helping to maintain staff concentration and enthusiasm for the project".
Increasing print material's accessibility, and reducing user frustration, make the inventory process an effective tool in improving library service quality.
Maintaining the stacks through inventories and shelf reading can mitigate staff time lost searching for missing or mislabeled items.
Problems that are discovered (books in need of repurchase, rebinding, repair, or digitization) may require solutions that are expensive and labor-intensive.
Each time an inventory is conducted the physical condition of the collection and bibliographic representation problems are identified and addressed.
During an inventory process "library staff gain knowledge of the collection and are [better] able to provide stronger customer service.
Inventories help guarantee that the collections as listed in Online public access catalogs and Finding aids do not lack integrity.
School libraries also use the inventory to assess the collection (numbers, age and ratio:student) against benchmarks of accrediting institutions, and also to examine each resource and determine its future in the collection based on age, relevance, currency and condition—which may include repair, replacement, disposal or cleaning to ensure that attractive, up-to-date resources are available for patrons.
In 1982, the California State University libraries, suggested inventory procedures to insure that the 19 campus collections were secure and intact.
They recognized that a complete regular inventory was too expensive, and decided that the best method of assessing book loss would be to use sampling.
The Prescott Memorial Library at Louisiana Tech employed sequential analysis in the late 1980s when working on automation of the collections.
If librarians are just accessing the collection for preservation purposes, they can easily count ranges, columns, shelves and books[17] and use Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet software to create random samples.
[18] It may be well worth the extra time to figure out how to extract random items from your library's ILS to complete your sample.
Include the item's call number, place of publication, place of production, publication date, measurements (spine height, cover width, depth of back to front cover, the amount of shelving space surrounding the item, horizontally and vertically); describe the case style, leaf attachment and binding condition, text attachment, acidity, paper strength, and text contrast; list the damaged pages and describe the enclosure type and condition; record any additional notes that will be useful for future reference and analysis.
Collections that have not been properly inventoried impact library users beyond the university's walls with unfulfillable interlibrary loan requests.
Inventory projects can save money by reducing unnecessary interlibrary loan requests and duplicate purchases.