Evaluation methods of documentary means of the university libraries.

After a few terminological and methodological remarks and a comparative review of the French and English literature, collection evaluation techniques are discussed. They are grouped into four classes : 1° Evaluation by both qualitative and quantitative standards ; evaluation by formulas such as the Clapp and Jordan one and by the use of standard bibliographic lists. 2° Evaluation by conventional statistics and by the use of performance indicators which integrate the statistical data in systemic models. The models discussed are those of Hamburg, Orr, Buckland and Saracevic. 3° Subjective qualitative evaluation using users' surveys or external consultants ; objective qualitative evaluation based on bibliometric studies. 4° Cost-effectiveness evaluation according to the law of diminishing returns as illustrated by Bradford and numerous recent studies of literature use. After this comparative inventory of the techniques of collection evaluation, we have come to the conclusion that there is no ideal model.
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