Data Visualization as a Tool for Collection Assessment: Mapping the Latin American Studies Collection at University of California, Riverside

Abstract

This article outlines the use of a collection mapping model of collection assessment in which data visualization tools were utilized in order to provide a unified portrait of a complicated multi-disciplinary collection located in several different physical locations across the Libraries of the University of California Riverside. Through the use of freely-available data visualization software, the massive amount of data generated by collection-centered inventory of the Libraries' Latin American Studies collection can be assessed in a number of different dimensions, clearly illustrating the collection's strengths to stakeholders both within and outside of the libraries.