Current Trends in Academic Library Holdings

The Evolution Towards Aggregated Content and The History Behind Its Growth

Across institutions of every size, aggregated content form the strategic anchor for library collections

A new analysis from ProQuest, from Clarivate, of the holdings data of 171 U.S. libraries reveals that libraries consistently allocate the largest share of their content investments to aggregation, regardless of budget tier. From small colleges to major research universities, aggregated content offers scalable value, predictable spend and broad coverage. Other formats like Abstracting & Indexing (A&I), reference materials and primary sources show strong representation, but none match the universal prioritization of aggregation. For academic librarians, this trend underscores aggregation’s enduring role as a foundation in collection development.

In this paper we explore:

• • The holdings of academic libraries, analyzing their make-up by content type based on budget spend
  • Reasons behind aggregated content’s dominance in collections
  • The evolution of aggregated content in academic libraries
  • The future of aggregated content

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