William H. Walters

William H. Walters, Executive Director of the Library, has served as dean, professor, librarian, data manager, research consultant, accreditation liaison officer, and interim director of information technology at Cornell University, St. Lawrence University, Menlo College, the City University of New York, and the Providence VA Medical Center. He holds a PhD in sociology (demography) from Brown University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.  His current research focuses on scholarly communication, academic librarianship, nonprofit management, and assessment.

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES with links to full text

• W.H. Walters.  Apportioning the cost of a full-text database among the journals in the database: a comparison of six methods.  College & Research Libraries, forthcoming.
• W.H. Walters.  Are the works that cite Beall’s List accounting journals comparable to those that cite Scopus journals of similar citation impact?  Aslib Journal of Information Management, forthcoming.
• W.H. Walters.  Scholarly journals are sometimes regarded as substitutes even though each provides unique content.  Learned Publishing 35, 4 (Oct. 2022), 678–681.
• W.H. Walters.  Evaluating journals in business and related fields: a guide for faculty.  Business Information Review 39, 3 (Sept. 2022), 90–97.
• W.H. Walters.  Can differences in publisher size account for the relatively low prices of the journals available to master’s universities through commercial publishers’ databases?  The importance of price discrimination and substitution effects.  Scientometrics 127, 2 (Feb. 2022), 1065–1097.
• W.H. Walters.  The citation impact of the Open Access accounting journals that appear on Beall’s List of potentially predatory publishers and journals.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 48, 1 (Jan. 2022), article 102484.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.   Characteristics of the most productive U.S. sociology faculty and departments: institution type, gender, and journal concentration.  Sociological Quarterly 62, 3 (Aug. 2021), 594–622.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Using conventional bibliographic databases for social science research: Web of Science and Scopus are not the only options.  Scholarly Assessment Reports 3, 1, article 4 (Aug. 3, 2021).
• W.H. Walters and Susanne Markgren.  A two-stage approach to serials review: minimizing journal costs through title-by-title selection with package-based acquisition.  Insights: The UKSG Journal 34, article 18 (July 21, 2021).
• W.H. Walters.  Survey design, sampling, and significance testing: key issues.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 47, 3 (May 2021), article 102344.  Featured in The Informed Librarian Online.
• W.H. Walters and Susanne Markgren.  Comparing the prices of commercial and nonprofit journals: a realistic assessment.  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 21, 2 (Apr. 2021), 389–410.
• W.H. Walters and Susanne Markgren.  Zero-based serials review: an objective, comprehensive method of selecting full-text journal resources in response to local needs.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 46, 5 (Sept. 2020), article 102189.  Supplementary appendix A.  Supplementary appendix B.
• W.H. Walters.  Data journals: incentivizing data access and documentation within the scholarly communication system.  Insights: The UKSG Journal 33, article 18 (June 10, 2020).  Supplementary table 1.
• W.H. Walters, John Gormley, Amy E. Handfield, Bernadette M. López-Fitzsimmons, Susanne Markgren, Laurin Paradise, and Sarah E. Sheehan.  Library book selection decisions and selectors' effectiveness: differences among librarians, faculty, and students.  College & Research Libraries 81, 4 (May 2020), 617–645.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Publishing productivity of sociologists at American colleges and universities: institution type, gender, and other correlates of book and article counts.  Sociological Perspectives 63, 2 (Apr. 2020), 249–275.
• W.H. Walters, Sarah E. Sheehan, John Gormley, Amy E. Handfield, Bernadette M. López-Fitzsimmons, Susanne Markgren, and Laurin Paradise.  A multi-method information literacy assessment program: foundation and early results.  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 20, 1 (Jan. 2020), 101–135.
• W.H. Walters.  Beg, borrow, and steal: formal and informal access to the scholarly literature at U.S. master's universities.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 45, 6 (Nov. 2019), article 102059.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Quantifying scholarly output: contribution studies and productivity studies in sociology since 1970.  The American Sociologist 50, 3 (Sept. 2019), 430–436.  Supplementary file 1.
• W.H. Walters and Susanne Markgren.  Do faculty journal selections correspond to objective indicators of citation impact?  Results for 20 academic departments at Manhattan College.  Scientometrics 118, 1 (Jan. 2019), 321–337.
• W.H. Walters.  Citation-based journal rankings: key questions, metrics, and data sources.  IEEE Access 5 (Oct. 9, 2017), 22036–22053.
• W.H. Walters.  Composite journal rankings in library and information science: a factor analytic approach.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 43, 5 (Sept. 2017), 434–442.
• W.H. Walters.  Do subjective journal ratings represent whole journals or typical articles?  Unweighted or weighted citation impact?  Journal of Informetrics 11, 3 (Aug. 2017), 730–744.
• W.H. Walters.  Key questions in the development and use of survey-based journal rankings.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 43, 4 (July 2017), 305–311.
• W.H. Walters.  Beyond use statistics: recall, precision, and relevance in the assessment and management of academic libraries.  Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 48, 4 (Dec. 2016), 340–352.  Featured in The Informed Librarian Online.
• W.H. Walters.  The faculty subculture, the librarian subculture, and librarians’ scholarly productivity.  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 16, 4 (Oct. 2016), 817–843.
• W.H. Walters and Esther Isabelle Wilder.  Disciplinary, national, and departmental contributions to the literature of library and information science, 2007–2012.  Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 67, 6 (June 2016), 1487–1506.
• W.H. Walters.  Faculty status of librarians at U.S. research universities.  Journal of Academic Librarianship 42, 2 (Mar. 2016), 161–171.
• W.H. Walters.  Information sources and indicators for the assessment of journal reputation and impact.  The Reference Librarian 57, 1 (Jan.–Mar. 2016), 13–22.
• W.H. Walters.  Evaluating online resources for college and university libraries: assessing value and cost based on academic needs.  Serials Review 42, 1 (Jan.–Mar. 2016), 10–17.
• W.H. Walters.  The research contributions of editorial board members in library and information science.  Journal of Scholarly Publishing 47, 2 (Jan. 2016), 121–146.  Featured in The Informed Librarian Online.
• W.H. Walters.  Do editorial board members in library and information science publish disproportionately in the journals for which they serve as board members?  Journal of Scholarly Publishing 46, 4 (July 2015), 343–354.
• W.H. Walters and Esther Isabelle Wilder.  Worldwide contributors to the literature of library and information science: top authors, 2007–2012.  Scientometrics 103, 1 (Apr. 2015), 301–327.
• W.H. Walters.  E-books in academic libraries: challenges for sharing and use.  Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 46, 2 (June 2014), 85–95.  Featured in The Informed Librarian Online.
• W.H. Walters.  Do Article Influence scores overestimate the citation impact of social science journals in subfields that are related to higher-impact natural science disciplines?  Journal of Informetrics 8, 2 (Apr. 2014), 421–430.
• W.H. Walters.  E-books in academic libraries: challenges for discovery and access.  Serials Review 39, 2 (June 2013), 97–104.
• W.H. Walters.  E-books in academic libraries: challenges for acquisition and collection management.  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 13, 2 (Apr. 2013), 187–211.
• W.H. Walters.  Patron-driven acquisition and the educational mission of the academic library.  Library Resources & Technical Services 56, 3 (July 2012), 199–213.
• W.H. Walters.  Comparative recall and precision of simple and expert searches in Google Scholar and eight other databases.  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 11, 4 (Oct. 2011), 971–1006.
• W.H. Walters and Anne C. Linvill.  Bibliographic index coverage of open-access journals in six subject areas.  Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 62, 8 (Aug. 2011), 1614–1628.
• Philip M. Davis and W.H. Walters.  The impact of free access to the scientific literature: a review of recent research.  Journal of the Medical Library Association 99, 3 (July 2011), 208–217.  Supplemental table 1.  Supplemental table 2.
• W.H. Walters and Anne C. Linvill.  Characteristics of Open Access journals in six subject areas.  College & Research Libraries 72, 4 (July 2011), 372–392.
• Cheryl S. Collins and W.H. Walters.  Open Access journals in college library collections.  The Serials Librarian 59, 2 (Aug.–Sept. 2010), 194–214.  Reprinted in Serials collection management in recessionary times (Karen Lawson, editor; Routledge, 2011), 58–78.
• W.H. Walters.  Google Scholar search performance: comparative recall and precision.  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 9, 1 (Jan. 2009), 5–24.  Featured in Evidence Based Library and Information Practice.
• Carol Cady, W.H. Walters, William Olsen, Eric Williams-Bergen, and Bart Harloe.  Geographic information services in the undergraduate college: organizational models and alternatives.  Cartographica 43, 4 (Winter 2008), 239–255.
• W.H. Walters.  Journal prices, book acquisitions, and sustainable college library collections.  College & Research Libraries 69, 6 (Nov. 2008), 576–586.
• W.H. Walters.  A fund allocation formula based on demand, cost, and supply.  Library Quarterly 78, 3 (July 2008), 303–314.
• W.H. Walters.  A regression-based approach to library fund allocation.  Library Resources & Technical Services 51, 4 (Oct. 2007), 263–278.
• W.H. Walters and Esther Isabelle Wilder.  The cost implications of open-access publishing in the life sciences.  BioScience 57, 7 (July–Aug. 2007), 619–625.
• W.H. Walters.  Google Scholar coverage of a multidisciplinary field.  Information Processing & Management 43, 4 (July 2007), 1121–1132.
• W.H. Walters.  Institutional journal costs in an open access environment.  Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 58, 1 (Jan. 1, 2007), 108–120.  Featured in Evidence Based Library and Information Practice.
• W.H. Walters.  Criteria for replacing print journals with online journal resources: the importance of sustainable access.  Library Resources & Technical Services 48, 4 (Oct. 2004), 300–304.
• W.H. Walters and Esther Isabelle Wilder.  Bibliographic index coverage of a multidisciplinary field.  Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 54, 14 (Dec. 2003), 1305–1312.
• W.H. Walters.  Expertise and evidence in the assessment of library service quality.  Performance Measurement and Metrics 4, 3 (2003), 98–102.
• W.H. Walters.  Video media acquisitions in a college library.  Library Resources & Technical Services 47, 4 (Oct. 2003), 160–170.
• W.H. Walters and Esther Isabelle Wilder.  Disciplinary perspectives on later-life migration in the core journals of social gerontology.  The Gerontologist 43, 5 (Oct. 2003), 758–760.
• W.H. Walters.  Later-life migration in the United States: a review of recent research.  CPL Bibliography 366.  Journal of Planning Literature 17, 1 (Aug. 2002), 37–66.
• W.H. Walters.  Place characteristics and later-life migration.  Research on Aging 24, 2 (Mar. 2002), 243–277.
• W.H. Walters.  Types and patterns of later-life migration.  Geografiska Annaler Series B (Human Geography) 82, 3 (2000), 129–147.
• W.H. Walters.  Assessing the impact of place characteristics on human migration: the importance of migrants’ intentions and enabling attributes.  Area 32, 1 (Mar. 2000), 119–123.
• W.H. Walters.  Building and maintaining a numeric data collection.  Journal of Documentation 55, 3 (June 1999), 271–287.
• W.H. Walters.  Climate indices for use in social and behavioral research.  IASSIST Quarterly 23, 1 (Spring 1999), 14–22. 
• W.H. Walters, Samuel G. Demas, Linda Stewart, and Jennifer Weintraub.  Guidelines for collecting aggregations of Web resources.  Information Technology and Libraries 17, 3 (Sept. 1998), 157–160.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Ethnic and religious components of the Jewish income advantage, 1969 and 1989.  Sociological Inquiry 68, 3 (Summer/Aug. 1998), 426–436.
• W.H. Walters and Esther Isabelle Wilder.  American Jewish household income, 1969 and 1989.  Journal of Economic and Social Measurement 23, 3 (1997), 197–212.
• W.H. Walters.  Place characteristics in elderly migration research.  Bulletin of Bibliography 51, 4 (Dec. 1994), 341–354.
• W.H. Walters.  Climate and U.S. elderly migration rates.  Papers in Regional Science 73, 3 (July 1994), 309–329.

MONOGRAPHS with links to full text

• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Voices from the heartland: the needs and rights of individuals with disabilities.  Brookline Books, 2005.  Selected as an Academic Essential in the field of social work by YBP Library Services.
• Gregory W. Lawrence, William R. Kehoe, Oya Y. Rieger, W.H. Walters, and Anne R. Kenney.  Risk management of digital information: a file format investigation.  Council on Library and Information Resources, 2000.  Favorably reviewed in the Journal of Academic Librarianship and featured in RLG DigiNews.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS with links to full text

• W.H. Walters.  The death and migration of book collections in academic libraries.  (Editorial.)  Portal: Libraries and the Academy 18, 3 (July 2018), 415–422.
• W.H. Walters.  Judge Russell correspondence in the Menlo College Archive.  Menlo College, 2013.  Excerpted in Through the gates: eighty-five years of Menlo College and its times (Pamela Gullard; Menlo College, 2014), 65.
• W.H. Walters.  Distance learning doctorates.  Telicom 25, 3 (Third Quarter / July–Sept. 2012), 20–28.
• W.H. Walters.  Prelude in C.  (Short musical theme.)  July 2012.  Music for 10 instructional videos of the Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education, City University of New York.
• Dale Hockstra, Jeremy Neill, and W.H. Walters.  WASC educational effectiveness report 2008.  Menlo College, 2008.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Leisure and activities.  In Experiencing aging: a social gerontology reader (Desirée Ciambrone and Voon Chin Phua, editors; Linus Publications, 2007), 367–369.  Reprinted in the 2009 edition.
• W.H. Walters.  Should libraries acquire books that are widely held elsewhere?  A brief investigation with implications for consortial book selection.  Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 32, 3 (Feb.–Mar. 2006), 25–27.
• Esther Isabelle Wilder and W.H. Walters.  Jewish needy declining.  (Letter to the editor.)  Jewish Daily Forward 106, 31468 (Oct. 24, 2003), 8.
• W.H. Walters.  A digital map of Public-Use Microdata Areas in the 1990 U.S. Census.  Cartographic Journal 34, 1 (June 1997), 29–30.