[OPLINLIST] Statistics Survey Compilation

[Jennifer Shatzer]

Hello,

I'd like to thank everyone for their responses to my question regarding how often you record reference/directional questions.  I was asked to compile the information I received...so here it is!

Bexley Public Library, Bexley

We collect ours daily.  If we picked a couple weeks a year, it could drastically throw our numbers off (say, if those weeks were during Job Help Day and the Summer Reading Program).  I share these numbers every month as part of the statistical report at the Board meeting.  I think doing it daily provides a more accurate sense of what kinds of questions you’re getting and how often.

Canal Fulton Public Library, Canal Fulton

We record them daily and thus the total is actual questions.

Centerville Library, Centerville

We record ours daily.

Coshocton Public Library, Coshocton

Here in Coshocton, we record them daily.  While I was at Loudonville, we kept track once each quarter.

Fairfield County District Library, Lancaster

We do ours quarterly for one week and then average the counts for the annual statistical report.

Greene County Public Library, Xenia

Here at Greene Co. PL we gather patron question stats the second week of each month.  Occasionally we have had to change weeks (several winter closures in one week etc.)  We also record the reservations made that week with the PC Reservation system.  And a couple times a year we use the “detailed reference question” just for our own information.

Harbor-Topky Memorial Library, Ashtabula Harbor

Daily

Hudson Library and Historical Society, Hudson

This is the first year we have averaged our stats for "reference" and "other" questions. We do a count week during October every year, and ask everyone in the building to record the questions that get asked. Since many front line circ staff are asked questions frequently, this is the only time they get recorded, so we decided to use that week's number as our average, and it has made things a lot simpler while being more accurate of what really goes on here.

Lorain Public Library System, Lorain

We collect/tally them twice yearly, (March and October), for a week stretch at a time.  We then take the average of the totals.

Marietta Library-Washington County Public Libraries, Marietta

We collect ours daily, enter them into a spreadsheet monthly, and then add the monthly totals to get a year's worth. We used to keep them a week and then use a formula, but this is much more accurate.

Massillon Public Library, Massillon

Here at Massillon we do both--we still keep a daily reference log that is counted at the end of the month and submitted into the library board packet, but systemwide we take two weeks and tally up the reference and directional questions and average them for the State Library report.

North Canton Public Library

We keep a tally sheet on the desk to record assistance on a daily basis and I compile the results monthly.
We used to need to know which days and times of the day were busiest for staffing purposes.  Now we like to see how this month compares to previous years or other months.  It still helps for certain staffing issues, like planning vacations.

Perry Public Library, Perry

We collect statistics daily and tally them each month.  We also do an intense collection of statistics one week in the fall and one week in February; these two weeks are done at the same time for all of the libraries in Lake County.  We then compare statistics to determine what to report on the State Report.

Ridgemont Public Library, Mt. Victory

We are a very small library, so we simply have a daily sheet that we place tally marks for both reference and directional questions.





Stow-Muroe Falls Public Library

We used to do it daily, but a few years ago we changed. Now we count for 1 week in March and 1 week in October and then multiply each by 26 to get our annual count. The figures are in-line with what we counted when we were doing daily stats.

Tuscarawas County Public Library

We record daily.

Wadsworth Public Library, Wadsworth

Here at Wadsworth Public Library, we collect our reference and directional stats on a daily basis.

Wornstaff Memorial Public Library, Ashley

We record reference questions daily on a notebook at the desk.  The definition of a reference question is pretty subjective (depending on the person working the front desk).We do not generally record directional questions.

Wright Memorial Public Library, Dayton

We count the stats daily, total them weekly, then report them monthly.



Jennifer Shatzer
Technical and Support Services Manager
Wayne County Public Library
304 N. Market St.
Wooster, OH  44691
330-804-4679
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.oplin.org/pipermail/oplinlist/attachments/20100816/ea32a15f/attachment-0001.html