Collection and Use of Library InHouse Usage Data with Voyager Reports in the IShareCARLI Environment

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Collection and Use of Library In-House Usage
Data with Voyager Reports in the I-Share/CARLI
Environment Xiaotian Chen (chen_at_bradley.edu)
Denise Johnson (johnson_at_bradley.edu) Bradley
University Library, Peoria, IL
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The Project Environment

• Bradley University Librarys environment a
  member of 65 I-Share Libraries in CARLI, using
  Endeavors Voyager integrated library system
  since Aug. 2002.
• Bradley University is a medium-sized,
  comprehensive university in Peoria, IL.
• The Cullom-Davis Library has holdings of over a
  million items, with approximately half that
  number comprised of books, periodicals, and
  government documents. The remaining items are
  microforms.

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Defining Terms

• By in-house usage, we mean the usage of library
  materials within the library building and without
  checking out. Usage includes not only
  circulating materials, but also non-circulating
  materials such as reference books.
• In the Voyager system, in-house usage is called
  Historical Browses, while circulating data is
  called Historical Charges. We will use these
  two terms in the rest of this presentation.
• When a charged item is scanned/discharged, a
  count of Historical Charge is added to the item.
  When a non-charged item (an item not checked out)
  is scanned, a count of Historical Browses is
  added to the item.

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Preparing to Collect In-House Usage Data

• Preparation began in 2003.
• A Project Team was formed.
• Procedures were planned.
• A survey was conducted.
• Bradley started to collect statistics on
  Historical Browses in January of 2004.

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The Need for Collaboration in an In-House Usage
Project

• The Project Team benefits from the collaboration
  of staff members from several Library functional
  areas.
• Collaboration helps us to avoid problems (for
  example the conflict between dual discharge and
  use of the browse function) and tap into the
  collective knowledge of staff using the
  integrated system in a variety of ways.
• Functional areas represented are Access Services
  (including circulation and shelving), Electronic
  Services, Reference, Collection Development,
  Technical Services (including cataloging and
  serials.)

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Contributions to the project from each functional
area

• Access ServicesThe Access Services staff members
  know how materials are handled and can help sort
  out the logistics of collecting statistics.
• Electronic ServicesThe Electronic Services
  Librarian provides expertise with reports and
  maintenance of statistics.
• ReferenceThe Reference Librarian is familiar
  with usage and shelving patterns in the Reference
  Collection.
• Collection DevelopmentThe Collection Development
  Librarianhelps in determining what information
  is useful to collect and how it will be used.
• Technical ServicesCataloging and Serials staff
  can provide expertise on item records, barcodes,
  and processing procedures.

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Data Collection Procedures

• Signs were designed, printed, and mounted on
  shelving end panels.
• Carts were labeled for materials to be scanned
  and to be shelved.
• Procedures for handling materials with barcode
  problems were developed.
• Shelving manager and student shelvers began
  scanning materials used in-house.

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Surveying ILCSO Libraries

• A brief survey was developed and sent out to
  appropriate ILCSO e-mail listservs.
• Survey Questions included 1) Do you collect
  in-house usage data? 2) If yes, do you collect
  in-house usage data by scanning books that were
  used within the library before they are
  re-shelved? 3) If yes, what type of scanners do
  you use? 4) If you use scanners, do you use
  portable scanners? 5) If you use portable
  scanners, what type do you use? 6) Have you
  experienced any problems with the system,
  methodology, or equipment in collecting in-house
  usage statistics? If yes, please describe. 7)
  Comments?
• Survey responses were used to fine tune our
  procedures and brainstorm for areas of possible
  trouble.

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Voyager Specifics

• The what and how of using Voyager for collecting
  In-House Usage data

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Historical Browses of an individual record
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To view the above screen is easy. Here are the
steps

• Log into Voyager Circulation client.
• Search the record by title, bar code, or other
  ways.
• Click on the Item History tab.
• You will see the circ data (Historical Charges)
  and in-house usage (Historical Browses) data.

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Historical Browses of an entire collection
break-down by subjects
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Generating Historical Browses data (as shown
above) is more complicated than viewing
individual data. The following software and
configuration is needed

• Voyager Reporter client.
• MS Office (MS Access and Excel)
• Oracle ODBC driver. Downloading, installation
  and configuration of the ODBC driver is a fairly
  complicated process and could take a couple of
  hours. Users typically need to follow the
  instruction provided by Endeavor or by their
  consortium central office. I-Shares downloading
  and instruction site is at http//www.ilcso.uiuc.e
  du/limited/ .

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After all required software has been installed
and configured, here are the procedures of
creating Historical Browses query1. Click on
the Reports (or a customized name) file in the
folder of C\voyager\Access Reports.
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2. Select Queries under the Objects.
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3. Click on New. You will see a New Query
pop-up. Click on OK with Design View
highlighted by default.
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4. You will see Show Table. Click on Close.
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5. At this point, if you choose to copy an
existing SQL code, click on SQL at the top left
corner.
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6. You will see this
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7. Delete the highlighted word SELECT, and paste
in the SQL code. This is the SQL View of the
query, provided by Cathy Salika of the CARLI
office.
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8. The other option is to create your own query
by joining the related tables in the Design View.
It may look like this after the tables are
joined
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9. Save the Query with a name you can recognize
like this. You are ready to run the query. Click
on the query you will be asked to enter the ODBC
user name and password.
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10. The report will first be in an MS Access
table. It can be converted and saved as an Excel
file by going to Tools---Office Links---Analyze
it with MS Excel. Below is part of a report
converted into the Excel file shown earlier.
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Data Issues

• Now that weve collected in-house usage data,
  what do we have and how can we use it?

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Compared with circulating data (Historical
Charges), Historical Browse data has some margin
of error, because

• Some patrons will re-shelve items after use, even
  when we put up signs asking them not to
  re-shelve.
• The Interlibrary Loan office charges items for
  Universal Borrowing before they are shipped out
  as a standard procedure.
• If someone at the circulation desk accidentally
  discharges a charged item twice, the 2nd
  discharge adds an extra count in Historical
  Browses.So, we lose some counts in 1, and gain
  some in 2, and 3. Still, we believe that
  having less-than-perfect counts is better than
  having no data.

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Alternate and/or Additional Methods for
Collecting In-House Usage Data

• Direct Indirect methods
• Directobservation
• Several Indirect Methods, include
• Calculation (combined with patron survey)
• Tally sheets attached to materials
• Attaching/placing telltales
• Scanning/counting (after requesting patrons not
  to reshelve)
• Sampling and/or consistent monitoring

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Usability of Historical Browse data

• Voyager does not have dates associated with
  Historical Browses. As a result, while it is
  possible to general reports of Historical Charges
  by dates, it is NOT possible to generate reports
  of Historical Browses by dates.
• In order to evaluate the library collections
  Historical Browses by date, Bradley Library
  generates the reports twice a year, at the end of
  calendar and academic years respectively, and
  keeps them on file.

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This is how Bradley keeps the historical data.
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If we need to find the number of Historical
Browses in the BF (Psychology) section in 2005,
we use the data for December 2005 to subtract the
data for January 2005.The BF total for December
2005 is 2620.The BF total for January 2005 is
1714.2620-1714906.So we had 906 in-house uses
of Psychology books in the calendar year of 2005.
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Examples of decision-makingbased on Historical
Browses

• Overall data breakdown by subjects Used
  together with Historical Charges and other info
  to re-allocate subject book funds in 2005.
• Individual item data
• A. Used to cancel standing orders (e.g. Corpus
  Juris Secundum, which costs 4,097/year last
  year, was cancelled in 2006, based on the usage
  data.)
• B. Used to make decisions on new editions. e.g.,
  World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and
  Parties will have a 4th edition July 2006. Our
  3rd edition published in 1999 had zero Historical
  Charge and zero Historical Browse, so we decided
  not to buy the 4th edition (list price 270).

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Project Enhancements

• In Fall of 2005, we started bar-coding a subset
  of journals to be scanned after use, to help us
  make decisions
• 1. In case we have to make cancellations, we
  want solid data on which serial titles are being
  used.
• 2. For high cost, low usage, but important
  serial titles we may want to initiate deposit
  accounts with vendors for access.

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Options/Plans for the Future

• Barcode the entire print serials collection to
  broaden the scope of the project and enhance the
  usability of our data.
• Run short-term surveys using alternate data
  collection methods to enhance data quality.
• Do a feasibility study for microform usage data
  collection.

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Sources Consulted

• Baker, S. F.W. Lancaster Evaluation of
  In-House Use in The Measurement and Evaluation
  of Library Services, 2d. Ed. (1991) Arlington,
  VA Information Resources Press, pp. 123-142.
• Bradford, J.T. Whats Coming Off the Shelves? A
  Reference Use Study Analyzing Print Reference
  Sources in a University Library. (2005) Journal
  of Academic Librarianship, 31 (6) pp.546-558.
• Cheng, R. M. Meernik. ATG Special
  ReportCollection Assessment at Eastern Michigan
  University. (2005) Against the Grain, 17(4)
  pp.88-92.
• Crotts, Joe Subject Usage and Funding of Library
  Monographs. (May 1999) College Research
  Libraries, 60 (3) pp.261-273.
• Eldredge, J. The Vital Few Meet the Trivial
  Many Unexpected Use Patterns in a Monographs
  Collection. (1998) Bulletin of the Medical
  Library Assn., 86 (4) pp.496-503.
• Ferguson, A. Back TalkUse Statistics Are They
  Worth It? (2003) Against the Grain, 14 (6)
  pp.93-94.

• Kraemer, A. Evaluating Usage of Monographs Is
  It Feasible and Worthwhile? (2001) Collection
  Management, 26 (1) pp.35-46.
• Lane, L. The Relationship Between Loans and
  In-House Use of Books in Determining a Use-Factor
  for Budget Allocations. (1987) Library
  Acquisitions, 11 (2) pp.95-102. Puvogel, Cole
  Stack Attack! In-House Book Usage in a Small
  College Environment. (1998) College
  Undergraduate Libraries, 5 (2) pp.11-22.
• Ridley, D. J. Weber Toward Assessing In-House
  Use of Print Resources in the Undergraduate
  Academic Library an Inter-Institutional Study.
  (2000) Library Collections, Acquisitions,
  Technical Services, 24 (1) pp.89-103.
• Sendi, K. Assessing the Functionality of the
  Reference Collection. (1996) Collection
  Building, 15 (3) pp.17-21.
• Wynne, P. Z. Clarke Towards an Inclusive
  Methodology for the Measurement of Inhouse Use.
  (2000) Journal of Librarianship and Information
  Science, 32 (2) pp.82-90.

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Questions and comments?

• Thank You.