SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force on the Development of Standardized Statistical
Measures for the Public Services of Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries
Visits Statistics – working draft 150614
Note: sections highlighted in green are the most complete.
Contents
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2
Background ................................................................................................................................. 2
Purpose........................................................................................................................................ 2
DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................................ 3
Circulation................................................................................................................................... 3
Retrieval ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Interlibrary Loan Request ........................................................................................................... 3
User ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Registered User ........................................................................................................................... 4
Collection Unit ............................................................................................................................ 4
Visit ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Reading Room Visit .................................................................................................................... 5
Reference Transaction ................................................................................................................ 5
Virtual Reference Transaction .................................................................................................... 5
MEASURES ................................................................................................................................... 6
Reading Room Visits .................................................................................................................. 6
Basic measure (“Reader Days”): ............................................................................................ 6
Advanced measure (“Reader Hours”):.................................................................................... 7
Recommended metrics ............................................................................................................ 8
Reference Transactions ............................................................................................................... 9
Recommended metrics ............................................................................................................ 9
User Demographics ..................................................................................................................... 9
INTRODUCTION
Background
[From the long-version announcement of our task force – Need to adapt for this context]
As archivists and special collections librarians, we are becoming increasingly mindful of the
need to gather, analyze, and share evidence concerning the effectiveness of the operations we
manage and the impact of the services we provide. Yet the absence of commonly accepted
statistical measures greatly impedes our ability to conduct meaningful assessment initiatives and
the evaluation and establishment of best practices. Recognition of this two-pronged challenge
has manifested itself in a number of ways including an assessment-themed issue of RBM: A
Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage; assessment-related sessions at the
meetings of our professional associations including ALA and SAA; presentations centered on
special collections at the biennial ARL-sponsored Library Assessment Conference; and grantsupported initiatives led by ACRL, ARL, and other organizations to help our allied professions
to build and foster a culture of assessment and to demonstrate the value that libraries and
archives bring to their communities and society at large.
Within this context, SAA and the Rare Books and Manuscript Section (RBMS) of ACRL have
appointed a joint task forces charged with developing standards that will define common public
services operations in archival repositories and special collections libraries. The consists of ten
members, five appointed by SAA and five appointed by ACRL/RBMS, including co-chairs
representing each organization. [Add task force member names and affiliations]
Purpose
[From the long-version announcement of our task force – Need to adapt for this context]
The SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force on the Development of Standardized Statistical
Measures for Public Services in Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries, cochaired by Amy Schindler (University of Nebraska Omaha) and Christian Dupont (Boston
College), is charged with developing statistical measures and related metrics for evaluating and
comparing public services within and across institutions, including visitor and paging counts,
reference transactions, reproduction orders, and events.
DEFINITIONS
Circulation
the issuance of Collection Units for Users to consult in a supervised Reading Room [attempted
definition to suit our particular needs]
Retrieval
[suggest formulating distinct definition for Retrieval vis-à-vis Circulation since some repositories
may only count the number of “requests” received, while others may count only the number of
items actually “retrieved,” and others only the number of items actually “circulated” or
issued/checked out. The distinction can be important for determining actual use, since some
requests may be rejected by staff for various reasons (i.e., a closed/restricted collection), and
some items retrieved may never be consulted by users. Thus, for measuring actual use, it is
probably important to use and precisely define a term that refers to process of actually issuing an
item]
Interlibrary Loan Request
User
An individual who uses the collections and services of a repository.
Source: borrowed from the SAA Glossary definition for User (1)1. Compare ANSI/NISO
Z39.7-2013 7.5 Library User2.
Related terms: patron, reader, researcher, searcher, customer, visitor
Comment: User typically connotes an individual who is not a member of the repository
staff.
Proposed modified definition that draws upon the SAA Glossary and ANSI/NISO
Z39.7-2013 standard:
1
http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/u/user.
http://z39-7.niso.org/standard/section7.html. “The library user is an individual accessing library materials and
services from a variety of access points. Libraries may classify users in different ways, including but not limited to
active borrower, registered library user, or eligible user. To adequately describe a library user, a distinction must be
made between the library user status and eligibility to access or borrow from a library collection from inside or
outside the physical premises of the library. The method of authenticating the status or eligibility of a library user is
the responsibility of the individual library.”
2
Definition: An individual who uses the collections and services of a repository
from a variety of access points, both onsite and remotely.
Comment: Repositories may classify users in different ways, including but not
limited to onsite user and remote user, registered user or visitor. To adequately
describe a repository user, distinctions should be made between user status and
eligibility to access collections materials and services. In accordance with their
security and other policies, repositories are responsible for determining the
methods used to determine the eligibility of users and authenticating their access.
Registered User
A user who has applied for and received permission to gain access to repository materials under
established conditions.
Source: adapted from IMLS Public Libraries in the United States Survey, Fiscal Year
2014 Data Element Definitions, §5033.
Related terms: user, patron, reader, researcher, searcher, customer, visitor
Comment: registration typically involves having users complete a registration form upon
an initial visit repository visit, the form requiing that users provide personal data, often
including government-issued ID verification, contact and other demographic information,
and agree to abide by a repository’s policies for reading room access and other services.
Collection Unit
A generic designation for a special collections materials, regardless of format, that for the
purposes or retrieval or circulation are requested and tracked individually using a callslip or an
inventory or request management system.
Source: compare ANSI/NISO Z39.7-1995 definition for volume, which is as follows: “A
single physical unit of any printed, typewritten, handwritten, mimeographed, or processed
work, distinguished from other units by a separate binding, encasement, portfolio, or
other clear distinction, which has been cataloged, classified, and made ready for use, and
which is typically the unit used to charge circulation transactions.”
Related terms: volume, container, item
Comment: for the purpose of defining retrieval and circulation counts, some generic unit
is needed to denote the various units of collection materials that are individually retrieved
http://www.imls.gov/research/pls_definitions.aspx. “A registered user is a library user who has applied for and
received an identification number or card from the public library that has established conditions under which the
user may borrow library materials or gain access to other library resources.”
3
or circulated; depending on the nature of the material and its cataloging and housing, a
“collection unit” may be a single volume or multi-volume set, a pamphlet or scrapbook, a
map or grouping of maps, graphical works on paper or other media, artifacts, an archival
box or folder, a film canister, videotape, or audiocassette, CD/ROM or DVD, etc.
Visit
[Need generic definition of a Visit that can apply to virtual visits (i.e., website visits) as well as
in-person visits for reading room consultations or to view exhibits or participate in events held at
the repository.]
Source: compare ANSI/NISO Z39.7-2013 definition for “Gate Count”: “The total
number of persons who physically enter the library. The total number includes persons
who visit in groups and persons who visit for library-sponsored programs. A person may
be counted more than once. Counting may be done either upon entrance or exit.”
Related terms: visit
Comment:
Reading Room Visit
An in-person visit by a registered user to a secure reading room for the purpose of consulting
archival and/or special collections materials.
Source: [Find one to adapt from? The above is currently my own; compare “Gate count”
Gate Count: Existing Definition(s): ISO Z39-7 (2013) refers to this as Gate Count (7.1):
“The total number of person who enter the library. The total number includes persons
who visit in groups and persons who visit for library-sponsored programs. A person may
be counted more than once. Counting may be done upon entrance or upon exit.”
Related terms: visit
Comment:
Reference Transaction
[or Reference Interaction?]
Virtual Reference Transaction
[or Virtual Reference Interaction?]
Source: compare NISO Z39.7; Academic Libraries Survey: “A virtual reference
interaction is a question that is received and responded to in electronic format and
conforms to reference interactions in that it is an information contact that involves the
knowledge, use, commendation, interpretation, or instruction in the use of one or more
information sources by a member of the library staff. Virtual reference interactions
include e-mail, webform, chat, text messaging, instant messaging, or other network-based
medium designed to support virtual reference.”
Related terms: reference transaction
Comment:
Reproduction Request
[Definition]
Source: compare SAA Glossary: 1. Something that is made in imitation of an earlier
style; a facsimile. - 2. A duplicate made from an original; a copy.
http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/r/reproduction
Related terms: reference transaction
Comment:
Interlibrary Loan Request
[Definition]
Source: compare SAA Glossary for “loan”: The temporary transfer of materials from one
party to another. http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/l/loan
Related terms: reference transaction
Comment:
MEASURES
Reading Room Visits
Basic measure (“Reader Days”):
Count the number of Reading Room Visits made by Registered Users during a 24-hour
period, beginning and ending at midnight. Count each Registered User once and only
once during the 24-hour period regardless of how many Visits s/he makes during the
period and regardless of the visit length.
Note: This statistic is commonly referred to as “reader days.”
Comment: Compare ANSI/NISO Z39.7-2013 definition for Gate Count: “The total
number of persons who physically enter the library. The total number includes persons
who visit in groups and persons who visit for library-sponsored programs. A person may
be counted more than once. Counting may be done either upon entrance or exit.”
Guidelines for collection:


Reading Room Visits can be tallied manually by creating a daily list of
individual users who enter the Reading Room, and then counting up the
number of unique users were admitted to the reading room that day.
Visits can be tallied upon entrance or exit from the Reading Room (in
properly managed security environment, the number of entrances and exits
should, of course, be the same).
Application and examples:



If a user is admitted to the reading room at 10:00am and works until noon,
then signs out to take a lunch break, and then comes back at 1:30pm and
works for another hour, count one visit only.
If a user is admitted to the reading room at 10:00am, quickly consults one
item, and then leaves at 10:15am for the rest of the day, count one visit.
If a user is admitted to the reading room on one day and then returns the next
day, count two visits.
Advanced measure (“Reader Hours”):
Calculate the cumulative time that a user spends in the Reading Room during a 24-hour
period, beginning and ending at midnight. Record the measure in hours and minutes,
hours and fractions of an hour, or minutes.
Note: This statistic is sometimes called “reader hours.”
Guideline for collection:

This measure can be obtained by manually recording and tabulating values,
but is more effectively obtained by entering reading roon sign-in and sign-out
times in a spreadsheet or an automated system that can calculate and report
the total amounts of time that individual users spend in the reading room each
day.
Application and examples:



If a user is admitted to the reading room at 10:00am and works until noon,
then signs out to take a lunch break, and then comes back at 1:30pm and
works until 3:15pm, record a total visit length of 3 hours and 45 minutes, or
3.75 hours, or 225 minutes.
If a user is admitted to the reading room at 10:00am, quickly consults one
item, and then leaves at 10:15am for the rest of the day, record a total visit
length of 0 hours and 15 mintues, 0.25 hours, or 15 minutes.
If a user is admitted to the reading room at 9:00am on the first day and leaves
at 11:00am, and then returns the next day at 10:00am and leaves at 12:30pm,
record a visit length of 2 hours and 0 minutes, or 2.0 hours, or 120 minutes for
the first visit, and a visit length of 2 hours and 30 minutes, or 2.5 hours, or 150
minutes for the second visit.
Recommended metrics
Total visits per day


Graphing the total number of visits per day over a given period of time can
reveal usage patterns. For instance, at academic institutions, total daily visits
might increase towards the end of the semester, when research papers are due.
Comparing the total number of visits per day (or week or month) for multiple
years in succession can reveal fluctuations in usage levels and trends.
Average number of visits per day

Calculating the average number of visits per day for a given period can
provide a good baseline metric for comparing activity levels at different
reading rooms or repositories. Reading room size and staffing needs would
naturally be different at an institutions that receive an average of 0.8 visits per
day than one that receives 18 visits per day.
Average visit length

Unique registered users

Newly registered users

Ratio of newly registered users to total users

Reference Transactions
Recommended metrics
Length of time spent with each user: we could use a minimum time. (for example min.
time of .25 hr).
User Demographics
Compare: ANSI/NISO Z39-7-2013 2.2 “Primary Target Population”
http://z39-7.niso.org/standard/section2.html
“The primary target population varies by type of library. It is the group of persons for
which the library (reporting unit) has been established to offer services and from which it
derives its identity. The primary target populations are noted in each subcategory.
Secondary populations served are not included. It is recommended that library service
mission, policies, and/or guidelines be consulted to understand the target populations for
any given library or information organization.”
[Primary Target populations defined in ANSI/NISO Z39-7-2013 include: Academic
Library, Network and Cooperative, Public Library, School Library Media Center, Special
Library, State Library Agency, Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals, General
Public, Residents of Other State Institutions, Residents of State Correctional Institutions,
State Government Employees.]
Basic demographic information:
1. Internal User (from your larger organization)
2. External User (from outside of your organization)
Advanced demographic information:
1. Staff (Internal User)
2. Student (K-12, undergrad (level of undergrad), grad)
3. Independent researchers
I could see this as a place for basic and detailed counting based on repository type. Everyone can
count internal and external users, but a historical society may want to know how many of those
external users are genealogists, a university may want to track students at different
levels(undergrad, grad, K-12), staff, and faculty, etc.
Reason for visit (work, assignment, etc.)
Purpose of visit (end product)?
Topic (subject of visit)