April 21, 2023

Virginia Tech Libraries: Making sense of statisticsVirginia Tech Libraries: Making sense of statistics

Robert SebekWebmaster, Virginia Tech Libraries

The ProblemThe Problem

• Stats collected for no reason• Difficult to make decisions on

current stats• Reporting delays and difficulties

The solutionThe solution

• Start at the end: what do we need stats for

• Then figure out what to collect and how

• Stop collecting for only historical reasons

Collection processCollection process

• Figure out best person to gather stats• Closest to area generating stats

• Record where stats come from, details on process• Gather• Compute• Analyze

ARL statsARL stats

• Association for Research Libraries• North American libraries• Main benchmarking org• Yearly stats submission

Stat Who Compiles?

Volumes  1) Volumes held as of June 30 ( 1.a + 1.b ) Leslie O'Briena) Volumes held June 30 Leslie O'Brienb) Volumes added during year ( 1.b.i - 1.b.ii ) Leslie O'Brieni) Volumes added during year -- Gross Leslie O'Brienii) Volumes withdrawn during the year Leslie O'Brien

2) Titles held June 30 Leslie O'Brien3) Number of monographic volumes purchased Leslie O'Brien4) Basis of volume count Leslie O'BrienElectronic Expenditures  22) One-time electronic resource purchases Ladd Brown

23) Ongoing electronic resource purchases (e.g., subscriptions, annual license fees) Ladd Brown

24a) Bibliographic utilities, networks, and consortia - From internal library sources Brenda Reed

24b) Bibliographic utilities, networks, and consortia - From external sources Brenda Reed25) Computer hardware and software Brenda Reed26) Document Delivery / Interlibrary Loan Brenda ReedPersonnel  27) Total Staff, FTE ( 27.a + 27.b + 27.c) Cathy Pillowa) Professional staff, FTE Cathy Pillowb) Support staff, FTE Cathy Pillowc) Student assistants, FTE Robbie Farley

Information Collection Source Amount Carilion FY13 Total FY14 Total

Collections          

1) Titles held as of June 30 (all formats) Leslie O'Brien 2,276,656 2,683 1,727,505 2,279,339

2) Volumes held June 30 (print plus ebooks) Leslie O'Brien 3,143,144 4,016 2,554,204 3,147,160

3) Basis of print volume count Leslie O'Brien Bibliographic   Bibliographic Bibliographic

4) Ebooks (included in question 2) Leslie O'Brien 815,556 1,177 470,270 816,733

Expenditures: Total Library Expenditures          

6) Total Library Expenditures (exclude fringe benefits) (7 + 8 + 9) Leslie O'Brien 18,233,761 246,006 17,909,100 18,479,767

7) Total Library Materials Expenditures Leslie O'Brien 8,999,342 161,674 8,691,143 9,161,016

7a) One-time resource purchases Leslie O'Brien 1,661,220 17,099 1,829,236 1,678,319

7b) Ongoing resource purchases (e.g. subscriptions, annual license fees) Leslie O'Brien 6,745,671 124,825 6,285,378 6,870,496

7c) Collection Support Leslie O'Brien 592,451 19,750 576,529 612,201

8) Total Salaries and Wages (8a + 8b + 8c) Brenda Reed 7,064,811 75,318 6,993,034 7,140,129

8a) Professional staff (exclude fringe benefits) Brenda Reed 3,782,968 49,536 3,388,870 3,832,504

8b) Support staff (exclude fringe benefits) Brenda Reed 2,909,789 25,782 3,393,651 2,935,571

8c) Student assistants (exclude fringe benefits) Brenda Reed 372,054 - 210,513 372,054

9) Other operating expenditures Brenda Reed 2,169,608 9,014 2,224,923 2,178,622

Fringe Benefits (Provide a detailed footnote on what this includes)          

10) Fringe benefits Brenda Reed 2,207,031 21,089 2,096,355 2,228,120

11) Official designated percent Brenda Reed 28.50  

29 28.50

Expenditures from External Sources          

12) Consortia/Networks/Bibliographic Utilities Expenditures from External Sources Kathy Perry 732,917 517,200 730,475 1,250,117

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Monthly Statistics FY 14-15               

  JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL   Ref/Dir/Info/Other Questions   BHSS Desk   Reference 108 309 704 477 256 124 2,732 Directional/Informational 216 185 252 214 132 102 1,339 Supplies/Equipment 26 69 169 117 49 86 640 Other 48 70 76 40 71 24 385    VT LibAnswers   Chat Conversations 212 247 443 373 350 210 2,934 Total Librarian & Client Messages 2,710 3,339 6,003 5,391 4,642 2,623 24,708 Total Time Chatting (day(s): hours: minutes) 29:43:00 41:08:00 75:52:00 36:38:00 36:49:00 41:54:00 262:04:00 Average Chat Duration 0:08:00 0:09:00 0:10:00 0:11:00 0:10:00 0:11:00 0:59:00 Average Client Rating 3.48 3.61 3.48 3.52 3.45 3.33 20.87    Art & Architecture Library   Reference 14 64 210 98 61 15 661 Directional/Informational 23 50 138 79 50 17 699     NCR Library   Reference 17 32 20 26 16 14 166 Directional/Informational 141 200 187 201 139 118 1,304 Supplies/Equipment 5 4 12 9 6 2 47 Other 69 108 58 23 12 36 392 Courier Service 4 6 3 0 0 1 15 University of Virginia 29 34 28 33 31 22 220 Virginia Tech 207 252 208 220 131 140 1,505

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Monthly Statistics FY 14-15               

  JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL   Ref/Dir/Info/Other Questions   BHSS Desk   Reference 108 309 704 477 256 124 2,732 Directional/Informational 216 185 252 214 132 102 1,339 Supplies/Equipment 26 69 169 117 49 86 640 Other 48 70 76 40 71 24 385    VT LibAnswers   Chat Conversations 212 247 443 373 350 210 2,934 Total Librarian & Client Messages 2,710 3,339 6,003 5,391 4,642 2,623 24,708 Total Time Chatting (day(s): hours: minutes) 29:43:00 41:08:00 75:52:00 36:38:00 36:49:00 41:54:00 262:04:00 Average Chat Duration 0:08:00 0:09:00 0:10:00 0:11:00 0:10:00 0:11:00 0:59:00 Average Client Rating 3.48 3.61 3.48 3.52 3.45 3.33 20.87    Art & Architecture Library   Reference 14 64 210 98 61 15 661 Directional/Informational 23 50 138 79 50 17 699     NCR Library   Reference 17 32 20 26 16 14 166 Directional/Informational 141 200 187 201 139 118 1,304 Supplies/Equipment 5 4 12 9 6 2 47 Other 69 108 58 23 12 36 392 Courier Service 4 6 3 0 0 1 15 University of Virginia 29 34 28 33 31 22 220 Virginia Tech 207 252 208 220 131 140 1,505

Outcomes/DecisionsOutcomes/Decisions

• Circ staffing model• E-preferred purchase for books• Merging Acquisitions, Serials, and

ILL into Electronic Access Team• Re-emphasis on marketing

collections in addition to events and services