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Reference statistics sampling proposal

Timeline -

May 1 - Decide on weeks to sample. Use this time to work on some of the little things below, like creating a little blurb about ref vs. other questions, set up the instructions on the wiki
May 4 - Meeting with Steve and Jess re: reporting ref stats in the new model. Bring any final questions for Steve.
May 13 - Complete first draft of email that will be sent out. Send draft to our little subgroup and maybe Steve for comments.
~May 20 - Finalize wording for email. Finalize public wiki
Late May - early June - Steve to send email introducing the new policy
June 15 - Send reminder of upcoming changes. Keep public wiki updated
July 1 - Reference statistics sampling model lauches! Stop taking daily statistics. Send reminder.

To do -

1. Draft message describing new system for Steve to send to all-lib? ps-lib?. - (First draft by ~May 15, Remlee)

  • Make it clear that everyone who answers any questions from the public should be involved (or however we want to clarify that).
  • Keep it brief, so that people will read it.
    • Instead of recording statistics every day, we will be doing recording them four weeks out of the year
    • The 4 weeks will be (x,x,x,x)
    • Remember to record all transactions, whether they happen at the desk or away.
    • A reminder of the difference between reference and other

2. Make a web / wiki page describing the new system. - Heather & Bill

Updated policy for collecting reference statistics

  • Is that title too formal?
  • Link off of RISG page, where?
  • Send link with email to PS Lib (Is this going to include everyone we want to collect statistics?)
  • Include attached .pdf of ref statistics sheet.
  • What is going to go here? Same wording as email?

3. Meet with Steve and Jess to figure out logistics.

Monday, May 4th, 2-3 pm in the Hayden Conference Room - Thank you, Remlee!

For this meeting we will have prepared:

  • Something about the definition of reference (I'm pretty sure that I missed something about this that maybe came up at the PSLG meeting? Where does this fit in to reference statistics? Does it have to do with whether a question is reference or other or who should be recording statistics?)
  • A rough timeline of how we plan to roll out the policy (when & how we'll publicize, etc.)
  • Some ideas for whether the reference statistics sheet needs to change at all?
  • Discuss which weeks we will sample?
  • Decide who our audience will be (Was this already decided as all-lib?)

4. Publicize the new model

  • Make timelines for reminding people to keep statistics
    • Timeline for FY 2009 and lead in to sampling method
    • Timeline for FY 2010 to send reminders that sample weeks are coming and how to find stats sheets.
  • Remind them how to distinguish whether a question is "reference" or "other"
  • Send wiki link with correspondence

5. Decide which definition of reference to use. - I'm thinking we probably want to know this (or have a good sense of where we are,) by the meeting with Steve, April 13.

I. Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)
Approved by RUSA Board of Directors, January 14, 2008
Submitted by subgroup of RSS Executive Committee

Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs. Reference transactions do not include formal instruction or exchanges that provide assistance with locations, schedules, equipment, supplies, or policy statements.

Reference Work includes reference transactions and other activities that involve the creation, management, and assessment of information or research resources, tools, and services.

(The following bullets clarify what is meant by terms within the Reference Work definition.)

  • Creation and management of information resources includes the development and maintenance of research collections, research guides, catalogs, databases, web sites, search engines, etc., that patrons can use independently, in-house or remotely, to satisfy their information needs.
  • Assessment activities include the measurement and evaluation of reference work, resources, and services.

II. Association of Research Libraries (ARL)

A reference transaction is an information contact that involves the knowledge, use, recommendations, interpretation, or instruction in the use of one or more information sources by a member of the library staff. The term includes information and referral service. Information sources include (a) printed and nonprinted material; (b) machine-readable databases (including computer-assisted instruction); (c) the library's own catalogs and other holdings records; (d) other libraries and institutions through communication or referral; and (e) persons both inside and outside the library. When a staff member uses information gained from previous use of information sources to answer a question, the transaction is reported as a reference transaction even if the source is not consulted again. If a contact includes both reference and directional services, it should be reported as one reference transaction. Duration should not be an element in determining whether a transaction is a reference transaction. Sampling based on a typical week may be used to extrapolate to a full year for Question 34. Please indicate if the figure is based on sampling. Exclude simple directional questions.

A directional transaction is an information contact that facilitates the logistical use of the library and that does not involve the knowledge, use, recommendations, interpretation, or instruction in the use of any information sources other than those that describe the library, such as schedules, floor plans, and handbooks. See The ARL Statistics Web page for links to documents containing current definitions.

It is listed in the instructions for the ARL statistics survey: ARL Statistics survey which is available at: http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/08instruct.pdf

It is based on the ANSI/NISO Z39.7-2004: Information Services and Use: Metrics & statistics for libraries and information providers — Data Dictionary, 7.3, http://www.niso.org/dictionary/section7/. The one online is listed from 2004.

Proposal sent to PSLG

Reference Statistics Review - This links to citations & notes from the literature review we did as background, notes from earlier meetings, also notes related to different reference statistics-taking options including the READ scale, subscription services (such as AltaRama and DeskTracker) and macros in Excel that we tried out. A tool of interest may be Zoho Creator, which allows users to create on the fly databases with some decent options.

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