Live demo, downloads and more info at: http://www.wendt.wisc.edu/projects/systems/libstats/index.do

…Recording reference questions was i a forgotten ordeal here in our library. So when my boss assigned me as the new reference librarian i see to it that recording stats. for such will be a daily routine. i combined the previews recording method(recording the paraphrased form of the inquiry(Ready ref. and Reaseach inquiries only) in a 3×5 slip, which are filed according to subject in a filing tray)and the method i have devised(reference logbook which can generate stats such as type of transaction, patron category, subject category of the inquiry and the prescribed answer for the inquiry) to gather ref. data.
i really find a hard time maintaing a qualitative ref stats because of the following : (1.)the method is very meticolous for they are all paper based, (2)the whole reference stat recording idea seemed to be an alien task for the reliever librarians and (3)finally students/faculty members seemed to have no idea on what the reference section is all about. For the 2nd and 3rd problems i guess Public relations/information campaign about reference work is all i need for them to be eliminated. The one i really find difficult to solve is the 1st difficulty (stat maintence) im planning to develop an access database solely for such an ordeal.. however creating one is indeed a painful task especial when ur not a trained database programmer…..can someone from the information science profession help me regarding this matter……Thank you!!!

I told librarians that they could record their answers on paper (and provided forms for them) but told them that the data needed to be entered online at some point.

We only record “reference transactions” which does not include directional (“where is learning services”) or technology (“printer doesn’t work”) questions. We just record whether they were “virtual” (e-mail) or “traditional” (phone and in-person).

I still prefer paper calendars to online ones (mostly because I haven’t found one I love online), so perhaps somethings may just be better suited for the physical world until we get a better computer-based solution.

We record what resource the question was about (catalogue, web, IT, law, etc), time taken (under 5 mins or over), and referralls to IT, etc. We have boxes for each hour to track busy times. We really should record referencing questions, we get a lot of those.

We record whether the interaction was simple info (“Where is the bathroom?” and “What is my password?” being #2 and #1, respectively) or more full service, and whether it took less than one minute, 1-5, 5-10, or 10+

I’ll have to look into the Excel method.

I’ve worked at a library that used software (not excel, a different type of program) to automate taking stats every day. Excel sounds like it would be a great solution if you don’t want to spend money on extra software. I bet you could do the same type of thing with a from feeding into an access database too.