Hello Kristina, we keep our gift statistics in two
ways: first, all gifts received; second, we extract gifts added to the
collection from our library system at the end of the fiscal year.
First, we manually count all gifts received and then enter them in a
spreadsheet throughout each operating year, separated out by format as
we go. Then at the end of the year, we have a neat, clean tally of all
gifts received, broken out by format for the entire year.
Second, we use our automated system to give us a tally of gifts added to
the library collection. This is where it can get tricky, depending on
which system your library has and how nuance-sensitive its
data-extraction and analysis capabilities are. Here's what we do. We
have Innovative, and each title has its own order record attached to a
bibliographic record, which is very helpful in giving us title-by-title
data elements to extract any way we might need. When we order and add
titles, we code each order record based on the type of acquisition (e.g.
firm order, standing order, gift, etc), as we go along our regular
workflows throughout the year. At the end of the fiscal year, i run a
library system report of all gifts added for the entire fiscal year (by
searching for acquisition type = gift, limited by fiscal-year timeframe
parameters). Against that gifts file I run statistics to generate a data
table of the number of items, broken out by format. For collection
statistics purposes, I also run statistics against that same gift file
by call# area to get a sense of subject coverage with the gifts.
At annual reporting, I then report the numbers of gifts added to the
library and the number of gifts received, broken out by the same format.
This also gives me a gift acceptance ratio. I have not broken out my
gift reporting by subject area, but our library system's data-analysis
capabilities provide the opportunity to do so.
For your purpose of reporting on the value of gifts received, you can
assign a flat price per volume and multiply that with the number of
titles you added to the collection. If you prefer a more granular
approach, you could break out your gifts added by discipline (call# is a
good approach built into the library data structure) and use the Bowker
Annual's price per book by discipline. This way, if you add a great
science gift book, you don't accidentally under-value that science book
by averaging it out with books in disciplines with lower book prices.
Chances are it would be prohibitively time-consuming to look up a market
value for each gift book you're adding to the collection; therefore the
Bowker Annual route would at least give you a decent approximation of
value. It may also be worth considering weights for gifted areas where
those gift-book additions fill a major gap in the collection: For
example, if your university starts a new program, you need to build a
pilot collection. At that time someone actually gives you great books in
that subject area that you can use as a starter collection to kick off
the new academic program's fledgling library support. Such a scenario
would increase the value of the gifts considerably, and would be worthy
of differentiation in a "value of gifts" report.
If your library has booksales (whether in-house, online, or with a
third-party partner), then those gifts not added to the collection have
value as well: your booksale proceeds are easily quantified by the
earnings from sales.
In deciding what to report to your administrations, deciding on what
story you want your data to tell helps you determine what kinds of data
to collect and analyze.
These are some thoughts about data on library gifts off the top of my
head - Hope this helps
Best, antje
=================================================
Antje Mays
Professor and Head, Monograph & AV Acquisitions
Ida Jane Dacus Library, Room 103
Winthrop University
824 Oakland Avenue
Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733, USA
phone: 001-803-323-2274 fax: 001-803-323-2421
e-mail: maysa_at_winthrop.edu <mailto:maysa_at_winthrop.edu>
http://faculty.winthrop.edu/maysa <http://faculty.winthrop.edu/maysa>
=================================================
From: acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 9:45 AM
To: 'acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org'
Cc: Edwards, Kristina M.
Subject: [ACQNET-L] Question about collecting gift statistics
Hello~
Forgive me if I am asking the wrong group. I was curious if anyone
would be willing to share what kinds of statistics that they keep and
report about the number of gifts that they receive and/or add. I am
hoping to rework our gift process and be able to provide information
that is helpful to our administration about what is donated and
potentially how much we save because of the gifts that we receive. A
very lofty goal but I am hopeful. Any help is appreciated!
Kristina
Kristina Edwards
Assistant Librarian, Collection Development and Acquisitions
Clement C. Maxwell Library
Bridgewater State University
10 Shaw Rd.
Bridgewater, MA 02325-0001
Kristina.edwards_at_bridgew.edu
508-531-2035
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Received on Tue Aug 06 2013 - 16:36:31 EDT