Thank you so much for your response! I have been trying to find a way to figure out what statistics to collect and I love your advice about "deciding on what story you what your data to tell". I haven't heard that in a while so it is very helpful. Have a great weekend!
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<mailto:Kristina.edwards_at_bridgew.edu>
508-531-2035
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: Tuesday, August 06, 2013 4:08 PM
To: acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [ACQNET-L] Question about collecting gift statistics
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@winthrop.edu<mailto:maysa@winthrop.edu> http://faculty.winthrop.edu/maysa
=================================================
From: acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org<mailto:acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org> [mailto:acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org<mailto: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<mailto:Kristina.edwards_at_bridgew.edu>
508-531-2035
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Received on Fri Aug 09 2013 - 17:44:40 EDT