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Hi Sheila,

There was a discussion on the topic of library gate counts several years back at a "town hall" type meeting held in Chicago by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools  -- the primary accrediting agency for colleges and universities in the midwest.  As I recall, the general consensus among both the librarians and the NCA representatives was that gate counts are not particularly relevant measures of anything  -- but that they're easy to provide, since this function is automated in most college libraries.  (Our security gate has a counter.  We simply divide the counter number by two -- assuming that everyone who walked in also walked out. :-))

I worked in a museum library before coming to SAIC and my guess is that "staff visits" require your attention, whether it's a curator doing research, or someone from operations changing a lightbulb.  Library staff time is still being utilized.

Instead of answering the challenge as delivered, however, you may want to try to re-frame the discussion.  What gate counts and other counts cannot illuminate is the potential of your collections, the quality of the service that visitors receive or their satisfaction with their experiences in your library.  We are struggling to develop more qualitative measures of what our library provides, and frankly it's tough -- especially in smaller libraries with limited staffing.  Our counts happen to look good, and we're required to report them, so we do produce a steady stream of numbers every year but we try to keep the focus on more important things --  the teaching we provide (information literacy), the learning opportunities (hands-on experiences in special collections) and on customer service/satisfaction -- not on the numbers alone.

What's working for us is to integrate our library mission more effectively into the institution's mission.  In a college setting, that means finding more creative ways to support teaching, learning, and research.  We're currently working with faculty to develop courses that will give students real problem-solving responsibility/authority for some collections -- as well as traditional learning opportunities.  Perhaps you could develop similar projects in a museum library setting, engaging sections of your community in projects of their own choice and making sure that they -- your users -- are seen as more than "gate count" by your administration. 

Good luck!
Claire

======================================

Claire Eike
Director, The John M. Flaxman Library
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
37 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago, Illinois  60603-3103
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312-899-1465 fax
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At 12/9/2008 Tuesday 11:59 AM, Sheila A. Cork wrote:
Hi,

I need some help regarding keeping statistics of the people who walk through the door of NOMA's library.

Do you count a staff member walking through the library door as a "visit"?

I am currently in a situation where it has been suggested that staff visits do not count, and as NOMA's library is closed to the public except by appointment this will affect my statistics.

Any response welcome.

Thanks,

Sheila

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