IMLS Changes to Annual Report FY2020

     I know we just finished the annual report for FY2019, but I wanted to make you aware of some changes that IMLS is making to FY2020.  This email is going to deal with the easy ones.  These are the new elements being added to the annual report going forward.  The next email will go over the questions that IMLS is adding to the FY2020 (and possibly FY2021) annual report to account for COVID-19.

     Some of you may recall an email I sent out around December/January about the proposed new data elements for FY2020.  Only three of them passed and will be added to the report going forward.  They are:

·         Library Visits Reporting Method (drop down menu)

o   Annual Count

o   Annual Estimate Based on Typical Week(s)

·         Reference Transaction Reporting Method (drop down menu)

o   Annual Count

o   Annual Estimate Based on Typical Week(s)

·         Revised definition of Reference Questions

     The questions regarding the reporting method simply ask you to tell how you got the numbers for Library Visits and Reference Questions; an annual count (from a door counter or a reference log, for example) or an estimate based on the count from an average week/month.  Pretty straight forward.

     The changes to the definition of reference questions are nominal.  IMLS simply decided to adopt the text of the definition used by the Reference & User Services Association (RUSA) to avoid any confusion.  You can find the full, revised definition below.

     Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about these changes.

Tim Rohe

Reference Librarian/State Data Coordinator

New Hampshire State Library

603-271-2060

603-271-2144 (Reference Desk)

Timothy.Rohe@dncr.nh.gov

REFERENCE TRANSACTIONS

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.

NOTES:

(1) A reference transaction includes information and referral service, unscheduled individual instruction and assistance in using information sources (including websites and computer-assisted instruction).

(2) Count Readers Advisory questions as reference transactions.

(3) 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.

(4) 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.

(5) If a contact includes both reference and directional services, it should be reported as one reference transaction.

(6) Duration should not be an element in determining whether a transaction is a reference transaction.

(7) Do not include transactions that include only a directional service, such as instruction for locating staff, library users, or physical features within the library. Examples of directional transactions include, “Where is the reference librarian? Where is Susan Smith? Where is the rest room? Where are the 600s? Can you help me make a photocopy?”

Annual Count vs. Annual Estimate

If an annual count of reference transactions is unavailable, count reference transactions during a typical week or weeks, and multiply the count to represent an annual estimate.

A “typical week” is a time that is neither unusually busy nor unusually slow. Avoid holiday times, vacation periods for key staff, or days when unusual events are taking place in the community or in the library. Choose a week in which the library is open its regular hours.

Example: If there are four weeks sampled, multiply the totals for those four weeks by 13 to get an estimate for the full year. If the sample is done twice a year (one week at each time, two weeks total) multiply the count by 26 to get the estimated annual count.