Annual Report Changes: Physical Items & Circulation

I think this is the last message about changes to the annual report. I think. This one deals mostly with the physical items in your library. First, I wanted to note that I reorganized the sections on holdings and circulation. I’ve broken out physical and electronic holdings and physical circ. and electronic content usage into their own separate sections. The sections on electronic content in particular were getting a little long; although, I would like to point out that most of the questions in the sections on electronic content are either pre-filled for you or are totals.

I’ve added one new question to the physical holdings section: Other Circulating Physical Items. You will find the definition below. These were not previously reflected in the holdings numbers and I thought it was important to include them, since they are a growing part of libraries’ collections.

I’ve also revamped the physical circulation section. Last year, you were asked to report Children’s Circ., YA Circ., and Other; these were then added up to get total physical circulation. That arrangement was almost universally hated, for several reasons, so I’ve switched the physical circ. to reflect the physical holdings and now ask for circ. by item type (print, audio, video, & other physical items) and those will be added up for total physical circulation. This also allows me to add in some additional key ratios, such as circ. by item type.

I’m still working on uploading the stats for NHDB and the state databases into the annual report for you and, as soon as I’m done with that, I’ll open it up and send out the link and logins. If you have any questions about any of this, or really anything about the annual report, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m here to help!

Tim Rohe
Reference Librarian/State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
603-271-2060 

Other Circulating Physical Items

Report a single figure that includes the following: all circulating physical items other than print books (450), physical audio units (452), physical video units (454), and serials. These are materials in a fixed, physical format available for use outside the library. These can include a variety of items types, such as wi-fi hotspots, sewing machines, cake pans, tools, etc.

Report the number of units, including duplicates. Items packaged together as a unit (such as a set of cookie cutters) and checked out as a unit are counted as one physical unit.