ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries October 1989 / 801 laugh, from my a rticle on th e applications o f M u rp h y ’s Law in lib raries, “M urphy, P arkinson, andP eter: Laws for Libraries,’’L ib ra ry Journal 113 (O cto b er 15,1988): 3 7 -4 1 . T hose colleagues w ho w rote to m e a fte r th e a rticle was p u b lish e d c e r ­ tainly c o m m e n te d on th e h u m o r, a n d tru th , o f th e article.—J e a n E . C om pton, H ead L ibrarian, H a n ­ cock L ib ra ry o f B iology a n d O c e a n o g ra p h y, Uni­ versity o f Southern California. ■ ■ Microcomputer software for bibliographic instruction statistics By Candace R. Benefi el H um anities Reference Librarian Texas A & M U niversity and Joe Jaros Instructional Services Librarian Texas A & M U niversity How to streamline your procedures fo r keeping B I records using spreadsheet software. W hile b ib lio g rap h ic in stru ctio n (BI) is a m ajor p ro je c t at m ost academ ic libraries, statistics g a th e re d c o n c e rn in g BI p ro g usually m anually com piled, a tim e-c o n su m in g process w hich o fte n yields only basic to ta ls . M ore co m p le te statistical o utlines o f BI activities are essential in providing a clear p ic tu re to library and university adm inistrations n o t only o f th e q u a n tity of BI activities, b u t also, o v e rtim e , o f th e quality o f th ese activities. Statistical rec o rd s a n d analyses may b e u se d to indicate quality in a variety o f ways, such as ongoing requests for specific p rese n tatio n s. Even a sim ple com pilation o f a BI program ’s activi­ ties, such as a listing o f th e classes receiving library in stru ctio n , will show th e n u m b e r and type o f classes and students being reached through varying m ethods o f form al p rese n tatio n . Statistics will also e n a b le th e lib rarian to c h a rt more accurately th e grow th and developm ent o f an instructional program and should suggest areas for fu tu re c o n c e n tra tio n o f e ffo rt. In a d d itio n , th e s e records reveal w h e th e r th e program is g eared m ore amtso waraer d basic in stru ctio n a l sessions such as to u rs a n d classroom le c tu re s, d e m o n s tra tio n s o f new services, p a rtic u la rly th o se re la tin g to a u to m a te d access to library m aterials, o r individual sessions. A d e ta ile d know ledge o f th e p ro g ra m ’s c u rr e n t c o n ­ te n t will aid in c o rre c tin g p r e s e n t p ro b le m s or im balances and in determ ining future needs, direc­ tions a n d e m p h ases. S taffing d ecisions, always a m ajo r a re a o f c o n c e rn in p la n n in g any pro g ram , should b e aided by verifiable charting o f peak tim es o f activity over an e x te n d e d perio d . A lthough m any o f th e basic p a tte rn s o f usage are self-ev id en t, especially to th e e x p e rie n c e d BI li­ b ra ria n , w ho has o b se rv e d a n d c o o rd in a te d BI activities over several years o r m ore, o fte n th e se tre n d s are n o t as a p p a re n t to a d m in istra to rs, p a r ­ ticularly those outside th e library. It n e e d hardly be s ta te d th a t an a d m in istra to r, w h e th e r at lib ra ry o r r 802/C & R L News u n iv ersity level, will c e rta in ly b e m o re a p t to b e ­ lieve a statistical re p o rt th an an u n s u p p o rte d g e n e r­ alization, regardless o f th e years o f experience from w hich th e conclusion is draw n. T h erefo re, m any BI lib ra rian s a re in n e e d o f m o re d e ta ile d statistics reg a rd in g th e ir program s, p refe ra b ly w ith o u t a d d ­ ing to th e b u r d e n w h ich r e c o rd -k e e p in g alread y p re s e n ts . F u rth e rm o re , consolidation o f this infor­ m atio n in to a rea d ily accessible d a ta b a se sh o u ld sim plify th e g a th e rin g o f w eekly, m onthly, a n d annual statistics. Background S te rlin g C. E vans L ib ra ry is th e c e n tra l lib ra ry for an e x p a n d in g s tu d e n t p o p u la tio n at Texas A & M U niversity, w h ich in th e fall o f 1987 n u m b e r e d over 39,000. BI has b e e n a lo n g -stan d in g c o n c e rn at th e library, w ith a p ro g ra m d a tin g back alm ost fifte e n years. In its p r e s e n t form , th e BI pro g ra m offers a variety o f instru ctio n al activities, c e n te rin g a ro u n d th e tra d itio n a l g ro u p g u id e d to u r, b u t also including individualized g raduate stu d e n t counsel­ in g sessions, classroom d e m o n s tra tio n s o f a u to ­ m a te d in fo rm a tio n re trie v a l services, specialized lectures, a n d orien tatio n s for new faculty a n d staff. In a d d itio n , as th e larg e st lib ra ry in th e reg io n , S terlin g C. E vans L ib ra ry is also aw are o f its c o m ­ m unity responsibility, and w orks w ith n o n -u n iv e r­ sity g roups in p ro v id in g lib ra ry in s tru c tio n a n d services. T h e grow ing u n d e rg ra d u a te p o p u la tio n o f th e university has fo rc e d a c o n sta n t re-e v a lu a tio n a n d revision o f th e p ro g ra m in o r d e r to in c lu d e new tech n o lo g y a n d services, a n d also to re ta in qu ality o f in struction o ffered to large n u m b ers o f students. W h ile th e p ro g ra m was originally g e a re d to w a rd th e n e e d s o f th e u n d e rg ra d u a te s tu d e n ts, over th e last th r e e years c o n ta c ts w ith g ra d u a te s tu d e n ts have in creased dram atically as faculty and stu d en ts rec o g n ize d th e value o f a session ta ilo re d to th e ir specific rese a rc h n e e d s. Class d e m o n stra tio n s for g ra d u a te s tu d e n ts o f ne w o n lin e a n d C D -R O M databases have also increased. Since th e beg in n in g o f th e program , BI statistics at th e lib ra ry w e re m anually c o m p ile d , a tim e - c o n su m in g a n d re p e titiv e task w hich involved th e sam e in fo rm a tio n b e in g re c o r d e d in as m an y as th r e e locations, in o r d e r to p ro d u c e w eekly, m o n th ly a n d yearly statistics in a d d itio n to th e rec o rd s k e p t fo r s c h e d u lin g p u rp o se s . R e q u e sts w ere originally re c o rd e d on to u r slips, som e in fo r­ m ation from w hich was th e n tra n sfe rre d to a sc h ed ­ uling book. At th e e n d o f each w eek, statistics w ere re c o rd e d on a s h e e t in th e sc h e d u lin g book. M onthly sta tistic s w e re th e n c o m p ile d a n d fo r­ w arded to th e assistant d ire c to r for public services, w ith a d u p lic a te b e in g r e ta in e d in th e R e fe re n c e Division. E a c h o f th e s e re c o rd s c o n ta in e d sim ilar inform ation, b u t each had a u nique portion, so th a t th e co m p ila tio n o f annual statistics involved c o n ­ solidating all th re e sources. W hile th e statistics g e n e ra te d in this fashion did enable BI librarians to keep an instructional session c o u n t a n d an approxim ate head count, d ifferentiat­ ing b e tw e en graduate and u ndergraduate students, a n d to id en tify peak tim es of BI, th ese basic sta tis­ tics d id n o t allow for any qualitative analysis o f this activity. U n d e r this m anual record-keeping system, th e B I lib ra ria n cou ld n o t tell w ith o u t re c o u n tin g from th e to u r slips w hich d e p a rtm e n ts o r colleges w e re re q u irin g instructional sessions, or w hat p e r ­ c e n tag e o f req u ests each d e p a rtm e n t rep resen ted . T h e system also m ade it im possible to keep track o f sp ecial re q u e s ts by professors or any p ro b lem s n eed in g fu tu re attention w ithout making a separate file w hich was n o t easily accessed. In add itio n , p u ttin g m aterials in to graph form at was n o t p o s ­ sible w ith o u t a g rea t deal o f m anual co u n tin g a n d drawing. Methodology In o r d e r to g e n e ra te m o re d e ta ile d statistical re p o r ts w h ich w ould aid in exam ining a n d m ain ­ ta in in g q u ality BI services at Texas A & M U n iv e r­ sity, an a u to m a te d re c o rd -k e e p in g p ro g ra m was im p le m e n te d in early 1987. A new softw are p a c k ­ age, P F S Professional File, was sele c te d to rep lace th e cu m bersom e m anual m eans o f statistics g a th e r­ ing form erly used. Several softw are packages w ere e x a m in ed on th e basis o f a p r e d e te r m in e d s e t o f c rite ria fe lt to b e e ssen tial to th e successful p ro g ­ ress o f th e p ro je c t, th e c rite ria for selectio n b e in g d e te rm in e d by th e BI lib rarian a n d th e h e a d o f th e R e fe re n c e Division. F o re m o s t am ong th e c o n sid ­ e ra tio n s was t h e flexibility o f th e package, w hich n e e d e d , in e ffe c t, to b e a file -m a n a g e m e n t p r o ­ gram for a small to m edium -sized d a ta b a se . At least as im p o rta n t as flexibility, how ever, was th e sim ­ plicity o f th e softw are package. T h e p lan called for th e p ac k ag e to b e u s e d in fre q u e n tly , a n d q u ite possiblyby a n u m b e r o f staff m em bers. In addition, th e p ac k ag e s e le c te d was to be u se d w ith a m in i­ m u m o f p ro g ra m m in g on th e p a rt o f th e u sers. T h e re fo re , a softw are package w hich was difficult to learn, or one th a t w ould force th e d e p a rtm e n t to re ly u p o n o n e sta ff m e m b e r as a d e p a rtm e n ta l “e x p e rt,” w o u ld n o t b e suitab le. T h e BI lib ra ria n fe lt th a t a m e n u -b a s e d package w ould be th e b e st ch o ic e fo r ease o f use u n d e r th e se circum stances. A n o th e r fe a tu re d e s ire d was easy in te rfa c e w ith g rap h ic s a n d s p re a d s h e e t program s, in o rd e r to allow for organized and readily understood p re s e n ­ ta tio n o f th e statistical re p o rts g e n e ra te d by th e so ftw a re package. C u sto m ized p rin tin g options, w hich w ould allow for selected portions o f th e data file to b e p r in te d o ff as n e e d e d , w ere am ong th e October 1989 / 803 F igure 1. Graduate vs. undergraduate sessions. considerations. And, as always, th e expense of th e package was a factor, although not, in this case, an overriding concern. A n u m b e r of possible softw are packages w ere identified, and reviews o f these packages w ere read and co m p ared w ith regard to th e various criteria. At th e tim e this pro je c t was initiated, a litera tu re search found no articles rela te d to th e p roblem of BI statistics, although a recen t article by W ells and Gadikian describes th e use of dBase I II in a similar application.1 The necessity for a quick changeover from m anual to a u to m a te d recordkeeping, how ­ ever, and th e desire for th e acquisition of a software package w hich w ould req u ire only m inim al p ro ­ gram m ing preclu d ed th e selection of this program for th e p ro je c t at hand. PFS Professional File appeared, at th e tim e th e pro ject was begun, to be th e best suited for this application, especially in the areas o f expense and sim plicity. Any package, however, which m et th e specifications relative to a BI statistics pro ject could have b e e n used for such a purpose. In addition, a new BI a p p o in tm e n t form was d eveloped w hich allowed for inform ation to be recorded in a m ore logical fashion to facilitate data 1M argaret R. Wells and Randolph S. Gadikian, “BISTATS: U sing dB ase I II to C om pile L ibrary Instruction Statistics,” Research Strategies^ (Fall 1987): 180-185. entry. T h e new form, essentially a m odification of th e previous one, in effect reorganizes th e fields to be e n te re d into th e data file, placing th em in an easy o rd er for entry. Space for added inform ation, allowing for a b e tte r p ictu re o f th e program , was also b u ilt into th e new form .T h e ad d e d inform a­ tion provided a b rie f evaluation of degree of activity at any given tim e, and also allowed a continuing record of postponem ents, no-shows, cancellations, andproblem s. T he staff m em b e r taking reservations for in ­ structional sessions re c o rd e d p e rtin e n t inform a­ tion, such as date and tim e requested, and class size and type, as well as any special needs, before tu rn in g th e form over to th e h e a d o f Instructional Services for scheduling and th e assignm ent of th e session to th e ap p ro p riate librarian. A fter an in ­ structional session had taken place, th e data from th e appointm ent form, with any additional notes or revisions a dded by th e librarian, was th e n e n te re d into th e program by n o n -professional personnel. O nce th e program was in place, data entry could be done quickly and effectively by a clerk or stu ­ d e n t w ithout professional supervision. T h e file created using this software enabled the BI librarian to p ro d u ce d etailed statistical rep o rts on th e BI program . In clu d e d in this d a ta w ere records o f tim es o f peak BI activities, and profiles of th e d istrib u tio n of req u ests for BI from th e various academ ic d e p a rtm e n ts o f th e university. A nother 804 / C&RL News Figure 2. Tours b y college. Figure 3. T ypes o f to u rs b y m onth. October 1989 / 805 application was th e p ro d u ctio n o f tab les d etailing th e re p re s e n ta tio n o f levels o f classes receiving instru ctio n s (see F ig u re 1), so th a t th e p ro p o rtio n o f g rad u a te to u n d e rg ra d u a te stu d e n ts served b e ­ cam e readily a p p a re n t, revealing th e changing em p h ases o f th e p rogram . A re c o rd o f th e assign­ m ent o f instructional activities to specific librarians was easily accessed. Although th e autom ated record-keeping system was actually im p le m e n te d at th e b e g in n in g o f th e 1987 Spring sem ester, it was d ec id e d th a t in o rd e r to e n su re an adequate test o f th e system ’s capabili­ ties, th e data for th e 1986 Fall se m e ste r w ould also be e n te red into th e datafile. D u rin g th e 1986-1987 academ ic year, 440 g ro u p in stru ctio n a l sessions, 233 individual G ra d u a te S tu d e n t C o unseling ses­ sions, and 111 n o n -university to u rs o r o th e r ses­ sions w ere given to approxim ately 15,150 students, providing m o re th a n sufficient d a ta for te stin g p u rp o ses. T his d a ta was e n te r e d in th e program , and accordingly used to generate several prototype reports w hich w ere th e n used to analyze th e nature o f BI activities d u rin g th a t tim e perio d . Results U sing th e d a ta file p ro d u c e d by in p u ttin g infor­ m ation collected from th e revised BI app o in tm en t form , th e investigators w ere able to g e n e ra te r e ­ ports efficiently to illustrate various functions o f the BI p rogram . T h e re p o rts in c lu d e d p rin to u ts on types o f tours, com parisons o f num bers o f graduate stu d e n ts and u n d e rg ra d u a te stu d e n ts served, th e to ta l n u m b e r o f to u rs p e r m o n th for evaluation o f p e a k d e m a n d p e rio d s, a n d n u m b e rs o f to u rs in term s o f re q u e s tin g d e p a rtm e n ts. T h e resu ltin g statistical m aterials w ere used to form ulate graphs, by means o f PFS G raph software, to illustrate m ore clearly BI needs and activities (see Figures 2 and 3). T h e initial success o f th e a u to m a te d statistical re c ­ o rd -k e e p in g p ro je c t has gained it a co n tin u in g p lace in th e BI program . Conclusions T h e p ro g ram as im p le m e n te d at S te rlin g C. Evans L ibrary allow ed for efficient collection and m anip u latio n of statistical da ta relatin g to b ib lio ­ graphic in stru ctio n activities. In com parison w ith th e m anual m ethods which have traditionally been u se d at th e E vans L ibrary, P F S Professional File e n a b le d BI librarians to analyze quickly and easily p a tte rn s o f usage, types o f in stru c tio n provided, and category o f user. In addition, th e initial testing o f th e p ro g ram also rev ealed fu rth e r applications which will be utilized in future. W ith this software, it will be possible to c re a te tables detailing BI p a rticip a tio n by various librarians, allow ing for p e rfo rm a n c e evaluation and w orkload analysis. C ourse a n d class n u m b e r listings for instructional sessions are now readily available, including names o f requestinginstructors. As th e library expands its p ro p o se d p rogram o f in stru ctio n al o u tre a ch th ro u g h o u t th e university, th e ability to p re p a re m ailing labels for contacting in stru cto rs in te re s te d in specific BI activities may b e u se d to advantage. In addition, easily p ro d u ce d m ailing labels will facilitate m ailings for research p ro je c ts on BI, o r evaluations o f existing a n d new program s in this field. Specially tailo re d statistical reports can be produced on dem and. Identification o f p ro b le m s, form erly difficult to im possible, largely d e p e n d in g on th e m em ory o f th e BI lib rar­ ian, will be simplified, as th e software allows reports to b e g e n e ra te d on th e problem s and special needs of specific classes or instructors. E nhan cem en t and rapid, tim ely prod u ctio n o f annual rep o rts is m ade possible th ro u g h use o f th e d a ta file, w hich will alleviate a laborious, tim e-consum ing task faced by th e BI lib rarian . T h e cre a tio n and c o ntinuous e n ­ larg e m e n t o f a co m p reh en siv e datab ase on BI ac­ tivities will establish, o v ertim e, a body o f inform a­ tion useful for purposes o f com parisons and predic­ tions o f fu tu re activities. ■ ■ Add your favorites to Sin List #2 T h e ALA C om m ittee on Professional Ethics seeks “sins” for updating its Ethics Sin List b ro ­ chure. T h e b ro c h u re lists such situations as using patro n records for political purposes or not p ro ­ viding full service b ecause th e re q u e s t is a hom ew ork assignm ent. C ould th ese situations be unethical? T he p urpose o f th e b ro ch u re is to stim ulate discussion about questions o f ethics. T h e co m m ittee is p articu larly in te re s te d in obtain in g situations from academ ic libraries. S end suggested sins to: Sin List #2, C o m m ittee on Professional Ethics, ALA Office for Intellec­ tu a l F re e d o m , 50 E. H u ro n St., C hicago, IL 60611. Popular Culture meeting T he Popular C ulture Association will m eet in T o ro n to on M arch 7 -1 0 , 1990. Scholars w ho w ork in all aspects o f p o p u lar cu ltu re will m eet and sh are com m on in te re sts. Anyone in te r ­ e ste d in p rese n tin g a p a p e r on a topic re la te d to p o p u la r c u ltu re and libraries should w rite to B arbara M oran, Associate Professor, School o f Inform ation and Library Science, University of N o rth C arolina, C h apel Hill, NC 27514-3360.