Case Study: Daily Log Database

Introduction:

The Library Daily Log serves two purposes. One is as a management tool. The other is as an assessment tool. As a management tool, it allows you to more efficiently track your daily, weekly, or even monthly activities. If you have ever had trouble finding documents or e-mails, or had trouble remembering exactly what you discussed with a patron to whom you are providing reference, the Daily Log assists you in tracking down reference threads and associated documents. It also allows for several librarians to enter data into the Log so you can pick up where they left off on a particular reference session by reviewing their reference threads.
As an assessment tool, the Daily Log allows you to assess how much time you spent with each patron or particular task. You can break down the time you spent into several categories such as patron type (faculty, grad, undergrad, etc.), department (Forestry, EPH, Art & Architecture, etc.), contact method (in person, e-mail, phone, etc.).

With the Daily Log I was able to assess a variety of activities in fall semester 2001 for GIS reference service. I assessed many things such as 35% of my patron came from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, I spent an average of 3 hours and 59 minutes with each Masters student, and a total of 23 hours and 35 minutes for instruction.

This assessment information helped me to mold my service program into a more efficient operation by adjusting aspects of my service to serve the most patrons with the least amount effort. Also, it allowed me to see where I needed to direct more promotion of my reference service by identifying schools that had much potential to use GIS, but didn't have many patrons taking advantage of it.

Purpose:

This database is designed specifically for reference librarians who generally conduct long-term reference sessions with patrons that last several hours and span several days or weeks. It would probably not be very useful to librarians for whom the majority of reference sessions only last a few minutes.

The usefulness of assessment for the database so far as patrons is based mainly on behavior rather than opinion. So rather than asking a patron to evaluate a reference service, the database tracks the statistics of use to gauge the success of the reference service. This works particularly well for long-term reference sessions. Patrons will recognize (or not recognize) the value of your reference service, and therefore will continue to use your service if it is useful. Many of the new patrons I acquired were referred by past patrons who were satisfied with the service they received. Also, many of my past patrons continued to use my service for other projects and research or referred others. Therefore, an increase or repeats in reference sessions is a good gauge for the success of a long-term reference service. In addition, I receive many unsolicited comments, feedback, or e-mails from patrons expressing appreciation or enthusiasm for the service I had provided them and how much time they saved. These expressions of gratitude and referrals can also be recorded in the Daily Log as documents linked to reference threads.

Another aspect of assessment for the database besides patrons is librarians themselves and how they manage their time. Assessment of this type will allow a librarian to make key decisions on topics such as operating hours, service hours, staff work schedule, equipment and media acquisitions, data or material acquisitions, delegating work, etc. Using the Daily Log, I was better able to adjust my work schedule so my service hours corresponded to the most likely times my patrons were seeking service. I was also able to better delegate tasks to my student employees so processing for patrons was completed in the shortest time possible.

Instructions:

To use the Library Daily Log (warning: large file), first open it up with Microsoft Access. In the main window, select "Forms" and open the form called "Daily Log." This form is the nucleus of the database where all data can be entered. Here are a few tips for using the database:

· Click on the buttons with the red question marks for an explanation of what each field means.
· There are 17 dummy records already in the database to provide examples of how the database is used. These can be deleted after looking at them if needed.
· There are buttons on the right side of the form that represent a few queries: "Reference Pending" brings up just records related to reference sessions that are still active or pending. "Reference All" brings up all records related to reference. "Instruction Threads" brings up all records related to instruction. "Meetings" brings up all records that list "meeting" for the category field.
· The "Commands" section lists two commands: Duplicate Record (you may want to duplicate a record and change a few fields to avoid filling out a completely new record for the same person) and Notepad (to create a text document related to the event that can be linked to the "file" field.

Conclusion:

This database is just a template that had been specialized for GIS reference. The template can be used to create or modify your own database to fit your needs. If there are any questions about the database, feel free to contact me using the contact information above.

© 2007 Yale University Library
This file last modified 10/09/02
Send comments to Assessment Group