A Suggested Schedule of Analytics Tasks

It can be daunting to look at a tool that does a bunch of stuff and not be all that sure where to begin. As with most things, it’s best to have a good idea of what you want to do before you start. If you want to see where you’re overstocked, the Collection Analysis lane is your best bet. If you want to see titles you might be missing, the Most Popular Titles lane is a good place to start.

That said, having a consistent and logical schedule for each of the available tasks can help you be sure that you’re taking full advantage of the tools available to you, and are using them as efficiently as possible. Below, we’ll break down the different tools available with a suggested timeline for their use.

Daily

There aren’t necessarily any tasks that need to be performed on a daily basis. Many librarians report that they tend to keep their Analytics tools open throughout the day, however, and take the opportunity to check the performance of different areas of the collection as things come up. This can couple daily sorts of anecdotal and observed information with strong data, making for a sort of Super Librarian–unstoppable. What most librarians check daily is their home page where their Digital Review Copy widget is located to see what new titles have been added and are available to download or request.

Weekly

Check the Most Popular Titles for briskly circulating/selling books you may be missing. You want to be out of these hot titles for the shortest possible amount or time, so as not to lose opportunities. Rather than having to log in, you could set up your email notification to have these titles delivered to your inbox.

Monthly

Check the Not Yet Released Titles for big books coming out next month that you may have missed.  Again, you can set up email notifications and click through that report to see the titles in more depth.

Quarterly

Check Collection Analysis to facilitate a regular weeding schedule. Keeping a minimum number of stale titles on your shelves makes more room for titles your patrons want.

Yearly

Additional Collection Analysis to evaluate not only where your collection might need thinning, but where it may need augmentation. Are your different categories sized appropriately? Are strong categories given their due? Should a few categories even be moved, perhaps?

Catalog Analysis, checking how your library is performing with certain publishers, how your new seasonal purchasing performed, etc., giving you measurable information to improve those processes.