Counting Our Patrons - Highlights and Hurdles from an Academic Library's Journey
Presentation
1:30 PM - 2:15 PMThu
Pope
Assessment
Presenters
Scott Pfitzinger
Access Services Librarian
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
In the last five years, our library has used three different methods for counting our patrons every hour that we're open. For many years we used a clicker-counter that provided one number every hour, which we entered in a notebook. Then we got an iPad and used a cheap app to get more detailed numbers about specific areas of the library every hour. There were several problems with this approach, including more work for our students and some technical problems that resulted in data loss. In 2022, our library got a new iPad and a new program that makes much less work, preserves the data more securely, and allows us to post our numbers on our website. My presentation will discuss the choices we've made, the problems we have encountered, and the benefits we have seen.