Incorporating data insight into your libraries’ processes enhances the quality of decisions, reduces uncertainty, and contributes to your library’s overall success. The insights you discover help you make strategic decisions that positively impact the member experience.
We recently published a blog post that looked at high level reporting and analytics within a Library Management System [LMS]. Here, we explore collection reports and the value they provide to library operations.
Collection reports with a Libero 6 LMS can be incredibly useful for librarians in a variety of ways:
1. Identifying trends and gaps
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- Popularity reports: These reports can show you which items are being borrowed based on frequency. This helps you identify popular resources you might need more copies of, and potentially remove less used items to free up space.
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- Format/material type reports: Reports can show the breakdown of materials by format (books, eBooks, audiobooks, etc.). This can help you see if your collection reflects the preferences of your members and identify areas where you might need to expand.
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- Age reports: These reports let decision makers in your library know the age of their collection, giving them evidence to support collection development decisions and assist with budget increase requests.
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- Subject reports: These reports can show the breakdown of materials by subject area. This can help you identify areas where your collection is strong or weak and make informed decisions about future acquisitions.
This image represents an example report within Libero 6 that lists of all titles within the selected subject range
2. Improving library operations
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- Inventory reports that provide an overview of your entire collection, including missing items and items needing repair. This helps ensure your collection is accurate and allows you to locate missing items more efficiently.
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- Renewal decisions on usage statistics can help you decide which subscriptions are worth renewing and which can be cut.
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- Collection reports that can inform decisions for space management and how to allocate physical space in your library, ensuring high-demand items are easily accessible.
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- Budget allocation that uses insights to help justify budget requests by showing the impact your collection has on members.
By leveraging your library’s data with a Libero 6 LMS, you are supporting decisions with evidence-based insights, improving outcomes, and enhancing the overall value and impact of your library services. We also encourage you to consider additional factors (for example, member feedback) when making decisions about your collection.
Interested in discovering more about how Libero can deliver a set of reports and insights for your library?