Developed by a three-year task force composed of members of the Association of College and Research Libraries' Rare Books and Manuscripts Section and the Society of American Archivists, the "Standardized Statistical Measures and Metrics for Public Services in Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries" report provides these types of institutions-for the first time-with commonly accepted guidelines for quantifying use and measuring impact. In response to the report, Louisiana State University Libraries began efforts to apply the newly approved measures and metrics in the special collections unit. We first evaluated the existing statistical data collected in past years, moving away from paper and pencil tallies toward robust software solutions, primarily through two applications: SpringShare's LibApps platform and Aeon, a request and workflow management software for special collections. We identified new areas of reporting to implement in 2018. We initiated the changes and launched the final version of the reporting measurements on July 1, 2018, to coincide with the new fiscal year. This paper presents one potential approach to implementing the Standardized Statistical Measures and Metrics task force report.
Reference services form the core function of any type of library. Even when faced with shrinking budgets and staff sizes, library and archives workers continue to provide reference services to meet the demands of researchers. Yet a critical analysis of the internal systems used for archival and special collections reference work is lacking compared to the robust body of research about users of collection materials. This article presents findings from a national survey about reference staffing and scheduling models in archival and special collections repositories conducted immediately prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey data revealed specific models for staffing and scheduling used by participating institutions, respondents' level of satisfaction with staffing and scheduling models, and the most common challenges and successes related to reference services. The responses also conveyed information about the number of special collections and archives staff participating in reference services, the average length and frequency of shifts, and typical service hours. The findings indicated overall satisfaction among respondents in terms of their unit's staffing and scheduling models, with larger institutions reporting higher satisfaction rates across all categories than smaller institutions. Yet many survey participants reported budget constraints and staffing shortages that negatively impact public services operations. Although the results do not pinpoint a single approach to reference staffing and scheduling that will work for all archives and special collections units, qualitative responses suggest that successful reference models depend on sufficient staffing, internal buy-in and cooperation among employees, and support from supervisors and administration.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.