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FY2024 Annual Report to the State : Section 4: Library Transactions

Section 4: Library Transactions (STLS provides the data for you!)

FY2024 Changes to Section 4: Library Transactions 

  • Questions 4.12 to 4.16 have been deleted 
  • A new question, 4.13, has been added for reporting whether a library offers automatic renewals 
  • Instructions for Q4.14 Reference Transactions have been updated to clarify that both scheduled and unscheduled sessions should be included, and that formal instruction or exchanges that provide assistance with locations, schedules, equipment, supplies, or policy statements should not be. Formal instruction should be counted as a program, and simple directional/informational information does not meet the threshold of a reference transaction. 

Data for Section 4

  • Q4.1-9: Library transactions data is included in the spreadsheet here.
  • Q4.16-17: ILL data is included in the spreadsheet here.
  • Q4.18-19: E-Rate responses are included in the spreadsheet here.
  • Q4.20: All libraries should respond N/A.

E-Rate

Section 4: E-Rate

  • View the spreadsheet here.

Reference Transactions

Q4.14: Total Reference Transactions

  • Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs.
  • A reference transaction includes information and referral service as well as scheduled and unscheduled individual instruction and assistance in using information sources (including web sites and computer-assisted instruction). Count Readers Advisory questions as reference transactions.
  • Information sources include printed and non-printed material; machine-readable databases (including computer-assisted instruction); the library's own catalogs and other holdings records; other libraries and institutions through communication or referral; and persons both inside and outside the library
  • The request may come from an adult, a young adult, or child
    • in person,
    • by phone,
    • by fax,
    • by mail
    • by electronic mail, or
    • by virtual reference
  • When a staff member uses information gained from previous use of information sources to answer a question, the transaction is reported as a reference transaction even if the source is not consulted again.
  • If a contact includes both reference and directional services, it should be reported as one reference transaction. Duration should not be an element in determining whether a transaction is a reference transaction.
  • NOTE: It is essential that libraries do not include directional transactions in the report of reference transactions. Directional transactions include giving instruction for locating staff, library users, or physical features within the library. Examples of directional transactions include, “Where is the reference librarian? Where is Susan Smith? Where is the rest room? Where are the 600s? Can you help me make a photocopy?”
  • If an annual count of reference transactions is unavailable, count reference transactions during a typical week or weeks, and multiply the count to represent an annual estimate. [If the sample is done four times a year, multiply totals by 13, if done twice a year multiply by 26, if done only annually, multiply by 52.] A "typical week" is a time that is neither unusually busy nor unusually slow. Avoid holiday times, vacation periods for key staff, or days when unusual events are taking place in the community or in the library. Choose a week in which the library is open its regular hours.

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Q4.15: Does the library offer virtual reference? - YES!