Using Data to Defend Renewal and New Purchases

OUP Medicine LAC Summit MLA 2015Jan T. OrickSt. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Examples of Statistics

Journal Turn-away data provided by publisher/vendor

Interlibrary Loan stats Usage data from new

resource trials Combined with feedback

from potential users

Areas Where Statistics Can Help

Strategic Planning Budget justification Collection development decisions Avoiding staff cuts

Examples of Uses of Data for Justification

To purchase additional resourcesTo explain cost per use of large

collections vs single titleTo retain or increase current budgetTo cancel resources

Make the Statistics Meaningful

Why are you counting?Who will use the data?How will it be presented?What are you going to show?

Final WordsAdministrators like Statistics

Administrators like statistics and data One chart or graph is worth 1000 words Use spreadsheets to compile and analyze Make sure you can explain your stats, how you

derived the numbers and what they mean