Statistics are a powerful tool you can use to inform decisions concerning your library. In Alexandria, there are two kinds of usage statistics: Monthly Usage and Circulation.

Monthly Usage Statistics

For the three main record types (Patrons, Titles, and Copies), Alexandria keeps record-specific monthly usage counts for each year. These are incremented whenever a checkout occurs; there are no monthly usage counts for holds, reservations, or other circulation events. These are simple counters that can be used to show the number of times a record was used and by totaling these counters for a group of similar records you can obtain the overall usage for that group. This data can be useful in answering basic checkout usage questions and for identifying the total number of checkouts for a record or group of similar records. Weeding, Most Checked Out (Popular) Title, Top Borrowing Patron, are some examples of this. 

Here are some examples of information you can get from Monthly Usage Statistics:

• Darla Anderson has checked out 37 items this year.
• Patrons in 4th grade (grade selection) checked out 476 items in June.
• Copy 1000 has been used 137 times and is getting old.
• The Lightning Thief is a very popular title; it has been checked out more than any other in the collection.
• The items on the Teacher Resources shelf (shelving selection) have been checked out only 7 times, and all were in January.

If 'Randy' checks out 'Copy 1000' of 'The Book' in June 2020 then the June counter in the 2020 record for each of these is incremented by '1'. With this it is possible to see what the monthly usage is for each of these records and it is also possible to add up all of the counts to see yearly or lifetime usage. Additionally, you could select by groups of similar records to obtain monthly, yearly, or lifetime totals for the group. That is the extent of it though because these do not include what time of day the usage occurred or any information on the relationship between records. i.e. We know 'Randy' was used once, 'The Book' was used once, and 'Copy 1000' was used once, but there is no information available to show that it was 'Randy' who used 'Copy 1000' or that the checkout occurred at 10:00 AM. 

Circulation Statistics

These data are not well suited for analysis on library usage patterns or the interactions between various types of records. Circulation statistics are best for that. Circulation statistics are completely separate from monthly usage and the patron / title / copy records that contribute to them. These data go beyond the monthly checkout usage count and further include events like checkout, checkin, hold placed, reservation placed, etc., and with hourly granularity. A Circulation Statistics record is kept for every unique combination of Date, Hour, Patron Policy, Item Policy, Patron Site, and Copy Site but they are not linked in any way to the individual records that contribute to them, as monthly usage statistics are. Circulation Statistics are meant to be used for date, time, policy, and site analysis of circulation events.

With these you can examine library usage patterns and the interactions between different types of patrons and items. For example, circulation statistics could show that middle school patrons check out more biographies than other groups, or that staff place more reservations, or that 10:00 ~ 11:00 is the busiest time of day, but, being separate from the contributing records, they can not be used to show that Randy placed 6 reservations, or that 4th graders (by grade) had the most holds. Name, grade, title, author, call number, genre, barcode, location, 2nd location, etc. are properties of the patron / title / copy records and therefore you can not base a circulation statistics report on them because those are completely separate records which do not include that kind of information. Selections for circulation statistics are done by date, site, or policy statistic group.

Here are some examples of information you can get from Circulation Statistics:

• 11:00 AM is the busiest hour of the day.

• Mondays are the busiest day of the week.

• Patrons in 4th grade check out more fiction than biographies.

• Patrons in 8th grade use the library more than the 9th graders do.

• The most popular non-fiction area for those in 11th grade at my site is the 500's.

• Patrons in 12th grade never check out anything in the 200's.

• Jefferson Elementary School borrows the most from others in the district.

Monthly Usage Statistics

For the three main record types (Patrons, Titles, and Copies), Alexandria keeps record-specific monthly usage counts for each year. These are incremented whenever a checkout occurs; there are no monthly usage counts for holds, reservations, or other circulation events. These are simple counters that can be used to show the number of times a record was used and by totaling these counters for a group of similar records you can obtain the overall usage for that group. This data can be useful in answering basic checkout usage questions and for identifying the total number of checkouts for a record or group of similar records. Weeding, Most Checked Out (Popular) Title, Top Borrowing Patron, are some examples of this.

Here are some examples of information you can get from Monthly Usage Statistics:

Darla Anderson has checked out 37 items this year.
Patrons in 4th grade (grade selection) checked out 476 items in June.
Copy 1000 has been used 137 times and is getting old.
The Lightning Thief is a very popular title; it has been checked out more than any other in the collection.
The items on the Teacher Resources shelf (shelving selection) have been checked out only 7 times, and all were in January.
If 'Randy' checks out 'Copy 1000' of 'The Book' in June 2020 then the June counter in the 2020 record for each of these is incremented by '1'. With this it is possible to see what the monthly usage is for each of these records and it is also possible to add up all of the counts to see yearly or lifetime usage. Additionally, you could select by groups of similar records to obtain monthly, yearly, or lifetime totals for the group. That is the extent of it though because these do not include what time of day the usage occurred or any information on the relationship between records. i.e. We know 'Randy' was used once, 'The Book' was used once, and 'Copy 1000' was used once, but there is no information available to show that it was 'Randy' who used 'Copy 1000' or that the checkout occurred at 10:00 AM.

Circulation Statistics

These data are not well suited for analysis on library usage patterns or the interactions between various types of records. Circulation statistics are best for that. Circulation statistics are completely separate from monthly usage and the patron / title / copy records that contribute to them. These data go beyond the monthly checkout usage count and further include events like checkout, checkin, hold placed, reservation placed, etc., and with hourly granularity. A Circulation Statistics record is kept for every unique combination of Date, Hour, Patron Policy, Item Policy, Patron Site, and Copy Site but they are not linked in any way to the individual records that contribute to them, as monthly usage statistics are. Circulation Statistics are meant to be used for date, time, policy, and site analysis of circulation events.

With these you can examine library usage patterns and the interactions between different types of patrons and items. For example, circulation statistics could show that middle school patrons check out more biographies than other groups, or that staff place more reservations, or that 10:00 ~ 11:00 is the busiest time of day, but, being separate from the contributing records, they can not be used to show that Randy placed 6 reservations, or that 4th graders (by grade) had the most holds. Name, grade, title, author, call number, genre, barcode, location, 2nd location, etc. are properties of the patron / title / copy records and therefore you can not base a circulation statistics report on them because those are completely separate records which do not include that kind of information. Selections for circulation statistics are done by date, site, or policy statistic group.

Here are some examples of information you can get from Circulation Statistics:

11:00 AM is the busiest hour of the day.

Mondays are the busiest day of the week.

Patrons in 4th grade check out more fiction than biographies.

Patrons in 8th grade use the library more than the 9th graders do.

The most popular non-fiction area for those in 11th grade at my site is the 500's.

Patrons in 12th grade never check out anything in the 200's.

Jefferson Elementary School borrows the most from others in the district.

When analyzing your collection, you will be looking closely at collection usage. Alexandria keeps usage statistics based on item and patron policies.
To ensure the most relevant statistics, use specific policies based on each grade and collection area—perhaps even as far as separate policies for the 000s, 100s, 200s, etc. (instead of just a general nonfiction policy). This will provide interesting and valuable information about your collection.

why you need policies

setting up your policies to get the stats you want

Hi Alexandria Users! Have you ever wanted to see detailed usage statistics for your patrons or items? This article will explain how to use policies to generate meaningful statistics reports. Policies in Alexandria serve two main purposes: to set up circulation rules for different types of patrons and items, and to organize different types of patrons and items into groups we can then use to generate statistics reports. For example, if you want to find granular usage statistics for your library, such as how many fiction, biography, and audiovisual items were checked out by 12th-graders on a monthly basis during the 2014-2015 school year, policy-based statistics are for you!

To use policies for statistical purposes, we’ll need to create a policy for each group of patrons or items that we want usage statistics for. For example, a school library may create a patron policy for each grade level. A public library may create patron policies based upon the city or neighborhood where the patrons live. Item policies may be set up for each Dewey Decimal class, item type, or section of the library where a particular item is located.

Because these policies don’t necessarily need to have different rules, we can quickly create policies for statistical purpose by adding new policies that default from another policy whose settings we want to use. That way when the new policy is added, the rules will already be set up.

When adding a new policy, set the policy name, then enter a descriptive short code. The short code is how the policy will be displayed on the statistics reports and can include up to 4 characters. The Statistics Group setting that appears when creating a new policy is used to combine multiple policies into a single statistics group. Most users should leave the Statistics Group setting as Current Policy. Any exceptions that were set up on the policies you used as defaults will still need to be set up again on new policies.

Once your policies have been created, you can quickly assign your patrons and items to the new policies by running Replace Information utilities. You can also assign new policies individually through the Patron Management and Item Management windows.

It is important to note that Alexandria records policy based statistics from the time that a patron or item is assigned to a policy and onward. Any statistics that were recorded in the past will reflect the policy that the patron or item was assigned to at the time. Once you have circulated under the policies you have set up, you can run Statistics reports based upon these policies. These reports are found by going to Tools > Reports > Statistics.

To generate the report for 12th-graders I used as an example, choose Usage by Patron-Item Policy as the Report Type. On the Selection tab, set the Format menu to By Month, then set the Sort By menu to Month. Set the Select By menu to Patron Statistics Group. Enter the name of the policy you assigned to your 12th grade patrons in the From and Through fields that appear to the right, or use the arrows that appear to next to the fields to select the policy from a list. Once you have selected your Patron Policy, click the Add Selection button and set the Select By menu to Date Range. Enter the date range of the school year in the fields that appear.

Running the report with these settings will show the circulation statistics for each item policy checked out by 12th-graders broken down by month, as well as the total number of checkouts by 12th-graders for each item type during the entire date range specified.

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Circulation Statistics Reports

Usage Statistics Reports

Monthly Usage Patrons

These are statistics specific to each patron.

Circulation Statistics Patrons