Attached is a list of current periodicals shelved on the Current Periodical shelving, shelved on 2 West in the Main Library.
Each time our students re-shelve journals (not when they shelve newly checked in items), they scan a barcode that is on the shelf tag for that title. The data is gathered and moved into an “internal use” field in the item record for that title in the catalog. This list was pulled from that data. (thanks Lisa English for your work creating the list!)
This list has a column indicating the last time that item record was updated. This column date changes each time a new “use” scan is downloaded into the item record. It also changes anytime something is done to update the record ( title change etc.)
The column with “internal use” is the number of times we have scanned the title when re-shelving since the last time a new barcode was added to the item record.
NOTE: In some cases, there may have been many more times a journal was off the shelf being used by a patron in the time we have kept these records (several years). Major title changes could affect the stats. A new item record will be made in that case, so stats would begin at zero. If patrons look at a journal and re-shelve it we would not capture that use. (we have signs asking them not to do this)
I think it is useful information despite some possible discrepancies in the data.
For example-if you see a title that has a “last updated” date of 2005 and zero in the “internal use” field…it seems likely that it hasn’t been used by a patron many times in that time period.
If you see a journal that has “last updated” date of May 2013 and hundreds in the “internal use” field , it is safe to say that periodical is likely being used by patrons frequently.
- Jill Thornton
CQ Researcher. CQ Weekly, CQ Global