You keep using that word: Slaying the dragon of reference desk statistics

Abstract

It’s that time of the year again. You know, that time when we are chasing down our IPEDS/ACRL numbers for the dreaded annual reports. Even with some helpful changes over the past few years, I continue to have questions about the value of at least some of the information we are all asked to provide. Some important trends can be clearly tracked. Circulation of print/physical materials has been declining steadily overall and continues to do so. Why? Ask a roomful of librarians and you will undoubtedly get many different explanations, and the reasons are a combination of many of those. Expenditures on those print/physical items is also declining in many academic libraries.