We are using the displays to spark interest and increase member engagement with our Summer Reading program plus we're using this as a opportunity to learn of correlations between our displays, usage and summer reading engagement.
There are at least two options to track display usage that I know you're testing:
- CollectionHQ has a feature called Experimental Placement that “gives the ability to measure the effect of moving parts of your collection from one location to another. This could be either inter- or intra- branch.” I understand that you first select all the items you want to have included and then set a begin and end date for the assessment. You are able to run a report only at the end of the time period you select.
- CarlX – select all at once or incrementally items you wish to include in the display then change the location code to a display and then when complete change back to original location. You will need to capture the item(s) activity before & after the display.
I think it's exciting and fun to learn and see what we can do with these displays!
What are you learning as you're testing the use of these tracking methods?
We had an Collection HQ display up for two weeks, we just need to wait for the next data load to see how that went. But we have an ongoing CarlX display that we have set up in Children's with signage that emphasizes reading/logging to reach the 16 million goal. It gets an impressive amount of turnover (last check everything on that display except for a decoration aspect in the middle had circulated at least once) and we are currently 11% up in logging.
I think the visual reminders are helping boost awareness.
To continue with what Teresa has said, I've been keeping track of the Carl-X tracking display in our Children's area and I've noticed a complete 100% turnaround with the books on that display!! We are constantly having to add 2-3 books to it every day!
We've been using CollectionHQ's Experimental Placement. Since we can't run the report until the end date (set for July 31), I haven't seen that yet. However, I have been keeping a manual count--partly because I was impatient to see what happened and partly to see if we got the same or similar data from the report. =)
Here's what I've noticed:
1. The materials have been circulating nicely. Approx. 70% of the materials displayed have circulated so far (or at the very least were removed from the display and looked at in-house). Even though we can't determine with certainty if there's a direct correlation with an increase in Summer Reading numbers, we can confidently say that displays do significantly drive circulation. This supports the reasoning behind our goal of right-sizing collections and creating additional space for creatively merchandising our materials and making them more enjoyable to browse.
2. While I anticipated a drop off in circulation after a week or so, that hasn't been the case. There has been a bit of ebb and flow, but overall the circulation has remained pretty consistent. Because of this, I think we might experiment with an ongoing display like "Dewey's Number of the Week." The data from that could provide some interesting insights into the collection and member interests which might not otherwise be readily apparent.