[spcollig] Evening and weekend hours

Wed Sep 22 14:28:07 CDT 2010

Hi all,

A couple of years ago, unfortunately before the Archival Metrics  
Toolkits were published, I conducted a user survey. Based on the  
results of the survey we implemented extended hours on Wednesdays (our  
busiest weekday according to our reading room stats) until 7 p.m., and  
open the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month, 12:30-4:30. A discussion  
of the survey and results will be published in the next issue of  
Archival Issues. I've found that while our Saturday hours are really  
well used during the school year, particularly by history fair  
students and other non-traditional researchers, our Wednesday evening  
hours seem to be a hit with both our out-of-town core researchers and  
our undergrads. Now that we have two years of evidence, I'm  
reconsidering keeping the Saturday hours during the summer. It seems  
like the evening hours were still well-used by our researchers, but  
everyone evidently wants their summer weekends free, because use was  
really low. In general, the hourly averages for the evenings and  
weekends  have been consistent with our regular 10-4:30 hourly  
averages, and we definitely get a different clientele so we know we're  
accommodating a new audience, which we consider a bonus. That said, we  
experience our peak use between 2-4 on weekdays.

Best,
Val

----------------------------------------------------
Valerie Harris
Associate Special Collections Librarian
University of Illinois at Chicago

ph: 312.996.2742
e: val66 at uic.edu
web: library.uic.edu/home/collections/manuscripts-and-rare-books

On Sep 15, 2010, at 12:00 PM, spcollig-request at carli.illinois.edu wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Saturday Reference Hours (Pamela Hackbart-Dean)
>   2. Re: Saturday Reference Hours (Pamela Hackbart-Dean)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:10:12 -0500
> From: "Pamela Hackbart-Dean" <phdean at lib.siu.edu>
> Subject: [spcollig] Saturday Reference Hours
> To: <spcollig at carli.illinois.edu>
> Message-ID:
> 	<797303B748C24D40ABDCCC6416E356A40334F380 at libsrvxch2.cd.ds.siu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Special Collections Research Center at Morris Library (Southern  
> Illinois
> University Carbondale) is open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through
> Friday.  Beginning September 18, SCRC will also be open on Saturdays
> from 12:00 to 4:00 PM (during academic hours).  Researchers interested
> in using original historical records or rare books held by SCRC are
> encouraged to contact SCRC staff ahead of time by phone (618-453-2516)
> or email
> (http://reftrack.lib.siu.edu/reft100.aspx?mi=L_TAJjpXS0GlFLs9yeJmdg
> <http://reftrack.lib.siu.edu/reft100.aspx? 
> mi=L_TAJjpXS0GlFLs9yeJmdg> ).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ****************************
> Pam Hackbart-Dean, C. A.
> Director, Special Collections Research Center
> Morris Library
> Southern Illinois University Carbondale
> PH:  618-453-1452        FAX:  618-453-3451
>
>
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:44:13 -0500
> From: "Pamela Hackbart-Dean" <phdean at lib.siu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [spcollig] Saturday Reference Hours
> To: <spcollig at carli.illinois.edu>
> Message-ID:
> 	<797303B748C24D40ABDCCC6416E356A40334F3A5 at libsrvxch2.cd.ds.siu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> This is new to us-never been done before.  We conducted the Archival
> Metrics researcher survey (developed by Univ. of MI, et al).  Comments
> on services included additional hours, especially from our out of town
> researchers.
>
>
>
> I was also reviewing the discussion via RBMS about evening vs.  
> Saturdays
> and most suggested the weekend.  A colleague at Emory University has
> been keeping stats and said the Saturday hours where better than their
> extended hours during the week.  However, they plan on keeping  
> Saturday
> hours and extend hours on Thursdays toward the end of the semester.
>
>
>
> At this point, this will be a pilot project for this academic year.   
> We
> will review our patron count and see how it goes.
>
>
>
> ****************************
> Pam Hackbart-Dean, C. A.
> Director, Special Collections Research Center
> Morris Library
> Southern Illinois University Carbondale
> PH:  618-453-1452        FAX:  618-453-3451
>
>
>
> From: Cuervo, Adriana Paola [mailto:acuervo at illinois.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:25 AM
> To: Pamela Hackbart-Dean
> Subject: RE: Saturday Reference Hours
>
>
>
> Hello Pam,
>
>
>
> How long have you guys been having Saturday hours? There's always the
> discussion out there of evening/weekend availability and sometimes
> archives start offering these after a perceived demand for access  
> out of
> the M-F 9-5 timeframe, only to have to cut back in later months due to
> low patron count. Anyone else is offering these "extended" hours? How
> much traffic do you see? Did you implement these based on user  
> requests?
>
>
>
> Have a lovely day!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Adriana
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> Adriana P. Cuervo, CA
>
> Assistant Archivist for Music and Fine Arts
>
> Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
>
> 1103 S. Sixth Street, MC-524, Champaign, IL 61820
>
> Phone: 217-244-9309  Fax: 217-244-8695
>
>
>
> University of Illinois Library - Uncover and Discover
>
>
>
>
>
> From: spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu
> [mailto:spcollig-bounces at carli.illinois.edu] On Behalf Of Pamela
> Hackbart-Dean
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:10 AM
> To: spcollig at carli.illinois.edu
> Subject: [spcollig] Saturday Reference Hours
>
>
>
> Special Collections Research Center at Morris Library (Southern  
> Illinois
> University Carbondale) is open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through
> Friday.  Beginning September 18, SCRC will also be open on Saturdays
> from 12:00 to 4:00 PM (during academic hours).  Researchers interested
> in using original historical records or rare books held by SCRC are
> encouraged to contact SCRC staff ahead of time by phone (618-453-2516)
> or email
> (http://reftrack.lib.siu.edu/reft100.aspx?mi=L_TAJjpXS0GlFLs9yeJmdg
> <http://reftrack.lib.siu.edu/reft100.aspx? 
> mi=L_TAJjpXS0GlFLs9yeJmdg> ).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ****************************
> Pam Hackbart-Dean, C. A.
> Director, Special Collections Research Center
> Morris Library
> Southern Illinois University Carbondale
> PH:  618-453-1452        FAX:  618-453-3451
>
>
>
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