E-mail reference statistics

[Sloan, Bernie]

About a year ago I put out a request for library e-mail reference
statistics.

I received responses from eighteen libraries, and these responses seemed to
indicate that people only infrequently use e-mail to submit reference
questions. Of the 18 libraries providing data, well over half (11) averaged
less than one question per day. Four more libraries averaged between 1 and 2
questions per day. Two libraries averaged 2 to 3 questions per day.

Well, a year has passed since I gathered the data, and I am interested to
see if the situation has changed any. If you have any statistics regarding
the use of your library's e-mail reference service, I'd greatly appreciate
it if you could send me the data. I'd like to get a bigger sample of data
this year.

As usual, I will post a summary to the list.

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting
338 Henry Administration Building
506 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL  61801
Phone:  (217) 333-4895
Fax:      (217) 333-6355
E-mail:  bernies at uillinois.edu