MEASURES AND METRICS
DOMAIN: USER DEMOGRAPHICS
Collecting and analyzing User demographic data can help Repositories tailor their collections and services to better meet the needs of their constituents, and target outreach efforts to attract new Users. Demographic analyses can be as basic a distinguishing Users who are affiliated with a Repository from those who are not, or they can involve other criteria, such as geographic location. When determining what types of demographic data to collect, Repositories should implement appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of User data, and provide Users access to relevant data collection and use policies, obtaining and documenting their consent to such policies and practices as appropriate.
Basic measure (“User Association”)
Count the number of unique Users who are associated with the Repository or its parent organization as distinct from all other Users.
Rationale:
Distinguishing Users who are in some way associated with the Repository from all unassociated Users can help the Repository assess the degree to which it is oriented to serving “internal” versus “external” audiences.
Guidelines for collection:
- Identify criteria that distinguish “associated” or “internal” Users from “unassociated” or “external” Users.
- “Internal” Users are those who are associated with Repository or its parent organization by employment, formal membership, geographic location, educational enrollment, or other such distinction. “External” Users are those who lack any credentials or status that constitute formal association with the Repository or its parent organization.
- Different types of Repositories and organizations may define associated and unassociated User types in different ways. For example, educational institutions, might include current students, alumni, instructors and staff as affiliated Users; private or corporate businesses might include employees and contracted consultants; religious organizations might include members who have participated in initiation rites; historical societies might include dues-paying members and other financial supporters; government archives might define affiliated Users by residence within certain geographic precinct.
- Repository staff should be excluded from the count unless they are consulting the collections for purposes other than their employment with the Repository (e.g., conducting personal research rather than answering reference questions, etc.).
- Repositories that are subordinate to a parent organization, from another branch or location should determine whether to count Users from the same organization as internal/associated or external/unassociated.
- Count each User only once (during the time period measured), as the purpose of this measure is to count the number of distinct, individual (i.e., unique) Users, not visits or other interactions with the Repository, which are counted within other domains.
Application and examples:
- A local government archives may decide to count either its employees or Users who reside within in its jurisdiction as internal Users.
- A corporate archives within a multinational corporation counts as internal Users only those employees who work within the same location or subsidiary unit, and all others as external Users.
- A historical society counts current, dues-paying members and other individually recorded donors as internal Users, and all others as external Users.
- An academic special collections or archives counts current students, alumni, faculty, and staff as internal Users, and all others as external Users.
Advanced measure (“User Affiliation”)
Gather information about the nature of Users’ affiliations with the Repository or demographic classifications as appropriate to the Repository’s assessment, reporting, and security practices and policies.
Rationale:
Classifying Users according to their nature of their affiliation with a Repository can help the Repository better understand the different communities it serves and they seek from the Repository. Tracking User affiliation also enables a Repository to have data when called upon to demonstrate use by a specific user demographic.
Guidelines for collection:
- Classify Users according to their affiliation or relationship to the Repository or its parent organization, such as by their employment, enrollment, or membership status, educational level, geographic locality, etc.
- User classifications may be developed for specific Repository types such as government archives, business archives, academic special collections and archives, etc.
- User classifications may be based on categories of information collected via a User registration process, via web analytics or other online interaction assessment tools, or both.
- When developing User classifications and means for collecting and maintaining demographic information, be sure to give proper attention to the privacy, confidentiality, and security of User data, and provide Users access to relevant data collection and use policies, obtaining and documenting their consent to such policies and practices as appropriate.
- More complex User classifications characteristic of an advanced measure will also generally provide the means of tallying the numbers of internal and external Users as defined by the basic measure.
Application and examples:
- A research library may wish to track numbers of Users according to educational level and academic status, for example K-12 students, undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, faculty, and independent researchers.
- A Repository may decide to distinguish and count separately Users who are affiliated with a nearby organization such as a museum because the organization’s staff use the Repository so frequently.
- A Repository informs Users who register to use its Reading Room services that it collects address and other information for security purposes, as well as to support demographic analyses of the Users it serves.
Advanced measure (“Registered Users”)
Count the number of unique Users who have applied for and received permission to gain access to the Repository’s materials in accordance with its policies.
Rationale:
Maintaining a count of unique Registered Users enables a Repository to assess the size of the audience it is most directly impacting with its services. Some Repositories may require only onsite Users to register, while others may require online Users to register or otherwise identify themselves individually and distinctly in order to receive certain types of services, such as obtaining reproductions. Registered Users may represent only a small portion of total Users, especially if a Repository tracks numbers of casual visitors to Events and Exhibitions, or Online Interactions. User registration can enable Repositories to collect a rich array of reliable demographic data with the User’s informed consent.
Guidelines for collection:
- Registered Users are primarily those who have registered for on-site access to the Repository materials via the Reading Room or who have done the same for online access to electronic records not available to the public.
- Users may be registered via an online or manual form that requests them to provide certain required, and perhaps optional, elements of personal information such as name, address, birthdate, email address, telephone, research interests, etc.
- Only Users who have completed the registration process and received permission to gain access to the Repository should be counted; exclude incomplete or rejected registration applications, and suspended/blocked Users.
- Elements of personal information collected via a registration process may be entered into a database or spreadsheet to facilitate demographic analyses.
- When collecting and maintaining demographic information, be sure to give proper attention to the privacy, confidentiality, and security of User data, and provide Users access to relevant data collection and use policies, obtaining and documenting their consent to such policies and practices as appropriate.
Application and examples:
- On its registration form, a Repository requests Users to check one or more checkboxes to indicate their research interests so that staff can better target collection development and outreach efforts.
- A Repository requires Users to complete an online registration form in order to gain access to publication-quality images from its digital collections to help ensure that its images are properly credited. It then uses the demographic information it collects from the registration process to better understand the needs of its User base and provide tailored services.
Recommended metrics
“Internal” vs. “external” Users
- Monitoring changes in the numbers and percentages of “internal” vs. “external” Users over time can yield insights into the success of targeted outreach efforts or trends in User behaviors.
Users by affiliation
- Repositories that classify Users according to certain demographic criteria may find it useful to analyze the numbers and percentages represented by each User classification over time. Patterns and trends that emerge may prompt Repositories to increase outreach efforts to certain User segments and assess the effectiveness of such programs.
Users by geographic location
- Tracking geographical locations of Users can help Repositories identify ways to improve or expand services. For example, if a Repository finds that it attracts many Users who are not from the local community, it may wish pursue a partnership with the local visitors’ center to provide its Users with information about local attractions and amenities.
- Tracking numbers and percentages of non-local Users can help Repositories compile data about their impact on the local economy.
- Repositories with a mission focused on a specific community may track the numbers and percentages of Users affiliated with that community to assess the success of its programs.
Unique Users by month/year
- Monitoring and comparing numbers and percentages of unique Users over time can reveal usage patterns and trends.
- Repositories may be able to correlate increases in numbers of unique Users to the success of outreach programs, publicity, renovated facilities, or other improvements.
Newly Registered Users by month/year
- Comparing the numbers of newly Registered Users over time and the ratio of newly Registered Users to total Registered Users can demonstrate how successful a Repository is at attracting new audiences.
Returning Users by month/year
- Comparing the numbers of returning Registered Users over time and the ratio of returning Registered Users to total Registered Users can demonstrate how successful a Repository is at continuing to engage its user base.
Table of Contents
Measures and Metrics:
