Data Collection System for Tracking Hospital Librarians' Productivity.

Librarians gather data on multiple aspects of their work. Much of the data collection revolves around the library's resources, but what may be passed over during this data collection is information on how librarians are expending their time and effort. A group of librarians from a community hospital system designed a Microsoft Access database to collect such data and has been recording librarians' efforts for more than three years. The librarians use the data in annual reports and can track trends to evaluate service priorities and maximize effective use of the librarians' time.

Expanding services in a shrinking economy: desktop document delivery in a dental school library.

QUESTION: How can library staff develop and promote a document delivery service and then expand the service to a wide audience? SETTING: The setting is the library at the Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD), Indianapolis. METHOD: A faculty survey and a citation analysis were conducted to determine potential use of the service. Volume of interlibrary loan transactions and staff and equipment capacity were also studied. MAIN RESULTS: IUSD Library staff created a desktop delivery service (DDSXpress) for faculty and then expanded the service to practicing dental professionals and graduate students. The number of faculty using DDSXpress remains consistent. The number of practicing dental professionals using the service is low. Graduate students have been quick to adopt the service. CONCLUSION: Through careful analysis of capacity and need for the service, staff successfully expanded document delivery service without incurring additional costs. Use of DDSXpress is continually monitored, and opportunities to market the service to practicing dental professionals are being investigated.