October 17, 2008
Did you know that 383 library media centers (LMC) reported an approximate total of 14,618,479 student visits to their libraries and computer labs during the 07-08 school year?
The 08-09 annual report will have the same question. To approximate your student visits, choose a week that will be typical for the school year, (no flu season, no standardized testing, no holiday, etc.), count the students entering the library media center and computer labs under the responsibility of the school library media center and multiply the count by the number of weeks in the school year.
The same week that you count student visits, consider counting the number of individual student instruction in the library or computer lab. This question will also be on the report.
The annual report committee is nearly complete in its review of the procedures and questions for the 08-09 annual report. Soon, the questions and definitions will be provided for review and questions in advance of receiving the official report packet in March. Data entry will begin in April.
Some decisions made to date:
• Enabling multiple users in the same district to log-in and complete the survey simultaneously
• Simplifying the Interlibrary Loan questions to a Yes or No response with regard to borrowing and lending from asking for the
number of items borrowed and lent.
• Simplifying counting the time when the either the library or computer lab is closed for standardized testing and other uses.
• Deleting three questions relating to LMC computers’ various uses (software, internet and catalog)
• Deleting the count of software applications on LMC computers.
• Eliminating the district level reporting
• Graying out questions on the data collection site that will be filled in with data from UFARS or other state systems to provide clarity
Sincerely,
Bruce Pomerantz
Library Development Specialist
State Library Services
Minnesota Department of Education
1500 Highway 36 West
Roseville, MN 55113
Phone: 651-582-8890
Email: bruce.pomerantz@state.mn.us
