Presentation on the technology used to compile and analyze statistics at the Earl K. Long Library at the University of New Orleans. Presented at the Louisiana Library Association Annual Conference in Shreveport, LA on March, 23, 2012 at 1pm by Sonnet Ireland and Faith Simmons.

1. To the Cloud!
How to Compile and Analyze
Reference Statistics
Easily and for Free
Sonnet Ireland
Faith G. Simmons
University of New Orleans
LLA 2012

2. The Way We Were...
Originally, we used a printout sheet.
This sheet was always at the reference desk in the
Learning Commons.
Sheets were also printed out for the Circulation desk.

4. The Problems...
Messy--Was an absolute headache to compile and
analyze
Incomplete - pages were either missing or never
created. Trying to use these sheets months later, it could
be hard to figure out if a sheet wasn't created because
there were no questions or because we were closed.
With different access points throughout the library, many
reference interactions went unmarked because of the
inconvenience of the location of the sheet.

5. Why GoogleDocs?
Digital form--spreadsheets that can be used to calculate
totals
Can be accessed and updated by multiple people at the
same time
Free and user-friendly
Security--multiple options for allowing access to the
sheet

6. How it works...
1. Duplicate the template for the day.
2. Update statistics throughout the day.
3. Copy statistics from GoogleDocs into a stable
spreadsheet.
4. Save the stable spreadsheet in Sharepoint (paid
program) and Dropbox (free)
5. Use the stable spreadsheets to calculate the totals and
analyze the data

7. CALCULATIONS
Demonstration of GoogleDocs
How many of you are
familiar with using Excel formulas?

8. Benefits
Hosted offsite--available anywhere with an internet
connection
Multiple users can update the spreadsheet at one time
Auto save
Login options--password, or link, or username
Published but not searchable
Can export into a spreadsheet.
Definitions of various interactions are spelled out in the
sheet

9. Problems with Using Google
Too many sheets (for too many days) can get messy
Sometimes there are errors in the formula after
duplicating the template multiple times
Communication--important that everyone is on the same
page
(numbers vs. tick marks; is phone virtual or in-person)

10. CALCULATIONS
Demonstration of Sharepoint
Advanced formulas for analysis.

11. Why Dropbox?
Free account offers 2GB of storage
Saved across multiple computers and on the cloud
Can be shared with multiple people
Get even more storage with .edu email addresses

12. How Dropbox Works
Go to Dropbox.com
Create an account and download Dropbox on to your
computer. You can download it onto several computers (your
work, your home desktop, your laptop, your iPad) with the same
account.
When you save a file, save it in a Dropbox folder. This will save
the file on any computer with your Dropbox account.
Access the file from any of your Dropbox computers...or from
another location via Dropbox.com.
Any changes you make to the file will be automatically updated
across all of your computers.

13. Dropbox Demonstration

14. Questions?
Resources
GoogleDocs docs.google.com
Dropbox dropbox.com
Sonnet Ireland
sebrown3@uno.edu
Faith G. Simmons
fsimmons@uno.edu