Using intuition, personal preferences, or limited collection overview will no longer drive library investment. By adding metrics to selection processes, tracking performance, improving purchase, and weeding on a daily basis at both the local and global levels, V-eyeQ makes an essential contribution to collection management with objective and insightful collection data, budget control, and customers’ satisfaction data.
Based on the library needs
V-eyeQ components are related to each other, but they can also be used separately or combined based on the library needs and objectives. The components include:
Each component answers a core question and they will also measure (per branch) what the library can afford based on its budget, and support decision making based on data. The application can be modeled according to users’ wishes and objectives.
Collection plan
Based on predefined collection rules, the collection management objectives for a fiscal year are laid down in a plan as well as the target (key performance indicators (KPIs)) associated in order to measure progress throughout the year. The plan thus supports improvements to your purchasing and weeding strategies.
The plan is not static and can be updated in the application at any time. If expected results are not achieved, strategy changes, budgets evolve, or KPIs change, V-eyeQ will adjust target calculations accordingly.
Collection rules
The application offers many options that allow you to choose to apply the same plan for all sites or define a location plan for each branch derived from the global collection plan. Calculations are based on various elements: the desired replacement and weeding percentage, the desired loan frequency, the average price (for the rule), and the total available budget for the branch.
You can also define parameters that maximize the desired loan frequency. For example, you can set the loan frequency to rise by no more than .5 in 1 year (because then too much weeding is required) and to drop by no more than 2 (due to budget constraints).
Powerful capabilities
V-eyeQ’s powerful analysis capabilities offer the ability to measure performance via automatically created lists and via specific ad hoc searches. Performance measures the relative popularity of a work in the lending process, based on adjustable lending and booking criteria. Questions such as, “What is the most popular work by Jamie Oliver?” and “What are the most popular hiking guides?”, or “What are the most popular subjects?” are answered almost effortlessly within seconds.
Lists of popular works can be viewed for the entire collection, or split by category type, authors, subjects or any defined collection rules. Searching is possible via a wide range of bibliographic and authority indexes, including the ability to limit via facets.
All collection parts that are relevant to management are defined as “rules.” These rules “map” the collection components into definitions that V-eyeQ can understand and interpret. Usually, a system contains between 50 and 150 rules. Calculations are made for each collection component (each rule). For example: how many items are there to purchase, how many items are there to weed, and how popular is the collection component?
The application also submits suggestions such as items to remove, replace, for which titles to purchase additional items, which titles to move or promote, and which new titles to purchase.
V-eyeQ is suited for both large and small libraries. Its “collection clusters” feature is a mechanism for “grouping” rules. When a location has a limited number of items, it makes sense to combine subcategories whereas a large library with thousands of materials per category will need to filter at a more granular level.
For example, while a large location will have “Detectives & Thrillers,” “Adventure,” and “Fantasy & Science Fiction” categories; a smaller location within the same group may cluster these three rules into a single “Crime & Adventure” one.
The “advisor” is the part of V-eyeQ that makes suggestions about “dead copies” (items that are not lent), and “overused items”, that creates purchase advice (based on the defined reservation ratio) and that calculates relative popularity (“not popular here, but popular elsewhere”).
The latter shows materials that are not popular in a particular branch, while they are elsewhere. An incentive to relocate or promote the under used material. This data can be viewed not only per site, but also per collection rule, which creates a direct link with the collection plan.
Get in touch to learn moreBased on collection rules.
All relevant data for measurement (number of items, loan frequency, lent in the last n years) with V-eyeQ.
Based on desired loan frequency, desired weed percentage, expected number of loans.
Calculate goals for weeding / purchase, based on your available budget, defined rules, and average book price.
For purchasing and weeding and manual adjustment if needed.
The analysis generated by V-eyeQ are integrated in V-smart acquisitions. Both performance data and objectives from the collection plans are visible in the module. The objectives from the plans can be converted into purchase quotas per collection rule (“how many thrillers should I purchase this week?”).
V-eyeQ data analysis results can be stored in V-smart savelists to help managing items, move, change or even delete data globally. Direct data export via V-smart’s select, sort, and publish (SSP) or to Microsoft® Excel® is also possible.
Learn more about V-smartHow much will we purchase and weed?
What are we going to purchase?
What are we going to purchase, weed, move, or promote?
What are we going to purchase for whom (i.e., for which locations)?
