Change to monthly circ reports

First, renewals are now assigned to the original checkout agency, rather than the patron home agency.  This change was made to our system in the middle of September. According to the state annual report, renewals should be counted as circulations for the original checkout agency, and our reports will now match this definition.  We’ve looked at the data, and don’t believe this change will result in a significant change in circulation numbers for any OWLSnet library. 

Second, the renewals section now lists all renewals, both online and staff-initiated.  Previously, only online renewals were listed as renewals - renewals done by staff were included in the checkout numbers.  When comparing numbers, you’ll see that the renewal numbers are now much higher than on previous reports, and the circ numbers are lower.  For some libraries, this is a significant change, because they do a lot of staff-initiated renewals.  For other libraries, this change has a much smaller effect.

If you have any questions about these changes, please call or email Gerri at the OWLS office.