Data, data, data!

With technology, we can acquire a lot of data, in lots of different areas. I recently read Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters by Bill Tancer, the general manager of global research at Hitwise. Hitwise is a company that analyzes Internet data. Tancer has a number of really neat insights in his book, but what I found the most fascinating was the 90-1-9 rule of Web 2.0 (i.e. participatory Web applications like blogs, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) 90% of people who view blogs never comment--they just read! 9% contribute infrequently, and only 1% are frequent contributors. So that means there are a lot of you out there we've never heard from!

On a smaller scale, the library uses data to see trends in our circulation. As Acquisitions Coordinator, I do a lot of analysis of our collection to see what materials are popular, what we could use more copies of, and what materials aren't as popular. Did you know there is an item in our library that has circulated over 1000 times? It's a VHS copy of The Accidental Tourist. Our administration department looks at data as well, to see how many people use the library every month and how many books we've circulated. In September 2008 alone, we enjoyed a circulation of over ninety thousand items.

So what can you do with data? Here at the library, we use it to better serve the public. Bill Tancer says that companies who analyze Internet search results can predict trends and get better market shares. Personally, I enjoy knowing these facts about the library and about the world around me. Data can be fascinating and eye-opening.