From Library to Library: Connecticar Turnaround Study
Sharon Brettschneider
How long does it take to get a book sent on Connecticar? To find the answer to this question, libraries receiving Connecticar delivery service participated in a survey of turnaround time during the week of April 7-11, 2008. The purpose of the study, the first of its kind undertaken in
Background
Connecticar (Ccar) provides statewide delivery service to 223 public and academic libraries. Handling approximately two million items each year, it is the backbone of resource sharing among
Demand for the service has grown steadily since its inception. While Connecticard requires that Connecticar transport only returned material, i.e. one-way delivery, interlibrary loan, by its nature, means that Ccar now supports delivery of materials both ways: as a loan and as a return. Over the past few years, library networks in the state have activated ‘system holds’ features in their circulation systems, which has increased the volume even further.
The service is provided through a combination of State Library operated service to 100 libraries while a private contractor, Avant Business Services, provides delivery to 123 libraries. One of the service goals for the State Library's Division of Library Development is to provide next-business-day delivery for items placed on Connecticar. The majority (136) of libraries now receive 5-day-a-week delivery. At the end of each day, both State Library staff and Avant sort all items picked up that day for delivery on the next scheduled stop. Material going between the two services is exchanged each morning and afternoon.
Methodology
Libraries were asked to attach special orange Connecticar slips to a maximum of ten items per day or fifty items per week. The routing number and destination library was filled in as usual. However, instead of entering the current date, libraries were asked to fill in the date of the next scheduled Connecticar pick up if that was different. For example, if it was Monday afternoon and Connecticar had already picked up for the day, the library was asked to enter the date of their next scheduled Connecticar pickup, usually Tuesday.
When a library received an item with an orange slip they were asked to record the date the library actually received the item, which was not necessarily the date the item was unpacked. Libraries were then asked to record the following information on an online survey: receiving library name and route number, name and email of the person entering the data in case we needed clarification, and for every item received, the shipping library, route number, date shipped and date received.
Out of 223 libraries receiving Ccar service, 192 (86%) libraries participated by attaching the special oranges slips. 178 (80%) libraries reported receiving specially slipped items and entered the data in the online survey.
Steven Cauffman, iCONN’s Interlibrary Loan Coordinator, analyzed the data with formulas that took into account the scheduled delivery days and weekends. Some data was rejected for missing data elements or obvious errors. If an item was reported as being delivery on the same day as it was sent, this was counted at zero (0) days. Same day delivery is possible when a driver sorts on route. There was a total of 4,218 useable responses.
Results Based on the Connecticar Schedule
The responses were first analyzed by calculating delivery time by discounting days that were not scheduled for delivery. Thus if a book was sent on Monday and the receiving library was not scheduled to receive delivery until Wednesday, it was counted as one day. If Connecticar failed to deliver as scheduled, the additional time was not discounted. Using the same example, if the book was delivered on Thursday because Connecticar did not deliver on Wednesday as scheduled, it was counted as two days. This method gave us a measure of how well the service was doing within the limitations of the current schedule. 87 of the 223 libraries receive fewer than five deliveries each week. There are three reasons for this: budget limitations, the library isn’t open all five days, or the library has very little volume.
The data demonstrated an average (mean) turnaround time of 1.42 days with a median of one day. We also looked to see if there were differences between libraries receiving delivery from our commercial vendor (Route A) and those receiving delivery from the state operated service (Route B). Items being sent between two Route A libraries were delivered in 1.18 days. Items being sent between two Route B libraries were delivered in 1.42 days. If an item traveled from a Route A library to a Route B library it arrived in 2 days, and if from Route B to a Route A in 1.56 days.
Results Based on Business Days
This result was calculated by discounting weekend days. It did not consider the
delivery schedule. If a book was picked up on Friday and delivered on Monday, it counted as one day; Thursday to Monday as two days. This allowed us to see how much time is lost by not having every library on a five day a week delivery schedule, which is the goal of the service.
Based on a business day schedule, the average (mean) delivery took 1.60 days with a median of 1 day.
Items sent and delivered between Route A libraries averaged 1.19 days. Route B libraries averaged 1.84 days. The bigger difference in Route B libraries mostly is due to the fact that fewer libraries on Route B receive 5 day a week delivery.
Items traveling from Route A to B took 2.59 days and from Route B to Route A, 1.59 days.
Results Based on Calendar Days
This result was calculated on the number of calendar days it took for an item to
be delivered with no discounts for the schedule or weekends. Thus a book sent on a Friday and received on a Monday counted as 3 days. This is a measure that most closely compares to patron expectations. Patrons do not, and should not, care about Connecticar or business day schedules.
Based on a calendar day calculation, the average (mean) delivery time was 2.23 days with a median of 2 days. Items staying on Route A were delivered in 1.62 days. Items staying on Route B were delivered in 2.63 days. Items going from a Route A library to a Route B library took 3.63 days and from a Route B library to a Route A library, 2.26 days.
Conclusions
Overall, the results were better than expected. It is natural to focus on the items that don’t get delivered in a timely manner and forget that the majority are delivered quite quickly. At the State Library we usually only hear when there is a problem, not when deliveries are being made as scheduled. Some survey comments indicated that library staff members were themselves surprised by the numbers they were entering. We expected some survey bias in that the staffs of both delivery services knew the survey was being taken, but at the State Library we received the normal number of reports of non-delivery during the week of the survey. While pleased with the results, our service goal is next business day delivery and we are not achieving to that standard. If the budget allowed we would add more libraries to a five-day-a-week schedule; or even extend the service to seven days a week.
This data will now be used as a basis for comparing service from year to year. We plan to ask libraries to repeat this study next April. Thank you to every library participating in the study. We know it was extra work in your already busy schedules. A special thanks to Steve Cauffman for setting up the complex formulas in the database to make these calculations.
