Ccar Turnaround Study, April 2010
Connecticar Turnaround Study
Sharon Brettschneider and Steven Cauffman
June 2010
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 12-16, 2010. This was a repeat of a similar study done in April 2008. The purpose of the study was to determine actual delivery times, discounting any in-library processing time.
Background
Connecticar (Ccar) provides statewide delivery service to 225 public and academic libraries. Handling over two million items each year, it is the backbone of resource sharing among Connecticut's public and academic libraries. The Connecticar delivery service was begun in the 1970's to support resource sharing among libraries. At that time, the state's public libraries began a reciprocal borrowing arrangement that allows any citizen in the state to use their hometown library card in any other public library. If they borrow an item from any public or academic library it may be dropped off at any library and Connecticar will return it to the owning library. In addition, Connecticar supports statewide interlibrary loan. Demand for the service has grown steadily since its inception.
The service is provided through a combination of State Library operated service to 99 libraries while a private contractor, Avant Business Services, provides delivery to 126 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 (130) of libraries are scheduled to 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 goldenrod 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 a goldenrod 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 225 libraries receiving Ccar service, 190 (84%) libraries participated by attaching the special slips. 176 (78%) libraries reported receiving specially slipped items and entered the data in the online survey. Participation was down slightly for 2008 when 86% of libraries attached slips and 80% received slips and entered data.
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 delivered on the same day as it was sent, this was counted as zero (0) days. Same day delivery is possible when a driver sorts on route. There were a total of 4,136 useable responses. In 2008 there were 4,218.
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, that 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. It did not measure against the ideal of 5-day-a-week delivery for every library in Connecticut. 95 of the 225 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 1.51 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 1.4 days. Items being sent between two Route B libraries were delivered in 1.31 days. If an item traveled from a Route A library to a Route B library it arrived in 1.9 days, and if from Route B to a Route A in 1.63 days. The overall result increased over 2008 results. At that time the median time was 1.42. Also in 2008 Route A performed slightly better than Route B, this year that was reversed.
Results Based on Business Days
This result was calculated by discounting weekend days only, not the delivery schedule. 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.
Based on a business day schedule, the average (mean) delivery took 1.66 days with a median of 1 day. This was up slightly from 1.60 in 2008.
Items sent and delivered between two Route A libraries averaged 1.42 days. Route B libraries averaged 1.76 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. In 2008 the A to A time were 1.19 and the B to B was 1.84. Items traveling from Route A to B took 2.3 days and from Route B to Route A, 1.67 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 of course do not care about Connecticar or business day schedules.
Based on a calendar day calculation, the average (mean) delivery time was 2.34 days with a median of 2 days. Items staying on Route A were delivered in 1.94 days. Items staying on Route B were delivered in 2.62 days. Items going from a Route A library to a Route B library took 2.3 days and from a Route B library to a Route A library, 2.42 days. In 2008 the mean delivery time was 2.23, A to A time was 1.62, B to B was 2.63, A to B was 3.63, and B to A was 2.26.
Conclusions
Overall, the results were slightly down from 2008. Although the average remains quite good, we remain concerned with the number of outliers – items that take much longer to be delivered. These numbers may be seen in the report details. Efforts will be made to address delivery issues that impact delivery time, mostly missed deliveries.
The results will be used for reporting to the Institute of Museum and Library Services as part of our evaluation on the use of Library Services and Technology Act funds.
Steve Cauffman will be using this data to expand a pilot project in which he is adjusting the lender lists in reQuest ILL, so that requests are filled by libraries on the same Ccar route (A to A and B to B) before being filled by libraries that are on the 'other' route (A to B or B to A).
Both the volume our turnaround time has increased which may imply strains on parts of the service. In order to monitor this and check the implication, the State Library plans on conducting another volume survey in the fall of 2010 and will perhaps repeat the turnaround study in one year.
This data will be used as a basis for comparing service from year to year. Thank you to every library participating in the study. We know it was extra work in your already busy schedules.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License
Comments (0)
Join the conversation