Top Ten Tips: Creating a Research Request
Database
Michael Knoop - San Antonio Express-News
Why do it?
- Don’t have to reinvent the proverbial wheel for each new request
- Compile statistics on usage, users, and resources
- Beat/desk
resources tool
- Useful for performance evaluations
- Handy marketing device: Party for 10,000th request
How can it be set up?
- Started as a table in Excel
- Moved to Access
- Use Active Server Page to search database, ASP can also be used to
dynamically generate reports
What information can be included?
- Status – Can be set up to automatically update ASP page when completed
- Date of request
- Request – Keep short and direct
- Requester - Name
- Desk - Important to stay consistent
- File - Make sure to include file extension
- Answer - More detailed explanation of sources, strategy
- Sources - Pretty general
- Researcher - Initials
- Type - Ready reference, in-depth, CAR, photo, archive
- Memo - Any extra information: URLs, contacts
Issues
- Rights
- Must be kept up
- Must be uniform to be useful
"Top Ten Tips: Ten ideas to make your library more effective"
News
Division Program, SLA 2005 Annual
Conference
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To request updates or additions contact Michael Knoop
Last updated 6/21/2005