Getting Started

This tutorial will take you through the steps necessary to set up SiteScripter Service Statistics for your library. SiteScripter Service Statistics is easy to use. If you already know the services you want to collect, you can complete the following steps in less than an hour.

Step 1: Decide which services you want to collect

Identify all of the services for which you need to collect statistics. If you are currently using another system to collect statistics, you may already know what these are. If not, think about the types of questions your service location answers and group them into general categories, such as "In-person Reference," "Chat," or "Multimedia Help." If you are going to collect service statistics at more than one service location, all services across all service locations should be defined at this step.

The services you identify will be displayed in a Counter bar, which is the tool that staff use to record statistics. If you are planning to collect different levels of the same service (for example, reference question less than five minutes, and five minutes or more) consider using the READ Scale instead¹. The READ Scale allows you to collect effort or difficulty measures using a standardized method. Using the READ Scale also allows you to display a larger number of services on the location's Counter bar since different levels of the same service are not displayed separately. Here is an example:

Service Stats READ Scale Counter bar Screen Shot

Only a single row of services can be displayed on the Counter bar. The Counter bar can be made as wide as the display or monitor being used. In order to be able to accommodate all the services you want, try to keep your service names short. Abbreviating "Reference" as "Ref" will be easily understood by your staff members and will save space.

Now that you have decided what services you will collect, login and define your services. Use the Services tool by clicking on the Admin menu item across the top of the screen. Add each service by clicking the Add New Service button and entering the name of the service and a short description of what the service is. The description will be displayed to your staff members when they hover over the service name on the Counter bar. Most services will be collected one transacation at a time, which is the default when you add a new service.

Step 2: Define your service locations

Now you will define the service locations at which you want want to collect statistics. You do this using the Locations Admin tool. Click the Add New Location button to start your first service location. Using this form you will enter the name of the service location, set the default size of the Counter bar, specify what the timeout reminder value should be, determine whether questions and responses will be collected, and set the scale type to use. Select READ Scale¹ if you want to collect effort or difficulty measures.

If you set a reminder timeout value, the Counter bar will become red if your staff member does not click on any of the service buttons within that time. If there has been nothing to count, clicking the Refresh button will return the Counter bar to its normal appearance. Check the "Bring counter bar forward" checkbox if you want the Counter bar to be displayed in front of other browser windows when a timeout occurs.

You can elect to collect questions only or both questions and responses. Responses cannot be collected by themselves. It is not necessary to collect either questions or responses, however, collected questions and responses can be searched by your staff members at a later time, becoming a knowledge repository for your library.

Once you click the Update button, your new location information will be displayed as shown below. Add the services that are to be collected at this service location by selecting them from the pull-down menu at the bottom of the display and clicking the Add Service button. You can arrange the services in the order you want them to appear on the Counter bar for this service location by using the green up and down arrows. You can also require that a question or response be collected for each of the services being collected by clicking on the slider button to turn it on.

Service Stats Location Display Screen Shot

You are finished defining the services and service location for your library. You can bring up the Counter bar for your service location by clicking the Counter menu item. A list of your service locations is displayed. Click on a service location name to bring up the Counter bar.

Step 3: Add your staff members

Your last step is to add the staff members that should have access to your SiteScripter Service Statistics account. Use the Members Admin tool to do this. A list of the staff members currently in the system is displayed. Click the Add New Member button to add another staff member. You must enter the first and last name and email address of each staff member. The staff member's email address will be used as his or her username for accessing your account. An email address can only be logged in to your account from one computer at a time. Do not assign the same email address to different staff members.

By default, staff members are authorized to access the Counter tool. Check the Admin checkbox to authorize a staff member for administrative access, if you wish. If you are collecting questions and responses, allow a staff member to search the collected information by checking the Search checkbox.

When you click the Update button, an email message with an initial password will be sent to the staff member. If you check the Quiet Add checkbox, this email message will not be sent. The Quiet Add option is appropriate if your library has a staff intranet and you use the remote login option to allow your staff members access to your account. If you do this, it is recommended that you do not send passwords to your staff members to avoid confusion. See the Remote Login help page for more information about this option.

That's it! You and your staff members can now collect service statistics. You will want to read more to learn about how to produce reports, setup Standard Questions, add to your counts, and other features of SiteScripter Service Statistics. Click the Table of Contents menu item to view a complete list of help pages.