How do you catch a cloud and pin it down

notes from how do you catch a cloud

Liz started it out, explained what is behind the title, Problem is, we are asked to report to managers and others how much stuff we've done. What is product of our work. We don't have a great unit, depends on who is asking the question?

If we're talking about a ten volume book, 1 thing to the cataloger. 10 things to the shelvers, to the scanners, it's 1000 things. Those making derivatives, four thousand things. All answers are correct. Records and files, can do really well. But the middle numbers are hard. Report things in TB, numbers of files, # of descriptive records, we've done all that at LC. In CTS tool in use at LC, content custodians can put in number that is meaningful to them. "500 letters" but there's a lot out there that doesn't have those numbers.

How do people at other insitutitons deal with this question? Are you getting these questions? What sorts of people units use to report statistics. What questions have you been asked, what tools you used.

At SCOLA, have 12 diff. services at the digital archive. Have to individually search, and across website. Now asked to count number of assets we have. If you have four copies of one asset, is that four things?

Cataloger in the room - just ONE :)

Kate: at GPO, we called one package an intellectual entitiy, mets wrapper, derivitaves (but backups didn't count). We counted packages. What is that equivalent to. (nothiing - it's a unit we made up!) Reporting numbers to congress and library partners.

Liz: phonecalls from the press - they always want to know how much stuff.

Leslie: ongoing series on our blog re: ways people describe the size of the Library of Congress. What is the size? how much we have inventoried in CTS. How many PB (easiest)