As I'm getting ready my part of the library's annual report and crunching through usage statistics, I thought of an "I wonder how everyone else does this" question.

If you, also, have an annual report that includes statistics AND you are on a July through June (or anything other than January through December) fiscal year, what time frame of statistics do you use?

We've always used usage stats from July of one year through June of the next, but that causes lots of little glitches.  First, a lot of providers don't offer their stats in a customizable time range, so I have to get 2 years worth of stats and break them up, and re-add them myself (well, via Excel, but it feels like I do it all myself!)  Plus, if there are titles that we added or unsubscribed to from one calendar year to the next, we only have 6 months worth of usage data instead of a full year's worth.  Titles that move from one publisher or online platform to another frequently happen at the calendar year mark, too.

So... what does everyone else do?  Do you also use two half-years?  Do you use half of the current year?  All of the previous year?

Thanks for any input!

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Heather Cannon, MLIS
Serials & Electronic Resources Librarian
Loyola University Health Sciences Library
708-216-5302
hcannon@lumc.edu