The Effect of Automated Renewal Services on Physical Use of Davis Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

by Farrell, Larry D.

The advent of remote, automated renewal services (phone based and web based) have had a significant impact on the way libraries and library materials are used. This paper studies these affects at one university library; Davis Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, asking the question, what affect has automated renewal services had on the physical use of Davis Library?

Circulation and renewal statistics were looked at from 2000-2004, and exit count numbers were looked at from 2001-2004 in an attempt to answer this question. The statistics show that circulation of library materials has remained relatively stable during the period studied, but that there has been a dramatic increase in the use of automated renewal services, followed by a precipitous decrease in exit counts during the period under study, leading to the conclusion that automated renewal services have led to decreased physical usage of Davis Library.