[Nhcoll-l] Effect of Global Database Inclusion on Loan Requests

[Sarah K. Huber]

I had posted a query several weeks ago regarding the impact of global database inclusion on loan requests, and was asked to summarize responses for the list. My main motivation for requesting these data is so that I can budget for costs associated with a possible increase in loan requests (we have a very tight budget). So thank you to everyone who responded. Below are some of the key points from these responses.



1) Not many collections have these data, and there are quite a lot of people who would like to have them! A few collections are formally collecting these kind of data (loans before and after global database inclusion) and have plans to publish this kind of information soon. However, if your collection is contemplating inclusion into a global database, then formal records on loans before and after would be tremendously helpful to the museum community.



2) Informal estimates for loan increases ranged from 0-20%. The degree of increase did not seem to be related to the size of the collection or the time when the collection went "on-line".



3) Those respondents who saw increases in loan requests reported a disproportionate increase in requests from foreign institutions.



My take-home message from the replies I got was that inclusion into a global database will increase the visibility of your collection and will increase loan requests. In my opinion these are great things! However, that also means that collections should budget additional funds for processing loans and especially for international postage.



Best,

Sarah

Sarah K. Huber, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Biology and Marine Science
Collection Manager, VIMS Ichthyology Collection
804.684.7285
skhuber at vims.edu | www.vims.edu
PO Box 1346 | Rt. 1208 Greate Rd., Gloucester Pt., VA 23062

[VimsLogo]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20130125/10793d0c/attachment.html