Purpose & Goals

The University of Houston Libraries began using a card access turnstile system for entry to the MD Anderson Library in Fall of 2021. This system provides us with significantly more detailed information about library visitors than we have previously had, which has raised significant privacy concerns. This poster will discuss how we have balanced privacy concerns and utility, and how we have paired this data with other data sources (like circulation data) to inform decisions related to library hours, staffing of service points, safety policies, and policies about entry into the library.

Design & Methodology

This project relies on combining transaction level entry data from the access gates with entry data from a security desk, and in some cases transaction level circulation data. In order to protect user privacy as much as possible our primary methods involve aggregated counts and averages. We also categorize based on the academic calendar and the day of the week, and incorporate campus partner concerns and policies into analysis.

Findings

Having access to transaction level entry data for our library is extremely useful, but is a complicating factor for so many decisions made in the Libraries. This includes security concerns and decisions, concerns about user perceptions of the Libraries, and the need to establish and re-visit policies about both access to the Libraries and the maintenance of the data, and many other areas. We have almost certainly not found all of the ways that this change requires us to change practice.

Action & Impact

We have used this information to inform library hours and understand staffing needs for service points. We have also used this information to surface areas of concern, both within the Libraries and also with campus partners, like facilities and our campus police department, as well as student affairs and university leaderships. We are also beginning to use what we have learned for outreach.

Practical Implications & Value

The main value to the community is in furthering conversations about how libraries can balance practical concerns with user privacy.