by Carla Pfahl
Quick Summary
While overall usage slowed down from the height of the pandemic it was still a very busy year for questions. The five year trends for overall usage and academic usage continue to increase and public library usage remains quite strong.
Through Fiscal Year 22 we saw pandemic-related issues subside and libraries reestablish in-person services and return to normal operations. The AskMN service also saw a return to normal usage in FY22 with an overall decrease in service from FY21 of 33% from 64,836 to 43,121. However, there were some highlights from FY22 that are worth noting. Overall usage and usage among academic libraries continue their upward trend. While FY21 may have been an anomaly reporting period due to heavy use during the pandemic, the past five years have seen an increase in usage in the academic queue of 77% from 9,393 in FY17 to 16,626 in FY22. Patron feedback was also at its highest recorded levels of over 95% positive ratings in both academic and public queues.
To view the full report, along with previous fiscal year reports, visit the Minitex AskMN website: https://minitex.umn.edu/services/askmn
