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Re: Request Forms



Dick King asked if the information on the request form is ever used. When I was managing a research room I used it extensively. Not only would it provide me with the statistics I needed for my quarterly and annual reports but I routinely found myself referencing the request forms to find the materials used by patrons who inevitability got citations incorrect when asking for permission to publish. Once we had a donor accuse a patron of damaging a photograph album. We were able to use the use statistics to prove the patron had not seen the album. I've had researchers also request copies of their own user request forms so that they could keep track of what they had seen, a double check on their own citations. I've  used the user request forms to quickly identify sources for researchers in a similar topic. I also used request form to track records staff looked at or used for an exhibit. I can't count the number of times they would come back wanting to see something they had seen but hadn't taken note of. Their use statistics also proved useful in arguing to administration for the value of the library/archives to the host institution. 

Prudence Backman
New York State Archives

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