Libraries generate a lot of data. Evergreen can only report on data that is being collected and stored in the database. It’s important to ensure that data you need is being entered consistently and that your staff know what data to collect and where in Evergreen to enter it. If data is missing or incorrect it can cause problems for your patrons using the library, your staff helping your patrons, and any statistics your library collects and may need to report on.

To protect your patrons you should only be collecting the information necessary to provide your services to them. Co-op Support recommends reviewing what data your library currently collects and considering whether you’re collecting unnecessary data or not collecting needed data; both can be true.

The best practices outlined in this chapter are intended to assist libraries in collecting and managing their library’s data in Sitka’s Evergreen in a consistent manner. This includes recommendations on local policies to create, features and functions in Evergreen that can be used, and report templates that can be run to catch incorrect or missing data.