[BCMA] Statistical Collection

Thu Oct 29 15:34:46 PDT 2020

Thanks for your thoughts, Cuyler, and for the question, Gwyneth.

I look forward to hearing more thoughts on data collection from others.  And just a reminder to all about the recent BCMA webinar that touched on this topic with Ken Amaral from Canada Heritage: "Tracking data and measuring impact at your cultural heritage institution." The BCMA webinar recording is currently available on Youtube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL4USRcItsg&list=PLdKYeYPzhfscwt7hesawydPtpj0ysYKqt&index=2

As well, now that CADAC has been brought up......I wanted to take advantage of this discussion and list to invite thoughts and ideas from any of you that may help to improve the CADAC system and make it more suitable and specific to the needs of the museum sector.

If you have any thoughts directly related to improving CADAC (for financial and/or statistical data collection), please do not hesitate to contact me directly:  anissa.paulsen at gov.bc.ca<mailto:anissa.paulsen at gov.bc.ca>

Thanks!
Anissa

Anissa J. Paulsen (she/her/hers)
Program Officer for Museums & Indigenous Cultural Centres | Scholarship | Youth Engagement Program
BC Arts Council
Phone: 236.478.2560 | Email: Anissa.Paulsen at gov.bc.ca<mailto:Anissa.Paulsen at gov.bc.ca> | www.bcartscouncil.ca<http://www.bcartscouncil.ca/>

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture
800 Johnson Street | PO Box 9819 STN PROV GOVT | Victoria | BC | V8W 9W3
Main office:  (250) 356-1718 or reach us toll-free through Enquiry BC: 1-800-663-7867

The BC Arts Council acknowledges it carries out its work on the traditional territories of Indigenous nations throughout British Columbia. We pay our respects to the Elders, past and present, descendants and custodians of these lands. We honour the knowledge keepers and the continuing relationships with Indigenous peoples in BC that develop through our work together. The BC Arts Council is grateful to the Lkwungen (Songhees) and Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) ancestors and families, on whose traditional lands we operate our main offices.

COVID-19: We are committed to supporting B.C.'s artists and cultural organizations through this difficult time. This includes updating our policies and programs as necessary to match the challenges the sector is now facing. The most up-to-date information will always be posted on our dedicated COVID 19 FAQ page<https://www.bcartscouncil.ca/funding/covid-19-updates-and-faq/> and individual program pages. Updates will also be announced on our Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/BritishColumbiaArtsCouncil/>, and Twitter<https://twitter.com/BCArtsCouncil> accounts.

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca <bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca> On Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: October 28, 2020 6:24 PM
To: bcma at lists.vifa.ca
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Statistical Collection

[EXTERNAL] This email came from an external source. Only open attachments or links that you are expecting from a known sender.

Regarding statistics, it seems that all too often they are being collected for some external need, such as CADAC.   Nothing wrong with that, but internal needs and uses can be quite different, although related like cousins.    Internally they are useful for marketing and program  development choices, and all sorts of things such as hours of operation for best visitor response and attendance, etc,. etc.   Would more people actually visit if you were open on Sunday instead of Tuesday? etc. etc.

For types of visitors to measure, I found this arrangement useful:
Child = any young person visiting with their parents or in a group of children.
Youth = any young person visiting on their own or with similars
Adult = anyone in their "working life" years
Senior = anyone apparently retired or still working part time

The former designation of 65 for a Senior is no longer appropriate to really measure "Seniors" for museum operational needs.   Retired people are very different from working people in the visitation time they will spend and the interests they will express.   Today many are retired well before 65 and many are still working long after 65.   In other words, make the categories you measure suit your needs, not just someone else's, such as the Old Age Pension category.

Each group has different attraction, exhibition, programming and marketing needs.    Other information, such as where they are from and what their income and education level might be are also useful, but best not included in the informal front desk Welcoming or Arrival record of stats.

A technique I like is to have several methods of collection stats all working at the same time, and then comparing the results to get a view of the reality.
1) Visitor Guest Book with significant space for "comments".
 2) "Comment Cards" = 4x6 cards printed on both sides with survey questions, One side about who, where from , how travelled, how learned about the place.    The other side about the experience while at the museum, the personal measures (1 through 5, for example) for various aspects of a visit, and a place for written reflections regarding the visit.
3) Personal informal interviews by staff, recorded in a standard fashion such as the Comment Card.

When all three were utilized, it was easy to observe the common threads that added up to practical useful information.

For meeting the needs of anything such as CADAC, an Excel Spreadsheet is easy to set up with columns for this and that, all based on the primary statistics gathered, and then referenced for particular reporting needs.   If CADAC does not use "Seniors" then simply have the CADAC columns show the totals added from the primary information columns (Seniors +Adults = Adults) (Children plus Youth = Children), etc.

Stats can be really fun and extremely useful for more than just reporting.   One can see the results of work and changes, both internal and external, helping to better evaluate and understand what it is we are actually doing.

Cuyler Page
Heritage Interpretation Services
Vernon, BC

On Oct 27, 2020, at 3:43 PM, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. <bcma at lists.vifa.ca<mailto:bcma at lists.vifa.ca>> wrote:

Hello all!

Hope everyone is keeping well.

Here at the GVMA we are really trying to improve our collection of statistics so that processes like inputting our information into CADAC are easier. I was wondering if anyone else in the GLAM realm has any suggestions about how to collect monthly stats e.g. Which stats do you consider important? What format do you use to collect your stats? How have you streamlined the process? So far, I am collecting, on a monthly basis, membership numbers, visitation numbers, online reach, and volunteer hours (all stats around financial matters etc. are collect by upper management.) Am I missing anything major?

Thank you for your time!

Gwyneth Evans
<image001.jpg><http://www.vernonmuseum.ca/>    <image002.png>  <image003.png><image004.jpg>
Community Engagement Coordinator
250.550.3146 | 3009 32nd Ave. Vernon, BC V1T 2L8
www.vernonmuseum.ca<x-msg://1/www.vernonmuseum.ca>
WE RESPECTFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE Greater Vernon Museum & Archives is located on the Ancestral, Traditional and Unceded Territory of the Okanagan Nation and the Syilx People.

_______________________________________________
BCMA mailing list
BCMA at lists.vifa.ca<mailto:BCMA at lists.vifa.ca>
http://lists.vifa.ca/mailman/listinfo/bcma

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.vifa.ca/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20201029/dfde8df0/attachment.htm 