Q Name: Netherlands Libraries

[skyjarrett12]

PROBLEM: For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement can be shown to be true using the information provided. Otherwise, select No.

Yes No
The year with the fewest "turns" (average number of times an item is lent out to the public) of AV materials was 2004.

MY QUESTION: In the explanation, "turns" is calculated as follows: by dividing "AV materials lent out to public" by "AV materials in collection" in the 2004 row. 6,683 / 2,456 = 2.72.

Since "turns" is the average number of times an item is lent out to the public, why not divide the number of AV materials lent out to the public by the number of Registered users?

[tim]

because you are calculating the average number of lendings per item, not per user. remember, the average number of times a book is lent out would be the same regardless of whether a million people borrowed it once each or one person borrowed it a million times..

[georgepaul0071987]

I'm still not clear what exactly this means : "in collection numbers are averages for the year " ?

Is the question trying to say that the numbers listed under the "in collection" columns are averages across all the libraries for a given year ?

[tim]

please post the whole problem so other students can benefit from our explanation..

[mokura]

Is it me, or is the question worded incorrectly?

"For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement can be shown to be true using the information provided. Otherwise, select No."

They are not asking if the question is true, but rather if it can be shown to be true!

However, the responses are written as if this was a true or false question.

[tim]

Still waiting for the full text of the question before we discuss this one further.

[elbarnoussi.safae]

Libraries In collection Lent out to public Users
Year Number Volumes Books AV materials Volumes Books AV materials Registered
2001 508 42,760 37,992 2,422 152,022 137,871 7,205 4,328
2002 483 41,472 36,671 2,438 146,509 132,753 6,976 4,290
2003 473 40,109 35,371 2,475 142,983 129,012 6,941 4,206
2004 467 38,701 34,111 2,456 138,663 124,748 6,683 4,150
2005 351 37,464 33,068 2,383 134,624 121,786 6,059 4,069
The table includes various data about libraries in the Netherlands during the period between 2001 and 2005, inclusive. Volumes include books, audiovisual (AV) materials, and other materials. "In collection" numbers are averages (arithmetic means) for the year, whereas "Lent out to public" numbers are totals for the year. All numbers except for the number of libraries are in thousands.

[elbarnoussi.safae]

For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement can be shown to be true using the information provided. Otherwise, select No.

Yes No
The year with the fewest "turns" (average number of times an item is lent out to the public) of AV materials was 2004.
The listed characteristic of Netherlands' libraries that experienced the greatest percent decline from 2001 to 2005 was volumes in collection.
The number of books in Netherlands' libraries' collections per registered user rose from 2002 to 2003.

[RonPurewal]

Thanks.

To the recent poster:
* Thanks for posting the question text.
* Do you have any question(s) to ask? If so, please post the question(s) explicitly. Thanks.

To the original poster:
It's been 18 months since the original question was asked, so you likely aren't here anymore. If you are still here and would like to see an answer to your question, please say so. Thanks.

[clarence.booth]

Hi Ron/Tim,

I struggled with the first question to this IR problem as well, but I do understand Tim's point about why we divide by the collection number and not users. What threw me was I couldn't understand what they question meant by the category " in collection" (initially I thought library items that haven't been returned and are collecting fines - don't know where I got that from.) As I understand it now, it means the (average) number of items in the library inventory, yes?

I'm kind of surprised the definition in terminology wasn't that explicit on this one.

[jnelson0612]

Hi Ron/Tim,

I struggled with the first question to this IR problem as well, but I do understand Tim's point about why we divide by the collection number and not users. What threw me was I couldn't understand what they question meant by the category " in collection" (initially I thought library items that haven't been returned and are collecting fines - don't know where I got that from.) As I understand it now, it means the (average) number of items in the library inventory, yes?

I'm kind of surprised the definition in terminology wasn't that explicit on this one.

That's right. "In collection" means currently in the collection of books at the library.