Academic
A 1968-69 study at Loretto Heights College (a women’s college with an enrollment of 900 located in Denver, Colorado), comparing a traditional charge-out system operated by staff with a patron self-charge system, showed that fewer students reported taking books out of the library without charging them and fewer books were taken out of the library without charging them out under the self-charge system of circulation. During a comparable 1-month period 32.1% (1,183) of the books returned to the library had not been charged out under the self-serve system compared to 51.0% (2,324) under the traditional system. Further, 32.2% (176) of a sample of 546 students reported taking library materials out of the library without charging them under the self-serve system compared to 40.6% (103) of a sample of 254 students reporting similarly under the traditional system. Both changes in books returned and student reports of behavior are statistically significant according to Chi Square tests at the .001 significance level. (Source)
