Pilot WIFI Project at Sharon Forks

Each year, several staff members work together to fill out the Annual Report for the Georgia Public Library Service.  This annual report is used to show statistics for all the libraries in GA at the state and federal level.  One of the questions on the annual report asks about WIFI usage.  WIFI usage is an incredibly difficult statistic to obtain because of how it works.  Some of the WIFI systems that libraries use do not offer statistics.  We are fortunate because ours does but we cannot separate library owned or staff devices if they are on the FCPL Unplugged WIFI channel and not on the FCPL Staff WIFI channel.  Also if a device has "remember me" turned on then it will auto connect each time you enter the building even if you are not using the WIFI connection and this connection will trigger a hit on our statistics.  As you can tell, it is difficult to obtain accurate WIFI stats.  With this in mind, Sharon Forks has been selected to participate in a WIFI Stats Collection Device pilot project.  We will install a device at Sharon Fork to collect WIFI usage and compare its results to our statistics.  This device will enable us to see if we can obtain better WIFI usage statistics.  This pilot project was developed by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and a consulting group called 18-F.  The results of this project could enable all libraries to have a cost-effective solution that would lead to consistent data collection and provide better information for everyone, especially since WIFI is so important at all levels.  We are so proud that Sharon Forks was selected to be one of 4 libraries in GA to participate in this project.