Experiment 3: Does half-full, three-quarters full, or completely full shelves circulate the most books?

Research question

• Does half-full, three-quarters full, completely full shelves circulate the most books? Despite having fewer books, will half a shelf of books circulate more books than a three-quarter shelf or a completely full shelf because of reduced information overload?
  

Previous research


Testing hypothesis

• Half-full shelves will have greater circulation than three-quarter full shelves and completely full shelves.
• Three-quarter full shelves will have greater circulation than completely full shelves.
  

Instructions for conducting the experiment

1. This experiment uses items drawn from the rotating van through three rotations.


2. In column 1 on page 2 of experimental instructions, write the dates covered by the rotation. Rotations do not be consecutive. Rotations can be skipped.
   


3. For all three rotations, pull from the van the same number of total items and the same number for each genre. The collection for each rotation needs to be as similar as possible to ensure the quality of the data.


• Write down the number of items in each genre in column 3 of the table below.


• Use the numbers in rotation #1 to ensure the same numbers are taken in rotations #2 and #3.


4. Roll a single die three times, i.e., once for each rotation. Check “fullness” in column 2 of table below. If the same “fullness” is rolled twice, roll again until all three rotations have been assigned a different fullness.


• Rolling 1 or 2 check “half-full.”


• Rolling 3 or 4 check “three-quarters full.”


• Rolling 5 or 6 check “completely full.”


5. Set up your shelves according to the instructions below. Since each rotation has the same number of items, you will need to use more sections of shelving during the half-full and three-quarters full rotations.


• "Half-full" means each shelf contains 1.5 feet of books.


• "Three-quarters full" means each shelf contains 2.5 feet of books.


• "Completely full" means each shelf contains 3 feet of books.


6. During rotation period track the number of books checked out.


7. At the end of the rotation, write down in column 4 the total number of items checked out. No need to break down checked outs by genre.


8. For CE Project credit, email to Chris Rippel the filled out worksheet of experimental instructions or the completed Excel spreadsheet, tab called "Exp3ShelfFullness" in .