Submitted by coffin on
Recently, a community member asked a very good question about OverDrive statistics and we thought it might be helpful to share the answer with everyone:
"How would you count “Pending” in Overdrive? Would you count it as circulation?"
"Pending" checkouts in Marketplace reports represent checkouts for which a format has not yet been selected (e.g., if a user borrowed an eBook but has not yet chosen to download it as an EPUB or PDF). Checkouts will remain in the "Pending" category until the user selects a format. If the loan expires before then, the checkout will remain as "Pending." Philosophically, then, pending checkouts are like a patron who checks out a physical copy and never reads it. While it is nice that we can know they weren't downloaded, from the library perspective, they are still using the book even if they don't read it. Additionally, all checkouts made through Libby are currently noted as "pending."
So, the answer is yes! For the consortium statistics, we count pending checkouts as circulation. They're included in the total circulations for the statistics we post on the WPLC site and they are included in the buying pool calculation. We split them out in the detail for the monthly statistics so we could go back and evaluate that number separately if needed.
Let us know at wplc-info@wils.org if you'd like more information!