What I want to be able to generate is a raw number of records for a certain type of material.
Right now? Query MySQL directly! In the meantime, submit an enhancement bug for the kind of report you'd like to see. Perhaps in the meantime some other folks can chime in on how they get the reports they need.
Here are some of the SQL statements I use to prepare the Nelsonville Library reports: SELECT biblioitems.itemtype, COUNT(biblioitems.itemtype) AS count FROM items,biblioitems WHERE YEAR(items.dateaccessioned)=2004 AND MONTH(items.dateaccessioned)=4 AND biblioitems.biblioitemnumber=items.biblioitemnumber GROUP BY biblioitems.itemtype; This one produces a count of items, subdivided by item type, that were added to the catalog in any given month. (In the example above, the month would be April 2004.) If you want a count of all items by item type, just leave out the YEAR and MONTH conditionals. SELECT itemtype, COUNT(itemtype) AS count FROM statistics WHERE YEAR(datetime)=2004 AND MONTH(datetime)=4 AND branch='APL' AND type='issue' GROUP BY itemtype; This one produces a count of books issued by a particular branch in a particular month. Note that this _does not_ count renewals. I use another statement for that: SELECT biblioitems.itemtype, COUNT(biblioitems.itemtype) AS count FROM statistics,biblioitems,items WHERE YEAR(statistics.datetime)=2004 AND MONTH(statistics.datetime)=4 AND type='renew' AND statistics.itemnumber=items.itemnumber AND items.homebranch='APL' AND items.biblioitemnumber=biblioitems.biblioitemnumber GROUP BY biblioitems.itemtype; Note that modifying the SQL statement for issues by substituting "renew" for "issue" gives an inaccurate count. Also note that the issue SQL statement is more accurate yet than the renew SQL statement, since it counts by the branch where the item was issued, and the renew SQL statement counts by the home branch, which is often not the same as the issuing branch. But I haven't been able to come up with a 100% accurate SQL statement for counting renewals by issuing branch. (I'd be happy to entertain suggestions...) Note also that if you don't care about issuing branch vs. home branch, you can get a combined total of issues and renewals with this statement: SELECT biblioitems.itemtype, COUNT(biblioitems.itemtype) AS count FROM statistics,biblioitems,items WHERE YEAR(statistics.datetime)=2004 AND MONTH(statistics.datetime)=3 AND (type='renew' OR type ='issue') AND statistics.itemnumber=items.itemnumber AND items.homebranch='APL' AND items.biblioitemnumber=biblioitems.biblioitemnumber GROUP BY biblioitems.itemtype; Finally, here's one that counts newly registered borrowers at each branch in any particular month: SELECT branchcode, COUNT(branchcode) AS count FROM borrowers WHERE YEAR(dateenrolled)=2004 AND MONTH(dateenrolled)=4 AND categorycode='A' GROUP BY branchcode; -- Stephen Hedges Skemotah Solutions, USA www.skemotah.com -- shedges@skemotah.com