LabStats reports return a lot of useful data, and tags are a great way to filter that information. You can apply tags to stations, applications, and users.
LabStats Tags Example
Using Tags in Reports
In reports, you can use tags to include or exclude stations, applications or users.
You can include stations that have specific tags, or you can exclude them from reports. This is useful in situations where you might want to see data from stations, applications, or users that have something in common which is denoted by the tag.
Common uses for tags:
Showing the age of stations by displaying the year they were purchased.
Identifying stations that are directly connected to a printer.
Grouping stations that have similar hardware or software capabilities.
Identifying and reporting on stations that are intended for specific use cases, like 3D rendering.
Getting easy reports on applications that are licensed in a particular fashion.
Grouping applications that belong to a software suite.
Grouping applications that are part of a bundled license.
Getting easy reports on the application usage of a specific group of users, like a sports team.
Categorizing users based on planned graduation date, chosen major, affiliation with a club or sports team, or some other metric.
There are many more ideas and questions that are easy to answer with tags once they have been set up.
You have the option to anonymize user identity in LabStats, so that user tags can be applied without compromising privacy.
If student accounts have usernames that are personally identifiable, you can obfuscate that information in the LabStats product to further protect that data. For instance, Jane Doe’s username: “jane.doe” can be obfuscated to “user0001.”
In this way, you can explore how students in different classes, colleges, or demographics interact with your hardware and software on campus.
Add tags to an individual station, application, and user
Import tags via a spreadsheet upload feature
For stations, you can add tags by checking the stations you want, clicking Action on Selected, choosing Add a Tag, and typing the desired tag in.
Please note that any changes made to tags, while visibly present and capable of showing what they are applied to, will not show up in reports right away. Since this is a change to the data of a station, application, or user, it will need to go through the overnight data archival process before they are ready for use in that way. Any changes made to tags will be reflected in reports the day after they are made in the portal.
The University of Utah uses station tags to identify computers that have scanners, 3D printers and VR equipment attached. They track how often those computers are used to ensure their investment in the additional equipment is justified.
The College of William and Mary uses application tags to track software that they hope to cut out of the following year’s budget. This “cutting” tag allows them to quickly pull a report at the end of the year to see if the suspected software was actually used, and if it’s worth cutting or keeping.
Tagging is not a feature that is necessary to build reports, but it is a powerful tool that can help get you get better results and focus on what matters most to your school.
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