Beyond "I Clicked the Link but it Didn’t Work": What Analyzing Troubleshooting Reveals

Beyond “I Clicked the Link, But It Didn’t Work!”: What Analyzing Troubleshooting Reveals

ER&L Conference

March 19, 2014

Sommer Browning: Head of Electronic Access & Discovery Services [email protected]

Katy DiVittorio: Lead, Assessment & Financial Systems [email protected]

Auraria CampusUniversity of Colorado Denver

Metropolitan State University of DenverCommunity College of Denver

Auraria Background

One campus with three institutions: Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver

Auraria FTE: Over 40,000

Auraria Library staff: 55

E-Resources: 140,000 ebooks, 60,000 ejournals, 350 database subscriptions and 280 million electronic resource records through our Summon Discovery service.

Traffic: Weekly, as many as 25,000 people walk through the front door. The Auraria Library website receives upwards of 23,000 unique visitors monthly when classes are in session.

Auraria Library Troubleshooting Team

Elaine JurriesElectronic Access

Librarian Technical Services Division

Gayle BradbeerCollection Development

LibrarianEducation, Research, &

Information Division

Katy DiVittorioLead, Assessment & Financial SystemsTechnical Services

Division

Sommer BrowningHead of Electronic Access

& Discovery ServicesTechnical Services

Division

Davette ZinikSerials Acquisitions

ManagerTechnical Services

Division

Denise PanAssociate Director of

Technical Services

Types of Problems

E-Resource problems prevent patrons from getting to the article, database, e-book, or website that they are trying to find.  The following kinds of issues are reported:

A link to an article is broken

The record states we have full text access, but you can't get to it

The years covered in our catalog don't match the years covered in the database

The e-book doesn't load

The database is down

The patron’s login is not working

Reporting Methods

Ways for patrons/staff to report:

Email: [email protected]

Bugzilla: http://bugzilla.auraria.edu (internal reports only)

360 Link: "Report an Error" link on 360 Link results pages

“Feedback” link: On our Summon display page

E-mailing

How to Describe the Problem

Tell us as much as you can about the situation so we can recreate the problem.

Let us know:

the problem URL

what you were searching for (what were your search terms, what article did you want, etc.)

and where (which database, journal title, etc.)

Bugzilla

Bugzilla

360 Link

Click on the "Report a problem" link in the top left hand corner of the screen. This link appears on 360 Link "Journal Access Results" pages when searching for a journal title or an article.

360 Link

360 Link

Summon Feedback Link

Our Troubleshooting Analysis

Why:

To enhance our understanding of the types & number of problems we were handling.

How long do we take to solve access issues?

Exactly what types of problems are we receiving?

Who is mostly reporting access issues?

Identify areas of improvement.

How could we be more proactive vs. reactive?

What:

Analyzed 100 issues reported over a 9 month period (mid March 2013 to mid December 2013).

Our Troubleshooting Analysis

How:

Using Excel we categorized our reports.

Examples of Some Categories:

Resolved vs. Unresolved

Length of time it took to resolve

Who reported the problem (patron, library staff, campus staff)

How was the problem reported (direct e-mail, Bugzilla, 360 link, Summon feedback form)

Resources involved

Type of problem (i.e. user error, hiccup, bad metadata, etc.)

Resolved vs. Unresolved

Resolved 93%Awaiting Resolution 6%Not Resolved 1%

Length of Time to Resolve

1 Day or Less 63%1 Week or Less 25%More Than a Week 12%

Who is Reporting the Problems?

Series1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Staff & Patron 1%Faculty 3%Unknown 7%Patron 15%Library Staff Member 74%

How Were the Problems Reported?

Series10

10

20

30

40

50

60

360 Link Page 55%Bugzilla 18%Direct Email 17%Other 10%

Categories of Problems

Where Can We Make a Difference?

Just Looking at the Data Inspired Us!

What Can the Library Control? 13% Due to Library Tech Issues (e. g. WAM table, platform changes, payments)

Who’s Reporting? 75% of reports came from staff!

What Can’t the Library Control? (but wants to) Vendor Problems (e.g. bad metadata, broken links at publisher site)

Addressing Library Tech Issues

The Quarterly E-Resources Spreadsheet

Quarterly checking will proactively address:

IP/WAM table issues

Platform changes that went unannounced

Access turned off due to late payments, missing payments & invoice issues

Proxy issues

Addressing Reporting Issues: More Ways to Report

Addressing Reporting Issues: More Ways to Report

Addressing Vendor/Publisher Issues

Vendor Diary Bad Metadata Platform Bugs Unplanned Outages

The Future

Complexity and severity of problems requires another staff position

Open Access: 15% of problems occurred with open access resources

Patron and staff education: 18% of reports were due to user error

Thank you!