Usage Data for Electronic Resources WRAPS/FRIP Presentation April 24, 2007 Gayle Baker, Maribeth Manoff, Eleanor Read
Dec 26, 2015
Usage Data for Electronic Resources
WRAPS/FRIP PresentationApril 24, 2007Gayle Baker, Maribeth Manoff, Eleanor Read
MaxDatahttp://web.utk.edu/~tenopir/imls/index.htm
“Maximizing Library Investments in Digital Collections Through Better Data Gathering and Analysis”
Funded by Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) 2005-2007
MaxData Project Purpose
Evaluate and compare methods of usage data collection and analysis
Develop cost/benefit model to help librarians select appropriate method(s) for electronic resource usage assessments
MaxData Project Teams
UT Libraries: COUNTER data from vendors, link resolver, database usage logs, federated search engine
David Nicholas et al. (Ciber): deep log analysis on OhioLINK journal usage data
Carol Tenopir and Donald King: readership surveys at UT and four Ohio universities
FRIP Equipment Award(Fall 2005)
Requested PC with extra capacity for handling data HP LaserJet Printer Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Archival DVDs
$2477 Consulted with David Ratledge Housed in faculty study in Hodges
Project File Sharing
Account (Usestat) on library server for project files for UT Libraries team
BlackBoard group site for MaxData team
Presentations
Charleston 2005 (GB, ER/project intro) ER&L 2006 (GB/vendor data issues) Lib Assessment 2006 (ER, MM/combining data) Charleston 2006 (GB/vendor data results) ER&L 2007 (GB/vendor data survey) ELUNA 2007 (MM/SFX data) ALA/ACRL/EBSS 2007 (MM/data presentation) Charleston 2007 (all 3/comparing data types)
Publications
“MaxData: A Project to Help Librarians Maximize E-Journal Usage Data.” In Usage Statistics of E-Serials (summer 2007)
“All That Data: Finding Useful and Practical Ways to Combine Electronic Resource Usage Data from Multiple Sources.” Library Assessment Conference Proceedings (May 2007)
Article on vendor data survey results in Learned Publishing (due June 1, 2007)
The Usage Data Challenge
Vendor-supplied data Other data
Vendor Reports: Background
Vendor-supplied data primary source of e-journal usage information
Project COUNTER helpful, but… Manipulation may be required to
compare use among vendors
Vendor Reports: Consolidating
COUNTER Journal Report 1 (JR-1) Data from each vendor combined in
Excel spreadsheet Facilitates additional analyses
Sorting by selected fields Subject analysis Cost per use calculations
COUNTER: JR1 Format
Vendor Reports: Challenges
Inconsistencies in data fields Journal title (articles, upper/lower case, extra
information) ISSN (with and without hyphen)
Time consuming to fix ScholarlyStats, SUSHI, ERMS may help
Survey: Purpose
How much effort is involved in working with vendor-supplied use data?
How are the data used? What data are most useful in managing
electronic resources?
Survey: Subjects
Sent to Library Directors at Carnegie I and II research institutions (360+)
April 2006 92 respondents
Number of Vendors Providing Usage Reports
Reports for Different Types of Resources
Purpose for Reviewing and/or Analyzing Vendor Data
Number of Hours Processing Usage Reports in 2005
Percentage of Time Processing Vendor Data
Biggest Challenges
Lack of consistency / standards (61) Takes too much time (27)
COUNTER standards help but… (14)
Most Useful Statistic(s)
Number of full-text downloads (67) Number of searches (41) Number of sessions (27) COUNTER statistics (26) Number of turnaways (17) Other (17)
Other (Local) Data
UT – database “hits” recorded from database menu pages
Federated search system (MetaLib) statistics
Some libraries using proxy server logs Link resolver (SFX) data
Link Resolver Data
SFX includes a statistical module with a number of “canned” reports
For journal level data, one report in particular (“Requests and clickthroughs by journal and target”) is analogous to COUNTER JR1
SFX “Request” and “Clickthrough” Data
UT student searching in an SFX “source” discovers an article of interest Clicks on FindText button Article is available electronically in Journal
A, Package Y and Z – “Request” statistic recorded for each
Student chooses link to Journal A in Package Y – “Clickthrough” statistic recorded
SFX “Clickthroughs” vs. JR1 “Full-Text Article Requests”
Clickthrough is less specific, does not measure actual download
But, clickthrough is a “known quantity,” not dependent on package interface
SFX report as a useful supplement to JR1, comparing trends and patterns
SFX contains data not in JR1 reports, e.g., non-COUNTER packages, open access journals, backfiles
Formatting the SFX Report
Report from SFX is not formatted like JR1, does contain data elements Request to software vendor: Include in
statistical module Incorporate into ERMS Manual or programming approach,
depending on time and expertise available
Other Useful Link Resolver Reports and Data
Unmet user needs Journals “requested” with no electronic
full-text available Interlibrary loan requests
Unused full-text report Overlap reports Subject categories
Conclusions So Far
Collecting, consolidating and analyzing vendor data is time-consuming and difficult
Survey of electronic resource librarians indicates many do not have enough time
Acquiring data from local systems provides consistency, also requires time and effort
Libraries face difficult decisions about what methods are most practical and useful
Into the Future
Present selected data sets to subject librarians to see what they find useful
Investigate usefulness of new COUNTER standards
Will SUSHI solve our problems? ERMS? Compare our findings with those of the
other MaxData teams