Improving database vendors' usage statistics reporting through collaboration between libraries and vendors

College and Research Libraries

Volumn 63, Issue 6, 2002, Pages 499-514

  Shim, Wonsik ^a   McClure, Charles R ^a  

^a FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0036865324     PISSN: 00100870     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5860/crl.63.6.499     Document Type: Article

References (21)

1. Association of Research Libraries, ARL Supplementary Statistics 2000-2001 (ARL, Washington, D. C., 2002). Available online from: 〈http://www.arl.org/stats/sup/sup01.pdf〉.
2. It is quite possible that the users may not even realize that the library evaluated the electronic sources and negotiated the licensing contracts. Most electronic databases validate legitimate user log-ins by examining the origination IP (Internet protocol) addresses included in the requests. Users can bypass the library Web site when they access external electronic databases as long as they use the computers carrying the legitimate IP addresses. For remote users using Internet service providers (ISPs), they may need to set up a proxy server that allows them to access electronic databases. The proxy information allows them to use the institution's IP addresses.
3. The arrows denote movement of information contents and location of user access. In the depiction of the traditional library, materials reside in library premises and users come to the library to use the collection. On the other hand, in the networked library, not all of the library collection resides within the library's physical boundaries. Also, part of user access occurs outside the library, as in the case of access to most subscription-based, electronic-licensed materials.
4. These include off-site storage facilities libraries use to reduce the cost of warehousing less frequently requested materials.
5. The authors are not suggesting here that only external, licensed materials are of concern to scholars and libraries. They acknowledge that other freely available or community-based services are being heavily used by academic users.
6. There can be a set of arbitrary limitations such as simultaneous log-in limits, but they do not originate from the characteristics of the electronic format.
7. International Coalition of Library Consortia, "Guidelines for Statistical Measures of Usage of Web-Based Information Resources" (ICOLC, 2001). [revised December 2001]. Available online from http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/2001webstats.htm.
8. There is a large and diverse number of electronic content providers in the market, and it is difficult to describe them collectively. The term "database vendors" is used in this article to denote various content providers such as traditional journal publishers providing electronic counterparts, aggregators of full-text journals and reference databases (e.g., JSTOR, Project Muse, Ebsco, Gale, ProQuest), electronic book providers (e.g., Questia, netLibrary), and so on.
9. John Carlo Bertot, Charles R. McClure, and Joe Ryan, Statistics and Performance Measures for Public Library Networked Services (Chicago: ALA, 2001).
10. Carol Tenopir and Eleanor Read, "Patterns of Use and Usage Factors for Online Databases in Academic Libraries," College & Research Libraries 61 (May 2000): 234-46.
11. Deborah D. Blecic, Joan B. Fiscella, and Stephen E. Wiberley Jr., "The Measurement of Use of Web-based Information Resources: An Early Look at Vendor-supplied Data," College & Research Libraries 62 (Sept. 2001): 434-53.
12. Sally A. Rogers, "Electronic Journal Usage at Ohio State University," College & Research Libraries 62 (Jan. 2001): 25-34.
13. Kathleen Bauer, "Indexes as Tools for Measuring Usage of Print and Electronic Resources," College & Research Libraries 62 (Jan. 2001): 36-42.
14. Charles R. McClure and John Carlo Bertot, ed., Evaluating Networked Information Services: Techniques, Policy, and Issues (Medford, N.J.: American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2001).
15. The meeting served as the planning session for the project that later became known as the ARL E-Metrics Project. Thirty-five ARL institutions were represented at the meeting. A survey questionnaire was sent out before the meeting, and twenty-one libraries responded. The survey contained four open-ended questions on the data needs for electronic information resources, the status of data collections at participating libraries, and the expectation for the meeting. The summary presentation during the meeting (in the Microsoft Powerpoint format) is available online from http://www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/scottsdale/jeffshim/.
16. Bertot, McClure, and Ryan, Statistics and Performance Measures for Public Library Networked Services.
17. Additional meetings between vendors and other members of the library community regarding statistics have occurred at ALA midwinter 2001 and 2002. These meetings also have attempted to better coordinate and validate vendor-based statistics that are being reported to libraries. The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science has sponsored these meetings and summaries, as well as other related reports, and is available online from http://www.nclis.gov/statsurv/statsurv.html.
18. An interim Phase I report describing current practices of participating ARL member libraries related to network statistics and measures was issued November 7, 2000, and is available online from http://www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/emetrics/index.html.
19. Wonsik Shim, Charles R. McClure, Bruce T. Fraser, and John Carlo Bertot, Data Collection Manual for Academic and Research Library Network Statistics and Performance Measures (Tallahassee, Fla.: Information Use Management and Policy Institute (Dec. 2001); also available from the ARL online from http://www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/emetrics/index.html.
20. As part of the E-Metrics Project, the study team produced three PowerPoint presentations about preparing the organization for evaluation, the importance of evaluation and use of vendor statistics, and an overview/introduction to the recommended statistics. These presentations are available from the ARL, in Washington, D.C. and from http://www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/ emetrics/index.html.
21. Amos Lakos, "The Missing Ingredient: Culture of Assessment in Libraries," Performance Measurement and Metrics: The International Journal for Library and Information Services 1 (1): 3-7.