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Experiences on the Ground: usage stats as a practical tool in the Library

Experiences on the Ground: usage stats as a practical tool in the Library. Jill Taylor-Roe Newcastle University Library UKSG Usage Statistics Training Seminar 27 June, 2006. There is nothing new under the sun…. Libraries have been collecting and using usage data for many years

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Experiences on the Ground: usage stats as a practical tool in the Library

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  1. Experiences on the Ground: usage stats as a practical tool in the Library Jill Taylor-Roe Newcastle University Library UKSG Usage Statistics Training Seminar 27 June, 2006

  2. There is nothing new under the sun… • Libraries have been collecting and using usage data for many years • Initial core data – based around print based services and physical presence of users in Library • Current data more likely to focus on remote use of e-services

  3. Usage and Value • What do we measure and why? • How does it help? • Are we measuring the right things? • Are we making correct assumptions from the data?

  4. What do we measure and why? • Anything which tells us about the utilisation of services in our Library • Data which might help to demonstrate whether we are getting a reasonable return on our financial investment • Data which may help to support cases for funding • Data which can inform our strategic planning

  5. Usage data can be… • A practical management tool - helps assess effectiveness • A means of assessing performance • A planning tool • A political tool • A means of helping to demonstrate VFM • A means of highlighting user satisfaction • Support for funding bids

  6. Traditional Library Usage Data

  7. Graphs can (sometimes!) be helpful

  8. New Library Performance Indicators • Gross Library Expenditure per staff/student FTE • Gross Information Expenditure per staff/student FTE • Library Staff Expenditure per staff/student FTE • Cost per seat hours per annum • Cost per use of electronic journals • Expenditure on e-resources as a % of total expenditure • Uses per day of e-resources per staff/ • student FTE

  9. E-Journal Key Performance Indicators per package @ NUL (1) METRICS COSTS Total No. titles Total package Total full text downloads Cost as % of total serials budget Mean cost per title Max downloads (month) Mean cost per F/T download Min downloads (month) Cost per FTE user*** Mean downloads (year) PDF full text downloads HTML full text downloads PDF/HTML ratio Downloads per FTE user* Total turnaways (titles not included in licence) Medium use: (11-99 hits) High use: (= >100 hits) Top 20 best performing titles as % of total hits Low-use: (0-10 hits)

  10. E-Journal KPI profile with data

  11. Graphs CAN sometimes be helpful

  12. What are these usage stats telling us? • Average cost per f/t download for large STM packages now around £1.50 - £1.75 • Average cost per use of e-journals = £0.93 • Usage still appears to be increasing year on year • Humanities and Social Sciences packages seem to be less well used than STM • Initially, titles we had as print were always better used than unsubscribed content, but now many of the latter are beginning to show heavy use

  13. How does this help? (1) • Given the significant sums we are investing in e-resources – cost per use figs appear to show good value for money • Total f/t downloads per annum are still rising – ( may offset decline in traditional ILL) • Journals collection has effectively doubled in size – more choice for users • Because usage is increasing year on year – MAY help persuade paymasters to maintain and preferably increase funding

  14. How does this help? (2) • Dealing with practical queries: • “Why are you wasting money on all these second rate journals – you should only buy the top IF rated titles in each field and cancel all the rest.” • QUESTION: does high IF correlate with high use?

  15. How does this help? (3) • “There is a new journal called Nature Physics. This is essential for my research so please take a subscription out immediately.” • QUESTION: would it be worth trying to find funds for this title?

  16. Building up evidence… • Average cost per use of current Nature Journal Collection: £0.74 in 2005 • Overall package usage has increased year on year by over 30% • Would be worth securing trial access to the title to see how it compares with the rest • This MAY provide enough supporting evidence to warrant making a case for funding a subscription.

  17. How does this help? (4) • “ SD is excellent – but it would be even better if you bought the back-files then we can search back to volume 1.” • QUESTION – is it worth looking at the backfiles? How could we make a case to buy them??

  18. Building up evidence… • How many metres do our current print back-runs occupy? • If we were to charge an annual rental for this space what would it be? • Have we any evidence of usage of the print runs? • Can we trial access to the back runs? • Can we separate out usage of the backfiles from the current files? • What level of usage of the digital backfile would support a case for purchase? • Would it need to be significantly cheaper than the cost of maintaining the print runs on the shelves?

  19. Are we measuring the right things?

  20. Managerial Realities… (1) • Library budgets still fail to keep pace with the demands placed upon them • Most Libraries are competing for funds with other services and academic schools • Demand for new resources, especially (but not exclusively) e-resources is insatiable

  21. Managerial Realities… (2) • In the print environment it was difficult to assess claims that particular resources were “essential” both pre and post purchase • E-usage stats are a powerful new tool to help us assess the value of the resources which are absorbing increasingly large percentages of our budgets • We are constantly having to respond to new initiatives requiring us to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of our services

  22. Summary points • We need usage data in order to… • Provide KPIs for our paymasters • To inform collection development strategies • Evaluate whether the resources we have selected are providing good VFM • Support cases for future funding

  23. Are we making the correct assumptions from the data? • At regular intervals you should always stop and think: • Are we taking a fair and balanced view? • Is there critical data that we are missing? • Are there any significant flaws or omissions in the data we are using?

  24. More work is needed • More info re usage of backfiles vs current issues • Clarify the position re subscribed and non-subscribed content in usage reports • More info on turnaways – these too could influence future purchases • More comparative data to facilitate benchmarking between libraries • Greater number of publishers to be fully COUNTER compliant • Data gathering process needs further streamlining

  25. Concluding thoughts • Usage metrics have come a long way in a short time • They are far from perfect, and need to be interpreted with care, but they are important to librarians in our role as information managers • They are important to publishers as a means of understanding and refining their market • We need to acquire and share more expertise in collating and analysing usage data • We need more and better usage data – particularly comparative data so that we can benchmark effectively • Openly collaborative work between librarians and publishers will help us to move forward faster

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