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Studying SFX Logs to Better Understand User Behavior

This study explores user behavior through the analysis of SFX logs at Texas A&M University Libraries. With over 46,000 undergraduates and 8,500 graduates, understanding how users interact with library resources is essential. The paper reviews historical SFX implementations, user feedback on SFX menus, and log data analysis to identify patterns in full-text requests. Recommendations include simplifying SFX menu design and refining library home page elements to better meet user needs. The insights aim to enhance resource accessibility and improve overall user satisfaction.

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Studying SFX Logs to Better Understand User Behavior

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  1. Studying SFX Logs to Better Understand User Behavior Bennett Claire Ponsford, Digital Services Librarian Anne L. Highsmith, Consortia Systems Coordinator Texas A&M University Libraries

  2. Texas A&M University • 46,000-plus undergraduate and 8,500 graduate students • 250 degree programs in 10 colleges • 2,800 faculty in a research-intensive environment • Branch campuses in Galveston, Texas and Doha, Qatar

  3. University Libraries • Member of ARL • Main library with 5 branches • 3 in College Station • 1 in Galveston, TX • 1 in Doha, Qatar • Spending over $7 million per year on electronic resources • Redesigning our website anyway

  4. Our Current SFX Implementation • Went live with SFX 2 in May 2004 • SFX 3 in January 2006 • A-Z List in January 2006 • A-Z List ver. 3 in January 2008 • Current SFX menu design unchanged since we went live

  5. Why study users? • To see how your users search when you’re not watching • To resolve internal disagreements over default features to include, etc. • To see whether changes to SFX menus really improved results • As a counterpoint to focus groups and task-based user testing

  6. What do our users say? • Hated all the pop-up windows • Pop-up windows in general • Highjacking previous content • SFX menus too busy and confusing • Did not understand the 3 catalog links • Never used the FAQ or Ulrich’s link • All they want is full text anyway

  7. What do the numbers say? • Sample from the SFX logs • 14 days per year • 3 years, FY 2006 – as much of FY 2008 as available • Sample from the apache logs • Data available only for FY 2008

  8. Where are they coming from?

  9. Where do they go?

  10. What if there is no full text?

  11. Full Text from the Catalogs

  12. Where do they go?

  13. Requests over Time

  14. Full Text Availability and Actions

  15. No Full Text Actions

  16. Public/Library Usage Catalog SFX

  17. Overall Requests: Public/Library

  18. Clicking on Full Text: Public/Library

  19. No Full Text Behavior: Public/Library

  20. Requests from AZ List : Public/Library

  21. Review of Apache Logs

  22. What Next: SFX Menus? • Redesign SFX Menus using simplified menus • Just display full text, if available, in basic section • Decrease all the verbiage • Reduce duplicate listings with display logic • Display catalog links only if holdings available • Experiment with direct link banner option • User test changes

  23. What Next: Home page? • Search box from Libraries home page • Review apache logs re: size of problem • Wording changes/help text

  24. Technical section -- outline • Characteristics of stat tables • How statistics are gathered and stored • Characteristics of Apache logs • Modifications to Apache logging to facilitate stats • Statistical sample • How you can do this too

  25. Characteristics of stat tables (1) • 3 stat tables (& offline equivalents) • stat_object • stat_target_service • stat_repeatables • Request has 1 entry in stat_object table • Tables join on request_id • Request has multiple entries in stat_target_service table • 1 entry (row) for each link on menu

  26. Characteristics of stat tables (2) • Exceptions to “request in stat_object table has several corresponding records in stat_target_services” • API requests - 0 entries in stat_target_service • Click on any type of link where direct linking occurs – 1 entry in stat_target_service

  27. Stat object data elements (1) • Name • ----------------------- • REQUEST_ID • ISSN • ISBN • LCCN • LOCAL • TITLE • ATITLE • JTITLE • BTITLE • CTITLE • SERIES • PUBLISHER • PLACE_OF_PUBLICATION • OBJECT

  28. Stat object data elements (2) • Name • ----------------------- • SUBCATEGORY • STATUS • DOI • REQ_DATE • TIME • SOURCE • IP • OBJECT_TYPE • INSTITUTE • USER_GROUP • FACULTY • HAS_FULLTXT • DATE_OF_PUBLICATION • EPAGE • SPAGE • PRESENTATION_FORMAT • SESSION_ID • OPEN_URL

  29. Rows in target service table Target Clicks Service INFORMAWORLD_JOURNALS 1 getFullTxt METAPRESS_ROUTLEDGE 1 getFullTxt AM_VOYAGER 1 getHolding MS_VOYAGER 0 getHolding GA_VOYAGER 0 getHolding WWW_SEARCH_ENGINES 0 getWebSearch AM_PROBLEM_REPORT 0 getWebService AM_SFX_FAQ 0 getWebService ULRICHSWEB_COM 1 getCitedJournal

  30. How stats are gathered & stored (1) • Run online to offline daily • Run export_tab.pl monthly - Embedded in special perl script that copies monthly cumulations to report server • Copy stat_object_offline & stat_target_service_offline, but not stat_repeatables_offline

  31. How stats are gathered & stored (2) • Copy these tables in their entirety, except for some open_urls in stat_object • Perl script on report server loads data into Oracle tables • Create separate tables by academic year because of size -- academic 2008 to date: • 1.3M+ requests • 8.4M+ target service links

  32. Characteristics of Apache logs (1) • “Real” ip associated with request available only from reverse Apache log • Logs that span long time period • Beware of differences between v2 and v3 a-z lists • Note if you have changed display options, e.g. between brief and detail view

  33. Characteristics of Apache logs (2) • Certain data available only from logs, because it doesn’t generate a “request” or hasn’t generated a request yet. • Category search • Auxiliary functions • Use of info button on az list • Push to Metalib myspace from az list • Opening SFX az list from within Metalib

  34. Modifications to Apache logging • Set up custom logging statement in httpd.conf • Write the data in a single record • Store tabs between data elements within record

  35. Samples • STAT table samples • 2 weeks worth of data across 3 years • Same day of week / same week of month • 1st Thursday in January, 2nd Friday in March • Apache logs • Academic 2008 was only year available with sufficient data elements • Selected representative days from that year

  36. DIY instructions (1) • Run online2offline job (server_admin_util) • Run /exlibris/sfx_ver/sfx_version_3/[instance]/admin/database/export_tab.pl • By default writes *.exp file to scratch directory • Must run once for each table • Download *.exp files & load into MS Access

  37. DIY instructions (2) • Go to http://lib.tamu.edu/directory/ahighsmi and click on link for this presentation to download zip file. • Zip file contains • Copy of this presentation • Sample MS Access databases • Perl program to parse Apache log entries • Custom Apache log format for httpd.conf

  38. Contact info • Bennett Claire Ponsford • bennett.ponsford@tamu.edu • http://lib.tamu.edu/directory/bponsfor • Anne L. Highsmith • hismith@tamu.edu • http://lib.tamu.edu/directory/ahighsmi

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