[Eril-l] Overall ER Usage Overview

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Dear Chris,
I don't have a particular example for you.
However, I was wondering if you submit ACRL or IPEDS annual statistics?  If
so, the ACRL lines: 60A: Total E-book and E-media Usage and 61B: E-Serials
Usage, could be used from every year: 2020-2024. Note that "database" usage
is not collected (Abstract & Index only, as one example). Even with ACRL or
IPEDS, the usage data depends entirely on the resources and changes over
those years. I let everyone know that usage data is useful in the
aggregate, not in specificity (unless we are looking at a specific
title's renewal).

If you do not report ACRL or IPEDS annual data, I recommend that you choose
from the usage data you have collected for 2020-2024 and show trends. As
Hal Bright recommended, break it down into big areas (databases, ejournals,
ebooks, streaming media) and get a number for each. I think reporting at a
journal package, title or lower level would be very hard. You'd spend a lot
of time explaining why (like you mentioned: COVID years free resources)
usage changed for a particular vendor, package or database.

Best,

Judith

--
Judith Nagata  (she/her)
Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian
Dinand Library
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA 01610
p: 508-793-2639
e: jnagata at holycross.edu


On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 11:28 AM Electronic Resources in Libraries
discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Our library director would like to have an overview of the library usage
> for years 2020-2024. He has the concrete print book loan stats, instruction
> stats, and gate counts so far, and would like something similar for the
> electronic resources. I told him that usage numbers are a little different
> for the electronic resources, because during those years, we had various
> factors. JSTOR offered free COVID access to their resources, EBSCO started
> to offer COUNTER stats (so I switched from their in-house to COUNTER), also
> we have access to many databases through our consortium. Some of the
> journals changed from P to E during those years. OverDrive books don't even
> use COUNTER.
>
> Have any of you had experience with something like this? What numbers (or
> criteria) do you include? What measures do you consider for an overview?
>
> Thank you in advance,
>
> Chris
> --
> H. Chris Chang, MSLIS, MA
> Electronic Resources Supervisor
> ILL, OER & Global Titles Librarian
> Rolfing Memorial Library | hcchang at tiu.edu
> Trinity International University
>
>
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