Last year our web stats all fell, following the Google change in March. They began to pick up again in the autumn though, and are now above where they were before...so it might be worth a more detailed breakdown to see whether the latest trends are more promising...
Danny Millum
Deputy Editor, Reviews in History / Editorial Assistant (Web)
Institute of Historical Research
University of London
Senate House
Malet Street
LONDON WC1E 7HU
t: +44 (0)20 7862 8812
f: +44 (0)20 7862 8754
e: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.history.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: An informal open list set up by UKSG - Connecting the Information Community [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hamaker, Charles
Sent: 17 April 2012 13:25
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [lis-e-resources] Decreasing usage statistics
Two cents worth of reaction.
We noticed this last year in December as we did fiscal year review of stats, and I'm wondering if it's different depending on the type of resource. I hope I'm not revealing proprietary information, but one of our primary publishers wrote in December explaining the drop we noticed:
"...we have discovered that Google changed their search algorithm in March this year (2011) and this coincides with the decline in referrals... So it looks like this is the most likely explanation for the drop in usage."
What I haven't done is looked at aggregator stats compared to primary publisher stats, to see if they are different in decline, since the secondary aggregators databases aren't normally indexed by Google anyway. Any primary publishers on the list with similar knowledge or experience, it would be very helpful to know about, because the overall drop is pretty striking, and needs an explanation for justifying continuing funding support for these resources.
Chuck Hamaker
-----Original Message-----
From: An informal open list set up by UKSG - Connecting the Information Community [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Lang
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [lis-e-resources] Decreasing usage statistics
Hello Sarah
Bit of a mixed picture, but overall the trend is not encouraging. I'd be interested to hear any results from your enquiry, and if there are people who finding their usage levels rising, how do they do it?
Best wishes
Jenny
Jenny Lang
Head Librarian
Healthcare Library
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP2 8BJ
01722 336262 ext 4469
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Access the library website at www.library.salisbury.nhs.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: An informal open list set up by UKSG - Connecting the Information Community [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Taylor, Sarah
Sent: 17 April 2012 12:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [lis-e-resources] Decreasing usage statistics
Hi all,
Apologies for this ramble.
I'm currently looking in detail at usage of electronic resources and have discovered that across the board, usage is down comparing 2010 to
2011 for example. I'm doing this so I can demonstrate to folk high up in the university that our electronic resources are good value for money.
Not all of our resources are down, but looking at the overall picture, it's really quite bleak. Some are massively down. I was hoping that the results of my little exercise would show that usage is rising, but this appears not to be the case! Therefore, the positive report I was planning on writing is looking at little unlikely...
Has anyone else noticed a trend in usage statistics going down? If you have, have you managed to remain positive about the use of your electronic collections while still managing to demonstrate value for money? We don't have any sort of resource discovery product here, if that makes a difference (and I suspect it might).
All insights greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Sarah Taylor
Electronic Resources Librarian
The Peter Marsh Library
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton
BL3 5AB
01204 903099
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Please note that my normal working days are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays
lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials
UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
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