OCLC Online Computer Library Center What Can Be Learned From Usage Data Lynn Silipigni Connaway Research Scientist Mark Bendig Systems Analyst ASIST 2003 Annual Conference October 22, 2003

What Can Be Learned What is being accessed –Subject areas –Types of content –Publishers of content Depth of access –Perusing –In-depth reading –Number of items accessed –Number of screens/pages accessed Patterns of access –When accessed –Length of use/activity –Movements within the site and the text System and interface design

Limitations of Usage Data Do not know –Who the users are Usually cannot associate user demographics with usage patterns –Where they get access to the resources –How they use resources –Why they use resources Massive amounts of data to manipulate

netLibrary Subject Areas

Accesses by ARL Libraries

Accesses by Academic Libraries

Accesses by Public Libraries

Accesses by Special Libraries

Accesses by Federal Libraries

Accesses by School Libraries

netLibrary Site Activity Unique Users –Tues., 2/26/02 = 3796 –Wed., 2/26/03 = 8789 Total Sessions –Tues., 2/26/02 = 3989 –Wed., 2/26/03 = 9458

netLibrary Session Durations

netLibrary Login Times

Books Viewed Per Session

MinimumMaximumAverage 2/26/ /26/

Pages Viewed Per Book

MinimumMaximumAverage 2/26/ /26/

Pages Viewed Per Session

MinimumMaximumAverage 2/26/ /26/

Data Interpretation Increase in number of users Increase in duration of sessions Little difference in –Books viewed per session –Pages viewed per session –Pages viewed per book Peak usage times correlate with time most libraries are open and available –Need to distinguish differences in time zones

Future Research Identify the whys and hows of user satisficing of information needs –Online survey –Focus group interviews –Structured field observations –Structured interviews Continue to collect, analyze, and compare transaction log data –Users geographical location –Identify books per unique user –Correlate data sets

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Questions and Discussion