Center for Information and Communication Studies Measuring and Applying Data about Users in the Seton Hall Library Carol Tenopir Rachel Volentine Lisa Rose-Wiles Charleston 2012

Center for Information and Communication Studies First some background…

Center for Information and Communication Studies Multiple institutions using multiple methods to measure multiple values for multiple stakeholders Librarians Undergraduates Graduate Students Faculty Researchers Administrators

Center for Information and Communication Studies Books and Ebooks Special Collections Information Commons Comprehensive Library Teaching Reading and Scholarship Tools Website and Value Bibliography Current Projects Learning

Center for Information and Communication Studies 6 universities in the UK 2 universities in Australia 5 universities in the US Including Seton Hall Measuring the value of scholarly reading in:

Center for Information and Communication Studies Reading and scholarship surveys  Measure purpose, outcome, and value from scholarly reading by faculty and students  Include all reading (from library and not)  How and where readings are discovered and obtained  Based on premise that not every reader acts the same for every instance of reading or every type of material

Center for Information and Communication Studies Tenopir & King scholarly reading studies, 4 types of questions: 1.Demographic 2.Recollection 3.Critical Incident 4.Comments Therefore, insights into both READERS and READINGS

Center for Information and Communication Studies The following questions in this section refer to the SCHOLARLY ARTICLE YOU READ MOST RECENTLY, even if you had read it previously. Note that this last reading may not be typical, but will help us establish the range of patterns in reading. Critical incident of last reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies The following questions in this section refer to the BOOK FROM WHICH YOU READ MOST RECENTLY, even if you had read it previously. Note that this last reading may not be typical, but will help us establish the range of patterns in reading. Critical incident of last reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies Value of the collections to students and faculty Purpose of readings Value of readings Readings from the library compared to readings from elsewhere Variations between article and book readings Implications for the library

Center for Information and Communication Studies Key findings for SHU: 1.Faculty and students have a high demand for scholarly articles and books. 2.Article and book readings support the faculty’s teaching and research and the student’s course work. 3.Current online subscriptions are critical, but electronic back files may also be a good investment. 4.The library is an important source in providing access to articles, but users may not always differentiate between the library’s e-resources and other sources. 5.Faculty and students tend to purchase books, and there may be unfulfilled needs.

Center for Information and Communication Studies Faculty and students have a high demand for scholarly articles and books Readings per month n=84 (faculty), 144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate)

Center for Information and Communication Studies Article and book readings support the faculty’s teaching and research n=84 Principal purpose of article reading Principal purpose of book reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies Article readings support students’ course work n=144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate) Percent Principal purpose of reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies Book readings support students’ course work n=144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate) Percent

Center for Information and Communication Studies Current subscriptions are critical, but back files may also be good investment Percent n=84 (faculty), 144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate) Age of article reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies The library is an important source in providing access to articles Percent n=84 (faculty), 144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate) Source of article reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies Article readings obtained from an electronic source n=84 (faculty), 144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate)

Center for Information and Communication Studies Faculty and students tend to purchase books Percent n=84 (faculty), 144 (graduate), 149 (undergraduate) Source of book reading

Center for Information and Communication Studies Implications for SHU:

Center for Information and Communication Studies Great results to take to the Provost’s office Article reading by SHU faculty and students is similar to other participating universities. 76% of article readings and 86% of book readings support faculty research & teaching. 54% of articles support faculty research. 70%+ of articles faculty obtained from the library are ‘important to essential’.

Center for Information and Communication Studies Online articles are essential Majority of all articles were obtained online. Highest demand is for current articles. But – some demand for older articles – should we invest in back-files as well as current subscriptions. BUT: many students (and some faculty) think articles are “free on the web” or come from “their school or department”.

Center for Information and Communication Studies Book use is relatively low The library is not the main destination for books. Faculty and students purchase most of their books. But 63% of faculty book readings for research come from the library.

Center for Information and Communication Studies Corrective steps Branding all over our resources down to the article level. Wide-scale weeding of old/unused books. Moving books from reference. E-book PDA project Collaboration with teaching faculty. Plans for follow-up study

Center for Information and Communication Studies Thank you! For further information: