eJournal interface can influence usage statistics: implications for libraries, publishers, and Project COUNTER

The design of a publisher's electronic interface can have a measurable effect on electronic journal usage statistics. A study of journal usage from six COUNTER-compliant publishers at thirty-two research institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden indicates that the ratio of PDF to HTML views is not consistent across publisher interfaces, even after controlling for differences in publisher content. The number of fulltext downloads may be artificially inflated when publishers require users to view HTML versions before accessing PDF versions or when linking mechanisms, such as CrossRef, direct users to the full text, rather than the abstract, of each article. These results suggest that usage reports from COUNTER-compliant publishers are not directly comparable in their current form. One solution may be to modify publisher numbers with adjustment factors deemed to be representative of the benefit or disadvantage due to its interface. Standardization of some interface and linking protocols may obviate these differences and allow for more accurate cross-publisher comparisons.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures. JASIST (in press, 2006

Reports Of Conferences, Institutes, And Seminars

This quarter\u27s column offers coverage of multiple sessions from the 2016 Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER&L) Conference, held April 3–6, 2016, in Austin, Texas. Topics in serials acquisitions dominate the column, including reports on altmetrics, cost per use, demand-driven acquisitions, and scholarly communications and the use of subscriptions agents; ERMS, access, and knowledgebases are also featured

The Impact of Web-Scale Discovery on the Use of Electronic Resources

In 2015, the University of California, Berkeley, launched EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS), a web-scale discovery tool, with a goal of improving visibility and usage of collections. This study applies linear regression analysis to usage data for ebooks, ejournals, and abstracts and indexing (A&I) databases before and after implementation of EDS in order to identify correlations between the discovery layer and usage of library electronic resources across platforms. Our findings diverge from conclusions drawn in the previous literature that indicate that resource use generally increases after a discovery tool is implemented. We examine data from a longer period of time than the previous literature had, looking for statistically significant changes in resource use. The discovery layer at UC Berkeley did not lead to equal increases across platforms, but rather to a complex array of increases and decreases in use according to a variety of factors.

Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals

This is a study of the treatment of library patron privacy in licenses for electronic journals in academic libraries. We begin by distinguishing four facets of privacy and intellectual freedom based on the LIS and philosophical literature. Next, we perform a content analysis of 42 license agreements for electronic journals, focusing on terms for enforcing authorized use and collection and sharing of user data. We compare our findings to model licenses, to recommendations proposed in a recent treatise on licenses, and to our account of the four facets of intellectual freedom. We find important conflicts with each

MEASURE THE USAGE OF E-RESOURCES: SCIENTOMETRIC MODEL

It is essential to evaluate the use of every resource that is acquired by the institute or through consortia. Therefore the objective of the study is to find trends in the usage of e-resources. The study emerged with three formulas such as Ratio of Resources, Ratio of Utilization and Resource Impact Factor. The study derived three axioms such as axiom 1 that Total number of downloads was directly proportional to the number of resources; Axiom 2 : Total number of downloads was directly proportional to the number of users and Axiom 3: Uses of e-resources were directly proportional to the number of resources and number of users. To prove the axioms, the data available regarding of usage of e-resources through e-ShodhShiindu (eSS) Consortium at the https://infistat.inflibnet.ac.in/ has been taken for analysis. The usage trends of nine full-text journals of the Gandhigram Rural Institute – Deemed to be University were taken up from 2012 to 2019. Use of e-resources was directly proportional to the number of resources and the number of users and not by the number of downloads. This paper emphasizes different parameters in measuring the use of e-resources subscribed based on the number of downloads

Association of Usage of Online Journals with Impact Factors: A Descriptive Analytical Study

A case study of association between usage of online journals and their impact factors was conducted for the subscribed journals of the Health Sciences Library of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. The publisher-generated usage statistics were collected and tabulated for the period 2010-2015. The full text usage was considered as the criteria for identification of the extent of usage of online journals from different publishers. The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of these journals were retrieved in 2015 from Journal Citation Report to check whether association existed between the most used and the least used journals with their impact factor. The study identified two lists of journals, the most used and the least used journals, from among the subscribed online journals through the usage analysis. ‘Mann Whitney U test’ was performed to check the association between the usage of online journals and their impact factors. It was observed that there is a statistically significant difference (p\u3c0.001) in the impact factors of the most used journals and the least used journals, which indicated that an association existed between the IFs and the usage. The application of the outcome measures of the study provide a benchmark for the online journal collection for the libraries that explore the usage of its online resources. Study also propositions the means for increasing the usage of subscribed online journals

Everything That’s Wrong with E-Book Statistics: A Comparison of E-Book Packages

This poster presentation highlights the problems that exist in defining “a download” for e-books. Even though there is a COUNTER code of practice, a download can still be defined as either a page, chapter or title use. Many e-book publishers don’t follow COUNTER at all, and then the differences are even bigger. Libraries face many problems because of this, and this poster aims to raise awareness on the problems concerning analyzing e-book usage statistics

Open Knowledge Resources for Higher Education: Scholarly Publications, Course Materials, Academic Software

This paper will explain why electronic knowledge resources in academia cannot only be regarded as private commodities, but also as public goods. After sketching a concept of public goods for a postnational, global society, three types of electronic knowledge resources are distinguished: scholarly publications, course materials and academic software. With the help of practical examples, similarities between these resources are developed. Finally, it will be explained what advantages the status of public good for knowledge resources would have and how it could be achieved by the academic community

Trends in acquisition and usage of electronic resources at Indian Institutes ofTechnology libraries

The paper studies the trends in acquisition of e-resources vis-a-vis their print counterparts, identifies the e-resourcesbeing subscribed by Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) libraries at Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Kanpur,Guwahati and Roorkee either individually or through a consortium, and analyzes the usage of these resources during2004-11. The study also compiles a union list of all e-resources accessible at IIT Libraries. Data were collected bypersonal visits, interviews, and using a questionnaire. Web sites and annual reports of the Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, IITs and INDEST-AICTE Consortium were also scanned to supplement the above information.COUNTER compliant data as provided by the publishers were used to study the usage. Data analysis revealed that IITlibraries spend a significantly large proportion of their budgets to acquire e-resources. There is a clear shift in thecollection development policies of these libraries where e-resources have become a vital part of their core collections.E-resources in all IITs are being heavily used as the number of downloads have increased from 32,33,818 to 76,17,691articles reflecting a growth of 135% over a period of 8 years