This paper presents the results of a quantitative and systematic investigation exploring online e-book usage at the J.N. Desmarais Library of Laurentian University over a 9-year period. The size of an e-book collection was determined to show evidence of an extremely strong relationship with the level of usage e-books experienced. Of all factors examined during the course of this study, it was the size of the collection that exhibited the strongest association to usage levels and would suggest just how important the size and content of a collection can be to patron acceptance and utilization. Of all student academic levels, doctoral students exhibited the strongest relationship with e-book usage, while undergraduate students showed signs of the weakest. Faculty demonstrated the overall weakest relationship with e-book usage.
This paper presents the results of a quantitative study exploring the online usage of the electronic book collection at the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University, Canada. In 2009, e-book usage statistics were evaluated to provide a better understanding of how the e-book collection has been utilized. Both current electronic book usage data and data from previous years are reported in order to present and understand general patterns in how the electronic book collection is, and has been utilized. The number of e-books, the number of viewings and the number of searches were examined. The size of the collection grew from a single book in 2002 to more than 60,000 in 2008. The pattern of purchase varied from that of bulk purchasing of large e-book collections, to selective purchasing between 2005 and 2007, and then back to bulk purchasing in 2008. Both viewings and searches have increased from year to year at a greater pace than the size of the e-book collection. The number of searches also appeared to provide a viable means of measuring the use of an e-book collection rather than relying entirely on viewings or downloads. Ratios were calculated to compare viewings and searches to the size of the collection. The highest viewings per ebook and searches per e-book ratios were observed in those years when purchasing was done more selectively. It is also clear that the electronic reference collection has seen far greater use than the electronic monographs. Furthermore, usage of electronic monographs appeared to be directly proportional to the size of the collection.
This paper reports the results of a quantitative analysis examining factors affecting electronic journal usage at the J.N. Desmarais Library of Laurentian University. This study covered an 11-year period from 2000 to 2010. The number of full-text articles downloaded was compared to the size of the e-journal collection, the number of students, and the number of faculty members at the university: all of which exerted varying degrees of influence on the rate of use of e-journals. Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients were calculated to determine the strength of any existing linear relationship. Although the size of the e-journal collection did impact its level of use, there seems to be a "critical mass" which, once reached, will slow or stop any further increase in usage. Among the student population, the number of doctoral students demonstrated the strongest linear relationship to the use of the e-journal collection while the undergraduate population showed the least strong linear relationship. Faculty members were important users of the library's e-journal collection, but the linear relationship was not as strong as that observed for graduate students. In fact, faculty members demonstrated the least strong linear relationship of all segments of the Laurentian University community. It may be wise for the library to consult not only its faculty members but also its graduate students when seeking advice on collection building and management.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the results from a quantitative analysis comparing usage between collections of individually purchased e‐books and collections of e‐books purchased as part of large consortially negotiated bundles. The aim of this study is to determine if individually purchased e‐books have recorded a greater level of usage than e‐books purchased in large packages and, consequently, which of the two acquisition models is best suited for the library.Design/methodology/approachUsage rates of e‐books purchased individually from NetLibrary and MyiLibrary were compared to usage rates of e‐books purchased in large bundles from the same aggregators. Usage of e‐books purchased in large bundles directly from SpringerLink was compared to usage of e‐books on NetLibrary and MyiLibrary. The number of e‐books was obtained by simple count. Additional statistics tracked include the number of viewings.FindingsInitial results indicate that individually purchased titles from both NetLibrary and MyiLibrary have consistently recorded a greater level of usage than the bundled titles on their respective platforms. A second quantitative analysis comparing two aggregated collections of individually selected titles to a very large bundled collection acquired directly from SpringerLink yielded somewhat different results. For the most part, SpringerLink bundled e‐books have recorded a greater level of usage when compared to bundled titles on NetLibrary and MyiLibrary.Originality/valueThis research is one of very few studies systematically and quantitatively comparing usage levels between e‐monographs individually selected and acquired as large bundles by a Canadian academic library.
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