Empty handed? A material availability study and transaction log analysis verification

Ciliberti, Anne; Radford, Marie L.; Radford, Gary P.; Ballard, Terry

doi:10.1016/s0099-1333(98)90104-5

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Therefore, the Library has to provide users with continuing education, and especially bibliographic instruction (BI) programs or online information literacy programs, in order that they can learn how to use and retrieve information from the catalogue and the other information sources. The need for constant BI is referred to in many OPAC studies (Peters, 1989; Hunter, 1991; Ciliberti et al , 1998) in order to address the problems rising from wrong or inappropriate use of online catalogues. In addition to these programs, the Library should offer on‐site help to new users during the fall semester and also establish a help desk.…”

Section: Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Users' behaviour patterns in academic libraries' OPACs: a multivariate statistical analysis

Malliari

Kyriaki‐Manessi

2007

New Library World

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Purpose-This paper aims to present real time user searches in a Greek academic library OPAC (University of Macedonia Library) in relation to user profile. Design/methodology/approach-Using as a test bed a Greek academic library and its OPAC's transaction logs along with a system implanted questionnaire, data were gathered, processed and analyzed using multivariate statistical analysis techniques. Findings-In making a synthesis of the analyzed data, a series of questions related to everyday library work were answered, giving libraries a tool to apply the gained knowledge in order to make decisions regarding their OPAC, their user education programs and their reference services. Research limitations/implications-The present paper focuses on the analysis of those variables that were considered to be the most representative for constructing a user profile. Originality/value-This paper builds upon the techniques of data collection and presents a new tool for analyzing them statistically. Data derived from libraries were processed and analyzed statistically using the classical descriptive statistics. The suggested multivariate statistical method is designed to become a tool for analyzing qualitative data and to be used in a variety of library applications. It is also particularly helpful in analyzing cross-tabular data in the form of numerical frequencies and allows all associations amongst pairs of variables to be analyzed as well as each association between a variable and itself.

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Section: Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Users' behaviour patterns in academic libraries' OPACs: a multivariate statistical analysis

Malliari

Kyriaki‐Manessi

2007

New Library World

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“…Ciliberti, Radford, Radford and Ballard (1998) established an early connection between availability research and user studies when they included "catalog use failures" and "user retrieval failures" in their branching diagram. Their study of patron searches at Adelphi University Libraries attributed one third of unsuccessful searches to difficulty searching the catalogue or finding items on shelf.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronic Resource Availability Studies: An Effective Way to Discover Access Errors

Mann¹

2015

EBLIP

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the terms of the Creative Commons-AttributionNoncommercial-Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one. AbstractObjective -The availability study is a systems research method that has recently been used to test whether library users can access electronic resources. This study evaluates the availability study's effectiveness as a troubleshooting tool by comparing the results of two availability studies conducted at the same library before and after fixing access problems identified by the initial study.Methods -The researcher developed a six-category conceptual model of the causes of electronic resource errors, modified Nisonger's e-resource availability method to more closely approximate student information-seeking behaviour, and conducted an availability study at the University of Redlands Armacost Library to estimate how many resources suffered from errors. After conducting troubleshooting over a period of several months, he replicated the study and found increased overall availability and fewer incidences of most error categories. He used Z tests for the difference of two proportions to determine whether the changes were statistically significant.Results -The 62.5% availability rate in the first study increased after troubleshooting to 86.5% in the second study. Z tests showed that troubleshooting had produced statistically significant improvements in overall availability, in the number of items that could be downloaded from the library's online collection or requested through interlibrary loan (ILL), and in three of six error categories (proxy, target database and ILL).Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2015, 10.3 31 Conclusion -Availability studies can contribute to successful troubleshooting initiatives by making librarians aware of technical problems that might otherwise go unreported. Problems uncovered by an availability study can be resolved through collaboration between librarians and systems vendors, though the present study did not demonstrate equally significant improvements across all types of errors. This study offers guidance to librarians seeking to focus troubleshooting efforts where they will have the greatest impact in improving access to full-text. It also advances the availability research method and is the first attempt to quantify its effectiveness as a troubleshooting tool.

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“…7 In 1998, Ciliberti et al conducted a materials avail ability study of 441 OPAC searches at Adelphi University over a threeweek period during fall semester. 8 Their work combined Kantor's branchinganalysis methodol ogy with transactionlog analysis of OPAC use in order to better understand if users obtain the materials they need through the online catalog. 9 Sampling was accom plished during random open hours and drew informa tion from undergraduate, graduate, and faculty users.…”

Section: ■ Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

OPAC Design Enhancements and Their Effects on Circulation and Resource Sharing within the Library Consortium Environment

Bennett¹

2007

ITAL

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A longitudinal study of three discrete online public access catalog (OPAC) M ost previous studies of online public access catalog (OPAC) use and design have centered on transactionlog analysis and user survey results in the academic library environment. Measures of patron success or lack thereof have traditionally been expressed in the form of such concepts as "zerohit" analysis or the "branching" analysis of Kantor and, later, Ciliberti. 1 Missing from the majority of the literature on OPAC study, however, are the effects that use and design have had on public library patron borrowing practices.Major drawbacks to transactionlog analyses and user surveys as a measure of successful OPAC use include a lack of standardization and the inherent difficulties in interpreting resulting data. As Peters notes, "[s]urveys measure users' opinions about online catalogs and their perceptions of their successes or failures when using them, while transaction logs simply record the searches conducted by users. Surveys," he concludes, "mea sure attitudes, while transaction logs measure a specific form of behavior." 2 In both cases it is difficult, in many instances, to draw clear conclusions from either method.Circulation figures, on the other hand, measure a more narrowly defined level of patron success. Circulation is a discrete output that is the direct result of patrons' initiated interaction with one or many library collections, one or many levels of library technology. With the recent advent of such enhanced OPAC functionality as patronplaced holds on items from broader and broader catalogs, online catalogs now more than ever not only serve as search mechanisms but also as ways for patrons to directly obtain materials from multiple sources. It follows that an investigation of the possible effects such enhancements may have on general circulation trends is warranted. ■ Literature reviewDuring the midtolate 1980s, transactionlog analysis was introduced as an inexpensive and easy method of looking at OPAC use in primarily the academic library environment. Peters's transactionlog survey of more than thirteen thousand searches executed over a five month period at the University of MissouriKansas City remains particularly instructive today for its large sample and transferable design as well as its interpreta tion of results. 3Here analysis was broken into two phases. In phase one, usage patterns by search type and failure rates as measured by zero hits were examined as dependent vari ables with search type as the independent variable in a comparison study. Phase two took this one step further in the assigning of what Peters termed "probable cause" of zero hits. These probable causes fell into patterns that, in turn, resulted in the identification of fourteen discernable error types that included such things as typographical errors and searches for items not in the catalog. Once again, search type formed the independent variable while error type shaped the dependent variable in a simple study of error types as a percentage...

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Empty handed? A material availability study and transaction log analysis verification

Cited by 16 publications

References 8 publications

Users' behaviour patterns in academic libraries' OPACs: a multivariate statistical analysis

Users' behaviour patterns in academic libraries' OPACs: a multivariate statistical analysis

Electronic Resource Availability Studies: An Effective Way to Discover Access Errors

OPAC Design Enhancements and Their Effects on Circulation and Resource Sharing within the Library Consortium Environment

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