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

Abstract

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.

On the Origin of Queries: Where Chat Reference Questions Begin

“…A referring URL or "referrer" is recorded as the page on which a user made a decision. Many academic library studies discuss the use of these web addresses as a way to understand where patrons are online when they access an electronic resource (Adey & Eastman-Mullins, 2017;Falloon 2017;Ngo, Hennesy, & Knabe, 2019). Referring URLs have also been used to determine a patron's online location when they initiate a chat session, providing insight into users' help seeking behavior.…”

The use of electronic databases (EDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic by Information Studies postgraduate students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Pietermaritzburg Campus.

“…According to Ngo, Hennesy and Knabe (2019), students use information from resources that they are aware of, but also those that they have easy access to. Ngo, Hennesy and Knabe (2019), explain that after the University of California in Berkeley launched and subscribed to EBSCO Discovery Services (EDS), the library decided to pull out a report after a year of new electronic databases to see the impact of the new initiative.…”