Chapter 1: Assessing Use and Usage
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/ltr.46n6Abstract
In response to ever-increasing expenditures on collections, especially electronic resources, librarians are increasingly expected to demonstrate the value of the resources in which their institutions have made significant investments. Unfortunately, most attempts at e-resource usage assessment still follow the input-output model that has been so prevalent in evaluation of library resources. This section reviews the development of LIS use and user studies and identifies problems with relying on an exclusively statistical model of evaluation.
References
Charles Martell, '“The Elusive User: Changing Use Patterns in Academic Libraries 1995 to 2004,”' College and Research Libraries 68 no. 5 (2007): 435nWhile the terms “use” and “usage” may seem to be synonymous in discussions of user behavior, “usage” typically refers to activities associated with electronic resources, such as article views or downloads, while “use” can refer to a broader collection of activities. In that respect, “usage” can be considered a type of resource use; this is the intended implication of these terms in this report.nWeiss defines
evaluation
as “the
systematic assessment
of the
operation
and/or the
outcomes
of a program or policy, compared to a set of
explicit
or
implicit standards
, as a means of contributing to the
improvement
of the program or policy.” Carol H. Weiss,
Evaluation: Methods for Studying Programs & Policies
(New York: Prentice Hall, 1998), 4.nRobert N. Broadus, '“Use Studies of Library Collections,”' Library Resources and Technical Services 24 no.4 (Fall 1980): 317nAlvin C. Eurich, '“Students' Use of Library, Seasonal Variation in the Use of a University Library,”' Journal of Higher Education 4 (1933): 421-424nArthur T. Hamlin, The University Library in the United States: Its Origins and Development (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1981): 143-n The Turn: Integration of Information Seeking and Retrieval in Context (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer 2005): 3-nBrenda Dervin, '“Useful Theory for Librarianship: Communication, Not Information,”' Drexel Library Quarterly 13 no. 3 (1977): 16nDouglas L. Zweizig, Brenda Dervin, '“Public Library Use, Users, Uses,”' Advances in Librarianship 7 (1977): 252nDouglas L. Zweizig, '“With Our Eye on User: Needed Research for Information and Referral in Public-Library,”' Drexel Library Quarterly 12 no. 1–2 (1976): 7nBrenda Dervin, Nilan Michael, Martha E. Williams Ed., '“Information Needs and Uses,”' Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (Medford, NJ: Knowledge Industry Publications 1986): 3-33 24.nDervin and Nilan, “Information Needs and Uses.”nPrudence W. Dalrymple, '“A Quarter Century of User-Centered Study: The Impact of Zweizig and Dervin on LIS Research,”' Library & Information Science Research 23 no. 2 (Summer 2001): 155-165nKaren E. Pettigrew, Marcia J. Bates, Joan C. Durrance, Carol Collier Kuhlthau, '“What's the Use? Extending and Revising Notions of Use and Users in Information Behavior Research,”' ASIST 2002: Information, Connections, and Community: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Information Science and Technology, November 18–21, 2002, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc 2002): 246-nBlaise Cronin, Blaise Cronin Ed., '“Introduction,”' Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc. & American Society for Information Science and Technology 2007): vii-nBroadus, “Use Studies of Library Collections,” 317.nIbid.nNancy Butkovich, '“Use Studies: A Selective Review,”' Library Resources and Technical Services 40 no. 4 (1997): 360nIbid., 359.nRalph H. Parker, '“Bibliometric Models for Management of an Information Store: I. Differential Utility among Items,”' Journal of the American Society for Information Science 33 no. 3 (1982): 124nAbraham Bookstein, '“Sources of Error in Library Questionnaires,”' Library Research 4 no. 1 (Spring 1982): 93nBroadus, “Use Studies of Library Collections,” 323.nFrancine Fialkoff, '“The Circulation Trap,”' Library Journal 127 no. 13 (2002): 68nRobert W. Burns, '“Library Use as a Performance Measure: Its Background and Rationale,”' Journal of Academic Librarianship 4 (1978): 4nMichael Levine-Clark, '“Electronic Book Usage: A Survey at the University of Denver,”' portal 6 no. 3 (2006): 286n The Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) Protocol (Baltimore, MD: NISO 2007) ANSI/NISO Z39.93-2007), 2.nDeborah D. Blecic, Joan B. Fiscella, Stephen E. Wiberley, '“Measurement of Use of Electronic Resources: Advances in Use Statistics and Innovations in Resource Functionality,”' College and Research Libraries 68 no. 1 (2007): 27nIbid.nThomas A Peters, '“What's the Use? The Value of E-Resource Usage Statistics,”' New Library World 103 no. 1/2 (2002): 45nDavid Nicholas, Paul Huntington, '“Electronic Journals: Are They Really Used?”' Interlending and Document Supply 34 no. 2 (2006): 49nIbid., 50.n
