Theme: Findings that surprised us: Delving into the data and dealing with the unexpected
Information on our two speakers and their presentations:
Beth Bernhardt, Electronic Resources Librarian, UNC Greensboro
Looking and Reacting to Consortium Statistics
The Carolina Consortium has setup over eight big deals with publishers over the past several years. During the fall of 2012, they pulled together three years of usage statistics from all the schools that participated in each deal. There were some interesting surprises discovered when analyzing these statistics. This presentation will provide information on the steps they took to bring all this information together, what surprises the statistics showed, actions they are taking as a consortium moving forward in the future, and plans for educating schools about their usage.
Karen Jensen, Collection Development Officer, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Print monograph circulation and patron-driven e-books: Impact of the data on present and future collection management strategies
After more than ten years of declining print book circulation, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Libraries began using a patron-driven e-book system in 2009. While the statistics aren’t totally conclusive, the implications for overall collection management, both immediate and future, are far-reaching. Interpretation of results calls into question many of the long-held assumptions about building academic library collections, supports making major changes to acquisitions methods, and highlights areas of further research needed.