Join Collection Evaluation and Assessment Interest Group in Boston on January 10, 2016 from 1-2:30pm.
Presentations
1:00-1:30 Visualizing Value: EZProxy Log Insights in Tableau
Nathaniel King, Director of Library Services, Nevada State College
Connecting library collections with student success is a desirable but often elusive goal of collection assessment and evaluation. Librarians at a small undergraduate college are working in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research and Information Technology Services department to make that goal a reality. We are using EZProxy log data, which measures usage of the library’s online resources with a unique student identifier captured during authentication. This identifier is then matched with student data from the Office of Institutional Research and visualized in a Tableau dashboard.
EZProxy log data allows the library to analyze impact in terms of users rather than uses. We can measure and address equity gaps in library usage based on demographic factors. We are able to determine use patterns by academic level and discipline. Finally, we can determine if library collection use correlates with student success and explore whether different patterns or types of usage have a stronger correlation than others with key success measures such as GPA, retention, and graduation rates.
In this session I will present findings from our library’s first year of EZProxy log data analysis in Tableau. I will discuss decisions made in collecting and analyzing the data, and address what impact the findings have had in our campus community.
1:30-2:00 From PDA/DDA to EBA: Following the Data
Monica Metz-Wiseman, Coordinator of Electronic Collections, University of South Florida
Laura Pascual, Electronic Resources Librarian, University of South Florida
Academic libraries are increasingly investing in e-books. As far back as 2012, U.S. academic libraries were overwhelmingly acquiring e-books over print with 66% of purchases for e-books versus 34% for print titles. It is unlikely that print will return as the dominant format for books. With e-book data we can determine what collections should be acquired long-term or whether there is a significant need for this content. USF is taking a lead among U.S. academic libraries to acquire what is needed by way of e-books based on real-time student and faculty use. This is particularly critical at USF where funding for e-book content must be strategic rather than speculative based on available resources. This strategy increases access, provides necessary content, raises the level of library efficiency, and serves to facilitate the advancement of technology. The evolutionary process of PDA/DDA to EBA has paralleled the changing role of libraries and the progression from print resources to electronic content by following the data.
For the past five years, the University of South Florida’s extensive PDA program has been the means to best meet the information needs of its students and faculty on a tight budget. Collection development has shifted from print to online, from a librarian-centric approach to one that is patron-centered. One benefit of this method has been the substantial amount of use, publisher, subject, and spending data instantly available for analysis to drive direct purchases and inform collection management decisions.
At USF, a limited budget and high journal prices have resulted in a reduced capacity to acquire monographs. USF’s ProQuest/EBL Patron or Demand Driven Acquisition (PDA/DDA) program, begun in 2010, currently allows students and faculty access to over 288,000 academic e-book titles worth more than $31 million. Since inception, patrons have generated 63,000 transactions, accessing 36,329 titles and resulting in the purchase of 4,147 titles.
Through the analysis of usage and short-term loans (STLs), USF has used a Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) model to directly purchase an additional 4,404 titles on the EBL platform. Further assessment of this data identified key publishers and subject areas and led to evidence-based acquisitions (EBA). Again, assessing the PDA data, Wiley was identified as an important, yet underrepresented publisher for USF. A Wiley Online Library EBA program has been established, allowing access to content in exchange for a set guaranteed purchase. Titles purchased are selected from an evaluation of usage of the content. USF is now developing proposals with other publishers for evidence-based acquisitions as the next phase of our collection building strategy.
2:00-2:30 Circulation Data and Collection Development: Trends and Transitions
Paolo Gujilde, Coordinator of Collection Development, Georgia Southern University
Zach S. Henderson (Georgia Southern University) has been assessing its library collections to guide any updates to the collection development and management. One area of focus is the print monograph collection especially with the declining annual circulation statistics. Since the library switched to Voyager integrated library system in early 2000s, this provided an availability of a multi-year circulation data. This robust data was an opportunity to analyze circulation trends at different angles. So, how does print circulation looks like at Henderson Library? What can we learn from it? How do we move forward?
In this talk presentation, I will discuss the different circulation trends pulled from the data. In particular, it will focus on the overall circulation trends, subject-specific trends, and publication/acquisition year trends. Additionally, I will briefly talk about the library’s transition to a more “just in time” acquisition model including updates to the print monograph approval plans and expansion of demand-driven acquisition in both print and electronic formats. In this talk, attendees will be engage in the discussion of the assessing multi-year circulation data and its effect on collection development and management.