Assessing the Academic Networked Environment

CNI Update 10/97
The Library's objectives of CNI Project are as follows:
1. Identifying the availability of statistics on the usage of networked library electronic resources;
2. Collecting statistics back to July 1996 on the use of these resources;
3. Establishing ongoing procedures for collecting statistics in the future;
4. Analyzing the statistics.

We are particularly interested in the number of logins, the number of searches, and statistics that might be available comparing use from the library clusters with use from the network. Howard indicated that it was unlikely that there would be statistics on access from off-campus (via the modem pools).

The following list if from the library web electronic resources page, listing all the networked electronic services rearranged by service (vendor). A small task force reviewed each entry noting the availability of statistics and/or the primary library contact. Most if not all of these access points and vendors have been contacted and we have varying success to report. Locally collected statistics were reported by the Systems Office and the rest were collected by e-mail contact with the vendor.

We do not feel that we have useful statistics in that we have yet to determine exactly what each vendor means by reporting that such and such a database had x number of uses; e.g. EiCompendex had 2857 searches performed for Brown through June 30, 1997. We had hoped to learn about use in the library, on campus or off campus, but much of this is unknown. We also have a set of statistics that do not tell us how the databases are used; e.g. when we are told that we had 17,485 uses of our EBSCO database on the web, we do not know if they are each individual hit on the web site or a actual search. In fact, we do not have a consistent definition of what a search is. Some vendors are also able to tell us when our resources are used, whether there are enough ports, and others do not seem to have this information. Full analysis of statistics has not been completed, only gathering of the initial information.

ERL

Statistics for all ERL databases are collected by the Systems Office. The available statistics include the number of logins per database, and the number of logins per user account per database. The latter in effect provides a count of in-library and out-of-library use.

Biological Abstracts
EconLit
ERIC
GeoRef
Medline Express
MLA Bibliography
PAIS International
POPLINE
PsycLIT
Sociofile
ELibrary
ELibrary

Statistics are collected by the Systems Office. Howard Pastertnack did not know the specifics on what was being collected.

America: History and Life
Congressional Masterfile I
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Index
GPO Monthly Catalog
Historical Abstracts
Index to United Nations Documents and Publications
Philosopher's Index
FirstSearch
Anne Nolan receives the statistics on FirstSearch. These include the number of searches per database and usage of ports.
Books in Print
General Science Abstracts
Humanities Abstracts
Medline Express
Newspaper Abstracts
Periodical Abstracts
Reader's Guide Abstracts
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
Social Sciences Abstracts
WorldCat
RLG
Fred Lynden receives the statistics.

He is now providing them to Anne. It is not clear who will receive the statistics for the two databases (Anthro and BHA) being acquired through the Boston Library Consortium.

Anthropological Literature
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
BHA
ESTC

Other Commercial Vendors

Archives USA Web

One of five Chadwyck Healy web sites. FKD will be the contact.

Britannica Online

No statistics have been received; Steve E. Thompson is the contact.

ClariNet

No statistics have been received. Questions were raised about whether the service should be continued. Steve E. Thompson is the contact.

EBSCO Academic Search Anne Nolan is the contact. We are getting statistics.
EBSCO Masterfile
Anne Nolan is the contact. We are getting statistics.
IEi Compendex*Plus

No statistics are received. Carrie Helie is the contact.

Engineering Information Village

No statistics are received. Carrie Helie is the contact.

FREIDA (Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database Access system)

This web site does not charge us for access. It was decided that statistics are not needed and are unlikely to be available.

GPO Access
Dan O'Mahony is the contact. The status of the statistics was not known.
International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP)

One of five Chadwyck Healy web sites. FKD will be the contact.

JSTOR

No statistics are received . HP will be the contact.

Lexis/Nexis

There was discussion that this was not really a networked site. Some statistics are available from Steve Thompson.

Literature Online (LION)

One of five Chadwyck Healy web sites. FKD will be the contact.

MathSciNet

The status of statistics is unknown. Carrie Helie is the contact.

MD Consult Book Review Service

This service is currently free but charging may occur next year. Just started. Janet Crager is the contact.

Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary

Part of the Britannica Online. SET is the contact.

Patrologia Latina Web

One of five Chadwyck Healy web sites. FKD will be the contact.

Periodical Contents Index Web

One of five Chadwyck Healy web sites. FKD will be the contact.

Project Muse
SET receives quarterly statistics.
UnCover

Service is free. Anne is the contact. We did not decide to get stats.


Brown Local
Bible Browser HP will contact Richard Goerwitz.
Brown Thesis HP will contact Martha Mitchell.
Josiah HP collects the statistics.
Oxford English Dictionary HP will contact Richard Goerwitz.
PERSEUS HP will contact Lynne O'Brien.


Not Networked
No stats will be collected or are even available.

Census of Population and Housing.

- 1990; data from Summary Tape Files 1 and 3. (Rockefeller Library only)

County Business Patterns.

1986-92; business/economic data for U.S. counties. (Rockefeller Library only)

DYABOLA.

-1956-1993; an index to books and journal articles in the disciplines of classics, prehistory and ancient history, archeology, numismatics, epigraphy, philology. Most of the citations are to works not in English. (Rockefeller Library only)

Environment Library on CD .

- Current; contains the full text of major US federal environmental laws and regulations, as well as those for all 50 states. (Sciences Library only)

EPA Toxic Release Inventory.

1987-93; toxic chemical release information. (Rockefeller Library only)

Index to British Parliamentary Papers. 1990-present. (Rockefeller Library only)
National Trade Data Bank (NTDB).

Current; documents, statistics, and trade contact information. (Rockefeller Library only)

Science Citation Index

- 1986 to present; references from 3,300 journals across 100 scientific disciplines. Science Citation Index is especially useful for retrieving articles which cite a known earlier article or a specific author. (Sciences Library only)

U.S. Statistical Abstract.

Current; statistical tables on all topics. (Rockefeller Library only)





Draft Letter on CNI Statistics

Dear                                       :

Brown University has been selected as one of nine institutions to participate in a project sponsored by the Coalition for Networked Information on "Assessing the Academic Networked Environment." As part of this project, the Brown University Library will be evaluating the statistics related to the use of the networked commercial services it is providing to the campus community. Our purpose is to determine the availability of statistics for our various networked information products and to assess the comparability of the data.

I am writing to you concerning ___________________. Are there current statistics available on Brown University's use of this product? If so, we would greatly appreciate receiving them along with any retrospective statistics you might have indicating our usage back to July, 1996 if applicable.

If there is any explanation of what these statistics mean, e.g,, logons, searches, etc., this also would be very helpful.


Thank you for assisting us with this endeavor.

Sincerely,
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