SPEC Kit 313: E-book Collections · 57
User category 6 10%
Other data 14 23%
Please describe other data.
Credo — search terms and most popular titles.
Currently, we are trying to focus on COUNTER data where it is available, but as some providers still don’t have those
stats we are just keeping an eye on what they offer.
Currently, we mainly track use via vendor/platform, which is naturally inconsistent in many cases (not all of our
vendors are COUNTER compliant or the COUNTER statistics don’t give us what we need or the vendor may provide
some of the above data but not all). Some effort may be given to analyzing collective use by subject and user type at
the close of the next fiscal year upon completion of a major pilot project.
Data not analyzed systematically, nor complete.
In the future, we will be using 360 Counter to gather data.
Number of pages
Obtain from COUNTER reports and other usage reports available from the vendor. I would like to have use by subject
from COUNTER reports.
Pages viewed, pages copied, pages printed.
Statistics are difficult to standardize across platforms. Not all vendors are COUNTER compliant.
The type of data provided varies with the vendor.
We collect a multitude of data by publisher and by date — both of which are a good indicator of use and allow for
very revealing comparisons to printed book usage.
We rely on data distributed by providers. It comes in COUNTER and non- COUNTER compliant format.
We track sporadically.
We’re just now about to look at our e-book use data and so I can’t really answer this question yet. I imagine our data
will cover most of the measures above.
25. If your library monitors/tracks the subject area of the e-books that are used, what subject areas
have the most use? N=29
After 11 years of intense data collection, I no longer try to guess. I am always surprised at what gets used. Some of
our biggest use back in 1999 when we started was for Women’s Studies and History. Librarians always think that
it will be computer books that get the most usage, but if you have a balanced collection, than your usage will be
balanced also.
Biology and medicine are off the charts.
User category 6 10%
Other data 14 23%
Please describe other data.
Credo — search terms and most popular titles.
Currently, we are trying to focus on COUNTER data where it is available, but as some providers still don’t have those
stats we are just keeping an eye on what they offer.
Currently, we mainly track use via vendor/platform, which is naturally inconsistent in many cases (not all of our
vendors are COUNTER compliant or the COUNTER statistics don’t give us what we need or the vendor may provide
some of the above data but not all). Some effort may be given to analyzing collective use by subject and user type at
the close of the next fiscal year upon completion of a major pilot project.
Data not analyzed systematically, nor complete.
In the future, we will be using 360 Counter to gather data.
Number of pages
Obtain from COUNTER reports and other usage reports available from the vendor. I would like to have use by subject
from COUNTER reports.
Pages viewed, pages copied, pages printed.
Statistics are difficult to standardize across platforms. Not all vendors are COUNTER compliant.
The type of data provided varies with the vendor.
We collect a multitude of data by publisher and by date — both of which are a good indicator of use and allow for
very revealing comparisons to printed book usage.
We rely on data distributed by providers. It comes in COUNTER and non- COUNTER compliant format.
We track sporadically.
We’re just now about to look at our e-book use data and so I can’t really answer this question yet. I imagine our data
will cover most of the measures above.
25. If your library monitors/tracks the subject area of the e-books that are used, what subject areas
have the most use? N=29
After 11 years of intense data collection, I no longer try to guess. I am always surprised at what gets used. Some of
our biggest use back in 1999 when we started was for Women’s Studies and History. Librarians always think that
it will be computer books that get the most usage, but if you have a balanced collection, than your usage will be
balanced also.
Biology and medicine are off the charts.