Tracking the use of e‐journals: a technique collaboratively developed by the Cataloging Department and the Office of Libraries Technology at the University of Louisville Available to Purchase

Tracking electronic journals to collect usage statistics is not an easy task. E‐journal publishers and aggregators are using various standards to create e‐journal usage reports. This situation has created many problems for libraries that use those reports. For e‐journal collection development, it is essential for libraries to know exactly who is using their e‐journals, how often their e‐journals are being used, and how their e‐journals are being accessed. Although several methods have been used in the library community, this article focuses on a method cooperatively developed by the cataloging department and the office of libraries technology at the University of Louisville to take control of collecting and generating e‐journal usage statistics. This method involves the use of a CGI script, AXS shareware. The success of this method in fact is built on cooperative efforts between the two departments.