Usage statistics generated in‐house or reported by publishers and vendors is one important factor used to justify increasing investments by libraries in electronic resources. This volume is a collection of 14 contributed papers that discuss “various experiences from the field of electronic resource usage, statistics collection, and management”. Topics include new approaches to electronic resource collection assessment, new developments in the area of standards, in‐house and vendor solutions to more effectively harvest and manage usage data, and library programmes developed to increase user awareness of the availability of electronic resources.
A common theme of many of the papers is the need to consider carefully the limitations of usage statistics when assessing the value of electronic resources. One such limitation has been the lack of consistent data reported by publishers and vendors. The Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) initiative, combined with Electronic Resource Management Initiative (ERMI) and Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI), has improved the reporting and management of standardised usage data.
While progress has been made, several papers discuss the continuing need to understand the meaning of the statistical reports and the limitations of relying solely on usage data for collection development decisions. Reliance on the number of full‐text articles downloaded for a specific title does not necessarily provide a true indication of the value of a title. Is a popular title that receives high use of greater value than a low use title of high research value? Several contributors suggest that usage needs to be compared for titles within the same subject area, given that user preferences may vary across disciplines. Additional variables such as impact factors, number of articles authored by an institution's faculty, evolving subject areas and cost‐per‐use need to be considered. The MaxData project is an innovative approach developed to assist libraries in the electronic resource decision‐making process by comparing analysis of usage reports, deep user log analysis, and the results of surveys of faculty and students. Another factor is library user awareness of the availability of electronic resources to support research and teaching interests. Newly released and/or acquired electronic resources may receive lower use during the first few years due to a lack of user awareness. One paper discusses the development of a library marketing plan that promotes new electronic resources.
One of the more noteworthy papers discusses the limitation of cost‐per‐use as currently calculated. Dividing the number of full‐text uses by subscription costs is flawed. Cost‐per‐use needs to be calculated based on when a specific year's content is accessed (e.g. 2004 content accessed in 2005). This is a particularly important when comparing document delivery costs against subscription costs. There are also recommendations that cost‐per‐use calculations must take into account additional factors such as staff and technology costs.
The overall quality of this volume is excellent. Discussions are interesting, and many are thought provoking. This is recommended for information professionals responsible for electronic resource management and collection development.
