Measuring use of licensed electronic resources: a second iteration of the MINES for Libraries Survey on Scholars Portal and other resources for the Ontario Council of University Libraries

摘要

The 2010-2011 MINES for Libraries study addresses a number of important issues. It builds on the 2004-2005 study and takes advantage of the research environment offered by OCUL's centralised distribution of networked electronic resources. It tracks changes in usage, the makeup of users, and the purpose of use in the same universities over time to reveal differences in the patterns of use. It demonstrates the efficacy of a point-of-use intercept survey enabled through the open-URL SFX server and is an example for other libraries that are considering this commonly used technology to obtain similar information about their user groups. The study also highlights the benefits of utilising an nth intercept methodology as an alternative to a random moment methodology, which, in turn, suggests how the every nth survey sampling plan could be used continually to create a true culture of assessment that is less invasive and that produces data that are scalable and generalisable. By identifying ever evolving trends in the use of electronic resources, the 2010-2011 MINES for Libraries study is a sound tool for OCUL to demonstrate the value of electronic resources at the consortial level and for individual libraries to understand and communicate that value to their constituents at the local level. Future studies may consider exploring additional details of the user characteristics including satisfaction as well as the direct value users derive from different electronic resources and potential linkages to teaching, research and learning outcomes.