100 likes | 180 Views
Metasearch Usage Statistics . Brad Buckley Thomson / Gale October 30, 2003. About. Gale Primary publisher, licensed content, aggregated databases, distribution in several media formats.
E N D
Metasearch Usage Statistics Brad Buckley Thomson / Gale October 30, 2003
About • Gale • Primary publisher, licensed content, aggregated databases, distribution in several media formats. • Consumers are researchers and reference librarians in K-12, Academic, Public, Corporate, Special and Government libraries. • Me • Senior Product Architect • Design Infotrac information service
Usage Statistics – Wanted! • Meaningful usage reports for decision support: • Evaluate a service • Compare services • Compare demographics
Usage Statistics - Metasearch • But with Metasearch… • What statistics should be counted ? • By Who ? • And When ?
Metasearch Issues – What to count? • Need broad agreement on key measures • “search” • “retrieval” (or “item requests”) • “session” • “turnaway” • Others? E.g., “referrals”, “Metasearch search” • Need to rationalize and standardize industry definitions (COUNTER, E-Metrics, and ICOLC).
Metasearch issues – Who counts? • Who is responsible for collecting and reporting each usage measure ? • Are existing role definitions (e.g., COUNTER) adequate ? • Standardize industry definitions (COUNTER, E-Metrics, and ICOLC).
Metasearch Issues – When to count? • “Broadcast” search occurs with multiple resources and parties at the same time. • Do we need to qualify usage measures when Metasearch is involved ? • Avoid double or inappropriate counting. • E.g., What if Metasearch involves a pre-search? • Meaningfully analyze counts from the parties involved.
Metasearch – Real Usage Statistics • For library X database Y, interpret: Sessns Srchs Views Rtrvls 5/2002 1903 6178 6213 1289 9/2002 21811 22904 3007 634
Usage Statistics - Recommendations • Thorough review of NISO Z39.7-2002 “Information Services and Use: Metrics & statistics for libraries and information providers--Data Dictionary” • Analyze impact of Metasearch • Create a NISO working group to…
Statistics Working Group Activities • Review definitions in existing standards • Identify missing definitions • Identify overlap • Identify inappropriate or incomplete definitions • Revise definitions • Present at focus group • Recommend to existing standards bodies