Tracking Online Document Usage from Your Catalog Using

Tracking Online Document Usage from Your Catalog Using statistics to demonstrate the value of government publications Susan Kendall, Coordinator for Collection Development And Government Publications San José State University, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Email: susan. kendall@sjsu. edu Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Reasons for tracking usages 1. Usage shows how government publications support students’ & faculty’s research. 2. Statistics can become a part of the assessment & evaluation done during accreditation visits. 3. Data can show government publications can inform the public in news-worthy events. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

1. Usage shows how government publications support students’ & faculty’s research. In April, 2010, we had students in Health Sciences researching breast cancer. Several government publications were accessed. Here are two of our most requested government publications that month: Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

2. Statistics can become a part of the assessment & evaluation done during accreditation visits. At San José State, the library was asked for a 5 year review to present to the University Faculty Senate. Statistics from e-Government Publications were an important part of the report. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

3. Data can show government publications can inform the public in news-worthy events. Recent reports on the safety of bottled water and their plastic containers led to a GAO study being one of our top accessed e-government publications in April, 2010. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Accessing e. Gov. Pubs 2005 -2009 Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Steps to producing our statistics report The following slides are from a presentation given at the NASIG conference May 20, 2005 by Susan Kendall and Celia Bakke Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Client Government Publications Architecture Programming languages: COLDFUSION, HTML, CSS Database: Miscrosoft SQL Database (MS SQL DB) Front-end stat_gov. Pub_(month). txt (text file) Back-end Stores data: - bib. Num stat_govpub. htm parameters receive: -bib. Num -vendor url insert into extract data using cfhttp * Collects data: -bib. Num -su. Doc # -class -title Gov_Pub DB MS SQL DB Server insert into Redirect to vendor website Stores data: -bib. Num -su. Doc# -class -title * Extract data using cfhttp to initiate a one-way request from information from a remote server (the library catalog) http: //mill 1. sjlibrary. org/search/. bib. Num/1, 1, 1, B/marc~bib. Num Lyna Nguyen

Admin. Government Publications Architecture Programming languages: COLDFUSION, HTML, CSS Database: Miscrosoft SQL Database (MS SQL DB) Front-end stat_gov. Pub_(month). txt (text file) Back-end Stores hit data: - bib. Num stat_gov. Pub. htm -login/logoff -view by month & year -sort by: a-z, su. Docs, highest hits -search by bib. Num, su. Docs#, title read file extract data user submits display to web browser Retrieves/Groups/Counts data: -count -bib. Num -su. Doc # -class -title Gov_Pub DB MS SQL DB Server query data connect to db Data from DB: -bib. Num -su. Doc# -class -title Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010 Lyna Nguyen

Steps to Modifying the Bibliographic Record 1. Identify the Bibliographic Record 2. One of our most accessed records this Spring Semester: TITLE: Miss Atom Bomb Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Identify the Bibliographic Record Number B 35936691 – Bibliographic Record Number 856 field

Then add the bibliographic record number to the prefix The prefix is: http: //univintranet. sjlibrary. org/scripts/database_statis tics/stat_govpub. htm? id=35936691 Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Find the URL for the record The 856 field will have the URL address http: //purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 101060 SJSU Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Then add tracking information 856 40 |uhttp: //www. sjlibrary. org/scripts/ stat_govpub. htm? id=35936691&path =http: // purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 101060|x. SJSU Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Overall Database changes: ü Search records in the database using Review Files – Initial search strategies: • 856 has “GPO” (Bibliographic records search) • Since most of these records have a “purl”, records are grouped into one review of batch changes. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Next step: • Use a script/macro to copy the bibliographic record number for each record • Add the prefix to the URL. • Also consider using a “do loop” in the script to perform batch changes • Majority of records can be batch processed with the script Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Time required for initial run • 37, 000 bibliographic records / 50, 000 entries • 2 weeks to run initial database change • Many records had non standard URLs attached Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

On-going monthly maintenance • Search for records to be changed after downloading monthly Marcive records • Use script to do an automatic search • Scan the records to check URLs • Run a script/macro to batch change the records Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

On-going monthly maintenance and time consideration • Total staff time: less than 10 minutes • Total Machine time: less than 2 hours Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Program can sort by the number of “hits” Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Program can sort by Title: Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Program can sort by Su. Docs Number

What I’ve learned from our usage statistics project: • Our e-govpubs continued to be accessed via the catalog. • The catalog is still a viable point for accessing information. • With our statistics, we have made a case for the Chancellor’s Office to consider funding the Marcive program “Documents without Shelves” for all 23 CSU libraries. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

I would like to acknowledge the work done by: Shirley Hwang, Lyna Nguyen, Celia Bakke and April Gilbert from SJSU University Library Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Tracking Online Document Usage From Your Catalog Christopher C. Brown University of Denver, Penrose Library cbrown@du. edu Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Documents’ Electronic Environment • 97% of current GPO catalog records contain links to online content • Library ILS systems provide circulation stats for books, but have no ability to provide stats for online clickthroughs • Library directors increasingly believe depository collections are not used, because we cannot provide them the most relevant stats Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Statistics we now know • Documents Received • Circulation Statistics (from our ILS reports) • GPO PURL Referral Statistics (see http: //www. fdlp. gov/component/docman/cat_view/178 -collection-management/249 purl-referrals for individual library statistics; see also http: //fdlp. gov/collections/building -collections/618 -purl-referrals-reporting for discussion of recent issues) Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Statistics we don’t know • Visits to online docs URLs by our users – we are clueless! • How many times URLs are visited by our users • What titles are visited by our users • What agencies are most popular with our users • We don’t know the whole picture Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Objective • To track online government document clickthroughs when accessed via the online catalog o. Not possible to capture every use of government info by our users o. But is possible to capture all clickthroughs via the OPAC Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Why we need URL statistics • Justify our depository status to administrators • Assist with item selections • GPO cannot provide them • URL maintenance • “Knowing where they’re going” is always helpful Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Why Statistics are Difficult to Gather • Not all government URLs are PURLed • In 2004 I counted over 1, 400 servers hosting government documents to which our catalog pointed. We can’t expect 1, 400 sites to provide us statistics. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

URLs at University of Denver • Nearly 600, 000 documents URLs in our catalog • Many of these not in CGP • “Aggressively” added URLs Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

URL Addition Projects at DU Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

How the Clickthrough Works • URL click sends user to a database • Database records URL, date, time • Database instantly refers user to URL Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

The URL Prefix is Appended before the URL/PURL Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Stats are Logged, and User is Redirected to Desired URL Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

An Access Database is Used to Manage the Project Stats Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Click-through to Catalog

URL Testing Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Benefits of Clickthrough Project 1. We can provide meaningful stats to the library director 2. We can see high-use and low-use areas 3. We can tell if users benefit from our special projects 4. We can do reactive URL maintenance 5. We can see turnaways and other problem Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

1. Providing Meaningful Stats Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

1. Providing Meaningful Stats • Older Docs Content Gets Visits FY 04 FY 05 FY 06 FY 07 FY 08 FY 09 FY 10 Total Clicks 3809 4504 4686 5217 6342 7660 7921 Up to 10 years 3542 4155 4170 4369 4996 5600 5871 percent 93. 0% 92. 3% 89. 0% 83. 7% 78. 8% 73. 1% 74. 1% Over 10 years 267 349 516 848 1346 2060 2050 percent 7. 0% 7. 7% 11. 0% 16. 3% 21. 2% 26. 9% 25. 9% Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

1. Providing Meaningful Stats Comparison of Online Access with Physical Circulation of Documents Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

2. High-Use Areas by Agency Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

2. High-Use Areas by Su. Docs Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Clickthroughs in Relation to Number of Records Fiscal Year Total Docs Bib Recs with URLs Clickthroughs to Docs FY 2004 358, 215 43, 307 3, 809 FY 2005 373, 200 55, 508 4, 504 FY 2006 388, 610 62, 374 4, 686 FY 2007 401, 454 103, 021 5, 217 FY 2008 429, 122 159, 543 6, 342 FY 2009 711, 315 463, 121 7, 660 FY 2010 860, 346 594, 431 7, 921 Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

3. Special Project Usage Project Topographic Maps NASA Technical Reports GAO Reports (older) Lexis. Nexis Digital Hearings/Committee Prints Readex Digital Serial Set OSTI Reports URL Count Coverage Dates Tracking Time Span 456 24, 825 1991 – 2001 1976 – 2001 Sept. 2003 – June 2009 April 2007 – June 2009 9, 559 57, 200 1976 – 1999 1850 – 1995 248, 134 19, 901 URL Clicks 101 310 Unique URL Clicks 76 263 % Unique Accessed 16. 6% 1. 06% Aug. 2007 – June 2009 July 2007 – June 2009 184 1027 161 851 1. 68% 1. 49% 1817 – 1948 Sept. 2008 – June 2009 239 205 0. 08% 2002 – 2006 July 2008 – June 2009 476 375 1. 88% Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

4. URL Maintenance • Proactive approach – Works well with fewer URLs – Is a nice luxury, if time allows • Reactive approach – Fix broken links, since you know when they are used – Don’t worry about broken links that nobody clicks Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

4. Reactive URL Maintenance • Two approaches: Proactive approach • My approach: Reactive approach – with nearly half-a-million docs URLs in our OPAC, we can’t afford to be proactive. FY Clicks Error Rate FY 04 3809 202 5. 30% FY 05 4504 231 5. 13% FY 06 4686 299 6. 38% FY 07 5217 4. 16% FY 08 6342 179 2. 82% FY 09 7660 177 2. 31% FY 10 7921 181 2. 29% Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

4. Reactive URL Maintenance It is important to report broken PURLs to GPO. They are repaired very quickly. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

5. Turnaway Problems: The Dark Days of 2009 From August 24 through September 7, 2009 the PURL server was down. We were able to track each of the turnaways from government information and amend our records as needed.

6. Search Engine Attacks • • • CUIL (http: //www. cuil. com/) CUIL attacked many OPACs – at least Millennium OPACs. We were attacked two times. Our project uncovered the attacks! August, 2007 and February, 2008 The CUIL clickthroughs were subsequently omitted from the project stats Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Clickthrough Methods Compared Any scripting language can be used to accomplish this project! Library Prepend Pattern Auburn U. http: //lib. auburn. edu/Au. Cataloging/en/click. Count/count. And. Redirect. jsf? bib. Id=1536469&url=http: //purl. access. gp o. gov/GPO/LPS 29932 [try it] San Jose State U. http: //www. sjlibrary. org/scripts/stat_govpub. htm? id=17434373&path=http: //purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 29932 [try it] LUIS (Louisiana) http: //utils. louislibraries. org/cgi-bin/lz 0050. x? sitecode=LALU? http: //purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 29932 [try it] U. of Denver (old Cold. Fusion) http: //lib-anubis. cair. du. edu/findit/peak/redirect. cfm? Link. URL=http: //purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 29932 [try it] U. of Denver (present PHP) http: //library. du. edu/clickthrough/index. php/clicks/? type=gov&url=http: //purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 29932 [try it] Mercer U. http: //tarver. mercer. edu/inc/opachits/getcha. php? type_stat=gov&URL=http: //purl. access. gpo. gov/GPO/LPS 2993 2 [try it] Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Writing Your Specs • Be nice to your systems person. • Let the systems person decide which scripting code to use. • Here are the specs I am using for version 2. 0 of our specs. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

Specs for the New DU Clickthrough System • • • Project hosted on stable server (such as library Web server). Should be able to handle long URLs – up to 700 characters. Prepended URL sends request to library server. Included in prepended URL is cataloger-supplied 3 -letter code of URL type (ex: gov, cou, ran – any 3 -letter combination that may be needed in future). Server records date/time, IP address of requestor, 3 -letter code of URL type, and URL requested. Server redirects user to desired URL. Reporting mechanism available to gather clickthroughs. Archiving function available to archive stats. Ability to view archived records. Secure login for authorized users. Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010

For More Information: Brown, Christopher C. “Statistics for Online Document Use. ” Presentation given at the Fall 2003 Depository Library Conference, 22 October 2003, Arlington, VA. Published in the Proceedings of the 12 th Annual Depository Library Conference, Oct. 19 -22, 2003. Brown, Christopher C. 2004. “Knowing Where They're Going: Statistics for Online Government Document Access through the OPAC”. Online Information Review 28 (6), 396409. DOI: 10. 1108/14684520410570526 Brown, Christopher C. and Susan Xue. “Local Access Statistics for Federal Documents: Tracking Web Page and Online Catalog Usage. ” Presentation given at the Fall 2004 Depository Library Conference, 20 October 2004, Washington, DC. Published in the Proceedings of the 13 th Annual Depository Library Conference, Oct. 17 -20, 2004. [view] Brown, Christopher C. , Stephanie Braunstein, Susan Kendall, Liza Weisbrod, Jennifer Gerke, and Shane Cole. “Tracking Online Document Usage from the Catalog: Experiences from the Field. ” Presentation given at the Fall 2009 Depository Library Conference, 19 October 2009, Arlington, VA [view]. Brown, Christopher C. 2011. “Knowing Where They Went: Six Years of Online Statistics via the OPAC for Federal Government Information. ” College & Research Libraries 72 (1), forthcoming 2011. Preprint: http: //www. ala. org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crljournal/preprints/crl-068. pdf. http: //sites. google. com/site/librariancorner/url-clickthrough-project Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11 -13 and 16 -17, 2010