Levine-Clark, Michael, “Humanities E-Book Usage on a Global Scale,” Charleston Conference, Charleston, S.C. November 7, 2014

1. Humanities eBook Usage on a
Global Scale
Charleston Conference
November 7, 2014
Michael Levine-Clark
Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication &
Collections Services
University of Denver

2. How do students and scholars in the
arts and humanities use ebooks?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/
6365101775. "Books," Moyan Brenn

3. How are arts and humanities
ebooks used?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/
6365101775. "Books," Moyan Brenn

4. Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2012, April 8, 2013, p. 34.

5. 100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Arts/Humanities Social Sciences Science
Do not want to use
ebooks, but
sometimes there is no
other choice.
I use ebooks but I
prefer print
Ebooks are
acceptable
I prefer ebooks
Deborah Lenares, "Ebooks: Their Use and Acceptance by Undergraduates and Faculty," ER&L 2013.
http://proposalspace.com/publishdocs/220/download.

6. 100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Business
Student Preference/Acceptance by Discipline
Students were asked: You are in the library doing research for a paper.
You find a book of interest and want to read at least a chapter.
Eng Computing Math
Humanities
Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
preferred acceptable not acceptable
Social Sciences
Studio & Perform arts
Total
Business
Eng Computing Math
Humanities
Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
Studio & Perform arts
Total
Library print book Library's ebook
Chart by Deborah Lenares
Debbi Dinkins, Anne Cerstvik Nolan, Kathleen Sacco, and Robert Walsh, “Why the Resistance? Trends and Results from a
Collaborative Survey on E-Book Usage Across Eight Academic Institutions,” Charleston Conference, November 6, 2014.
ccby Deborah Lenares 2014

7. Previous Presentations
• Two different data sets
– Four years worth of usage
– 2013 usage
• ebrary 2013 – didn’t include all of the unused
books
• Testing the methodology
http://www.slideshare.net/MichaelLevineClark/pre
sentations

8. Data Overview
All ebooks from EBL
• Usage for 2013
• Worldwide
• Three library types
– Academic
– Public
– Special
• A focus on arts & humanities

9. Usage Definitions
• Session
– Any time that a user interacts with an e-book
• Page View
– A count of the number of pages examined
• Download
– A download of the entire book
• Usage Time
– Minutes spent looking at the book

10. What can we learn by examining usage
on such a large scale?
• Are we collecting the right things?
• Are there general patterns by subject?
• Can we identify disciplinary preferences?
• What are the best ways to measure use?
• Can those patterns and preferences help
shape our collections and guide our services?

11. Academic Library eBooks
• 379,111 titles
– Available on average in
72 libraries
• 345,891 titles with
LCCN
– Available on average in
73 libraries
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
Academic Public Special

12. Number of Titles Available, by LC Class
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
H
Q
P
NO LCCN
R
T
B
D
L
K
G
J
E
S
N
M
F
U
Z
C
V
A
STEM
Arts & Humanities
Social Sciences Other

13. Title Availability: Arts & Humanities
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Art (N) History (C,
D, E, F)
Languages
(P-PM)
Literature
(PN-PZ)
Music (M) Philosophy
(B-BJ)
Religion
(BL-BX)

14. Academic Library eBook Usage –
345,891 titles with LCCN
On average in 2013, at each library, each title:
– Was held by 73.3 libraries
– Had 0.38 sessions
– Had 10.77 page views
– Had 0.11 downloads
– Was viewed for 5.6 minutes

15. Academic Library eBook Usage –
108,082 Arts & Humanities Titles
On average in 2013, at each library, each title:
– Was held by 68.0 libraries (vs 73.3 for all)
– Had 0.30 sessions (0.38)
– Had 8.85 page views (10.77)
– Had 0.09 downloads (0.11)
– Was viewed for 4.87 minutes (5.57)

16. Average Number of Libraries with
Title Available by Discipline
68 81 69
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Arts & Humanities Social Sciences STEM

17. Title Availability: By LC Class
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
H L J G E M Q D Z T B N F C R K P A V S U
73.3
68.0
Average availability across all subjects Average availability across A&H
Average number of academic libraries with title available

18. Title Availability: Arts & Humanities
78.00
76.00
74.00
72.00
70.00
68.00
66.00
64.00
62.00
60.00
58.00
56.00

19. ARE THESE THE RIGHT BOOKS?

20. Sessions Compared to Availability
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Social Sciences STEM Arts & Humanities
Availability
Sessions
Sessions are multiplied X100 to fit scale.

21. Sessions Compared to Availability:
Arts & Humanities
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Availability
Sessions
(x100)
Sessions are multiplied X100
to fit scale.

22. BROAD DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES

23. The Disciplines
Humanities
B (Philosophy, Religion)
excluding BF (Psychology)
C, D, E, F (History)
M (Music)
N (Fine Arts)
P (Language & Literature)
Social Sciences
BF (Psychology)
H (Social Sciences)
J (Political Science)
K (Law)
L (Education)
U, V (Military, Naval Sciences)
STEM
Q (Science)
R (Medicine)
S (Agriculture)
T (Technology)

24. Percentage of Titles Used
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
% of Titles with a Session % of Titles with a View % of Titles Downloaded

25. Average Usage: Sessions
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

26. Average Usage: Page Views
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2

27. Average Usage: Downloads
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0

28. Average Usage: Time
8
7
6
5
4
3
2

29. Views Per Session
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17

30. Downloads Per Session
0.14
0.13
0.12
0.11
0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06

31. Time Per Session
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6

32. Disciplinary Summary
• Social sciences outperform humanities and STEM in
two categories
– Percentage of books used
– Average amount of use
• STEM outperforms the others in actions per session
• Readers in the humanities spend more time in the
book per session
. . . but within the humanities . . .

33. Arts & Humanities Summary
• Art (N), Languages (P-PM), and Philosophy (B-BJ)
are used at a higher percentage and
average rate than other A&H subjects, and
generally than Social Sciences.
• On a percentage basis, History (C-F) and
Music(M) are used at about the same rate as
books overall, but the average usage is much
lower.
• Religion (BL-BX) and Literature (PN-PZ) show
poor use by all measures

34. Arts & Humanities Actions Per Session
• Views per session
Art, History, Music
Languages, Literature, Philosophy, Religion
• Downloads per session
Art, Languages, (Religion)
History, Literature, Music, (Philosophy)
• Time per session
History, Languages, Music, (Religion)
Art, Philosophy, (Literature)

35. MEASURING PREDICTED USE

36. Performance Relative to Predicted Use
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
H: 20.60% of titles available,
21.46% of titles with a session
L N J T H M R D E Z B G S V A C Q P K U F
% of Titles Available % of Titles with a Session
percentage difference

37. Performance Relative to Predicted Use
9.00%
8.00%
7.00%
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
3.00%
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
% of Titles Available
% of Titles with a Session

38. Performance Relative to Predicted Use
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
L A R H G N J C Z M B D P T K S Q E F U V
% of Titles Available % of Sessions
H: 20.60% of titles available
26.49% of sessions

39. Performance Relative to Predicted Use
9.00%
8.00%
7.00%
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
3.00%
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
% of Titles Available
% of Sessions

40. CAN WE LEARN ANYTHING BY LOOKING
AT THE MOST HIGHLY USED TITLES?

41. Availability Overall Compared to
Presence in Top 10,000
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Social Sciences STEM Arts &
Humanities
Percentage of Titles
Available
% of Titles with a Session
in Top 10,000

42. Availability Overall Compared to
Presence in Top 100,000
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Social Sciences STEM Arts &
Humanities
Percentage of Titles
Available
% of Titles with a Session
in Top 100,000

43. Availability Overall Compared to
Presence in Top 10,000 (A&H)
9.00%
8.00%
7.00%
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
3.00%
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
Percentage of Titles
Available
% of Titles with a Session in
the top 10,000

44. Availability Overall Compared to
Presence in Top 100,000 (A&H)
9.00%
8.00%
7.00%
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
3.00%
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
Percentage of Titles
Available
% of Titles with a Session in
the top 100,000

45. INTENSIVE / EXTENSIVE USE

46. Breadth vs Depth
PERCENTAGE OF TITLES USED
AVERAGE AMOUNT OF USE

47. EBL Sessions – Avg and %
Narrow (low %) but
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Broad (high %) and
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Narrow (low %) and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)
Broad (high % and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)

48. EBL Sessions – Avg and % (A&H)
Narrow (low %) but
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Broad (high %) and
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Narrow (low %) and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)
Broad (high % and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)

49. EBL Page Views – Avg and %
Narrow (low %) but
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Broad (high %) and
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Narrow (low %) and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)
Broad (high % and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)

50. EBL Page Views – Avg and % (A&H)
Narrow (low %) but
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Broad (high %) and
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Narrow (low %) and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)
Broad (high % and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)

51. EBL Downloaded – Avg and %
Narrow (low %) but
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Broad (high %) and
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Narrow (low %) and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)
Broad (high % and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)

52. EBL Downloaded – Avg and %
Narrow (low %) but
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Broad (high %) and
Deep (more usage of
each title)
Narrow (low %) and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)
Broad (high % and
Shallow (low usage of
each title)

55. CAN WE DETERMINE LEVEL OF
IMMERSION IN A BOOK?

56. Page Views Per Session
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
20.59
F N V M T E R Q G A D C H S P J K B Z U L

57. Page Views Per Session: A&H
24.00
23.00
22.00
21.00
20.00
19.00
18.00
17.00
20.59
Art Music History Literature Languages Philosophy Religion

58. Minutes Per Session (Time in the Book)
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
10.03
F E D J M C V G A K U R H P Q B T N S L Z

59. Minutes Per Session: A&H
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
10.03
History Music Languages Religion Literature Philosophy Art

60. Summary: Level of Immersion
• Users spend the most time in music (M) and
history books (C, D, E, F)
• Users examine a lot of pages in art books (N)
but spend a relatively small amount of time
(a lot like technology (T))

61. CONCLUSIONS

62. There are many ways to measure use
• Difference from predicted use
• Depth vs breadth
– Books used a lot vs a lot of books used
• Type of use (session, view, download)
• Amount of use per session

64. Page Views Per Session: A&H
24.00
23.00
22.00
21.00
20.00
19.00
18.00
17.00
20.59
Art Music History Literature Languages Philosophy Religion

65. Minutes Per Session: A&H
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
10.03
History Music Languages Religion Literature Philosophy Art

66. How do we use these observations
to build better collections and
better serve our users?

67. Thank You
Michael Levine-Clark
Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and
Collections Services
University of Denver Libraries
michael.levine-clark@du.edu
http://www.slideshare.net/MichaelLevineClark