Lecture presented by Vivian Praxedes D. Sy at PAARL's Summer Conference on the theme "Library Analytics: Data-driven Library Management", held at Pearl Hotel, Manila on 20-22 April 2016
Web and social media metrics: library’s impact and value
1. WEB AND SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS –
LIBRARY’S IMPACT AND VALUE
Vivian D. Sy
21 April 2016
2. Introduction
Philippines: transitioning to K to 12
program
Schools may be cutting their budgets
School administration to library: What is
your impact and value to the success of
your students and researchers?
3. The Library & the Strategic
Planning Process (Allison, 2015)
Library’s Mission: To provide quality intellectual property
that have specific bearing upon students’ learning objectives
analyze,
synthesize
Families
Employers
Society
Funding Bodies/Donors
Financiers
Government/Private
Institutions
4. The Library
& the Strategic Planning Process
Changes in the environment:
“corporalization” of universities
social networking
availability of e-readers
mobile devices
Google’s share of searches in the Internet
use of library as ideal space for working
5. The Challenge
How to determine the impact and value of
the library on student success
6. Determining the Library’s Impact
and Value
[1] Library Impact Data Project (in 2011 and 2012)
[2] University of Minnesota Research (in 2011)
[3]The Library Cube (data of 2010-2011)
7. Hypothesis: There is a statistically significant
correlation across a number of universities
between library activity data and student
attainment
[1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1 (Showers, 2015;Stone and Ramsden, 2013)
8. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1
Data Requirements of the LIDP Project
(Stone, Ramsden & Pattern, 2011)
9. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1
Data Requirements of the LIDP Project
(Stone, Ramsden and Pattern, 2011)
10. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1
Item Loans vs. Final Degree Results
(Pattern, 2012)
11. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1
E-resource Logins vs. Final Degree Results
(Pattern, 2012)
12. There is a positive relationship between
student final degree result and:
Library loans
E-resource usage
Correlation not established because data
used was non-continuous
Relationship between student final degree
results and library visit not be established;
many reasons why students enter the library
[1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1
13. Important concerns from focus groups:
Library resources
Referrals to resources
Library staff for consultation re technical and
resource problems
Technical concerns re access to information
and general technology problems
[1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 1
14. Hypothesis: There is a statistical significance
between
demographic data
discipline
student retention
and library usage
[1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
15. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
Dimensions of Usage
(Stone and Collins, 2013)
16. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
Demographic Data Examined in Phase 2
(Showers, 2015)
18. Country of Domicile
Black and Asian vsWhite students:
library visits
PC usage
e-resource usage within the campus
Chinese vs UK students:
library loans
e-resource usage
No relationship between Ethnicity and Final Grades
Overall, there is a relationship between
demographics and library usage
[1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
19. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
Course Enrollment
(Collins and Stone, 2014)
20. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
Course Enrollment
(Collins and Stone, 2014)
21. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
Of e-resources and PDF downloads
Social Sciences: higher user group
Arts: lowest user group
Social Sciences
Behavioral Sciences: highest user
Business: higher usage than law, social work, education
Law: extremely low users
Findings: There is a relationship between
discipline and library usage
22. [1] Library Impact Data Project –
Phase 2
Cumulative measure of usage was examined
Results were similar to those of Phase 1
There is a relationship between retention and
library usage
23. [1] Library Impact Data Project
Recommendations
Determine reasons for differences in library
usage among the different groups
Further breakdown data, e.g. age groups
Use results to modify services to target “low
users”
24. [2] University of Minnesota Research
How often and how do students use library
services and resources?
What impact does this usage have on students’
academic success?
25. [2] University of Minnesota Research
Digital access
Database, e-book and e-journal logins
Website logins
Circulation
Loans
Interlibrary loans
Workstation usage
Workstations
26. [2] University of Minnesota Research
Instruction
Workshops
Course-integrated instruction
Introduction to Library Research workshops
Reference
Peer Research Consultations
Online reference
27. [2] University of Minnesota Research
%age of Library Users
Undergraduate: 77%
Graduate: 85%
Students of all colleges or schools: 60% or higher were
library users
School of Pharmacy: 100% were library users
College of Design UG and G students: highest users of
physical collection
College of Human Development UG students: highest
users of digital collection
GS students are generally heavy users
28. [2] University of Minnesota Research
UG library users vs UG non-library users: GPA
Students who did “Introduction to Libraries II”:
more likely to enroll the next semester
Controlling for other factors, first-year non-
transfer students who used the library at least
once had higher GPAs and retention rates
One of these library-user students was associated with
0.23 increase in GPA compared to non-user
A unit-increase in type of use or library interaction was
associated with 0.07 increase in GPA
29. [2] University of Minnesota Research
Data used to:
support continuity or increase of library
budget
answer questions like percentage of
undergraduates who used the libraries for a
specific semester
include libraries mini-workshop in experience
course for new students
30. [2] University of Minnesota Research
Data used to:
inform academic advisors of their advisees’
use of the library, their class schedules and
previous grades
create interest in library services among
academic department liaisons, because of the
high library usage rate of other departments
31. [2] University of Minnesota Research
Recommend next study to determine
how and why patrons are using spaces in
the libraries
what spaces and services will attract new
spaces and services
32. [3] The Library Cube
Question: What is the value to the students
when they use library information resources?
33. [3] The Library Cube
Library Cube is a database with reporting
functions on:
Library usage data
Loans
E-resource usage
Subscription databases
E-books
E-readings materials
Demographic and academic performance data
Was deployed in May 2012
34. [3] The Library Cube
Re use of ezproxy logs to determine e-resource
usage hours
A day is divided into 144 10-minute sessions
If a student has a log entry in a specific 10-
minute session, add 1/6 of an hour to student’s
access for that session
Then disregard any other entries for the
same 10-minute session
35. [3] The Library Cube
Limitations
Borrowing <> learning
Skills in using library resources is only one of
several factors that contribute to academic
success
Correlation <> causality
37. [3] The Library Cube
Finding: Students who use library resources
outperform students who do not use library
resources
38. [3] The Library Cube
Areas of concern
For similar usage patterns, why are some
student groups more successful than others?
Why do postgraduates gain significantly less
benefit than undergraduate students?
39. For Philippines Libraries
Use any or a combination of the three cases
as models
Also look at theValue of Academic Libraries
Project of ACRL by Dugan, 2015
Decide on which library usage data to study
against academic performance
Consider limitations of use of e-resource
usage and social metrics
Supplement quantitative with qualitative
data to investigate possible areas of concern
40. For Philippines Libraries
Be creative in viewing the data to:
Modify not-as-effective services
Terminate non-effective services
Come up with new services
Define and follow through with action plans
based on the data
Try to coordinate for a constant data
analytics service
Improve e-resource usage and social metrics
41. Conclusion
If the school administration asks, “What is
your impact and value to the success of
your students and researchers?” the library
should be able to quantify its impact and
value.