Analyzing Digital Collections Entrances: What Gets Used and Why …libres.uncg.edu/ir/wcu/f/Biswas_Analyzing Digital... · 2017. 4. 17. · Analyzing Digital Collections Entrances:

AnalyzingDigitalCollectionsEntrances:WhatGetsUsedandWhyItMatters

ParomitaBiswasandJoelMarchesoni

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYANDLIBRARIES|DECEMBER2016

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ABSTRACT

ThispaperanalyzesusagedatafromHunterLibrary’sdigitalcollectionsusingGoogleAnalyticsforaperiodoftwenty-sevenmonthsfromOctober2013throughDecember2015.Theauthorsconsiderthisdataanalysistobeimportantforidentifyingcollectionsthatreceivethelargestnumberofvisits.Wearguethisdataevaluationisimportantintermsofbetterinformingdecisionsforbuildingdigitalcollectionsthatwillserveuserneeds.TheauthorsalsostudythebenefitsofharvestingtositessuchastheDigitalPublicLibraryofAmerica,andtheybelievethispaperwillcontributetotheliteratureonGoogleAnalyticsanditsusebylibraries.INTRODUCTION

HunterLibraryatWesternCarolinaUniversity(WCU)hasfourteendigitalcollectionshostedinCONTENTdm—adigitalcollectionmanagementsystemfromOCLC.Userscanenterthecollectionsinvariousways—throughtheLibrary’sCONTENTdmlandingpages,1searchengines,orsitessuchastheDigitalPublicLibraryofAmerica(DPLA)whereallthecollectionsareharvested.2SinceOctober2013,theLibraryhascollectedusagedatafromitscollections’websitesandfromDPLAreferralsviaGoogleAnalytics.Thispaperanalyzesthisusagedatacoveringaperiodofapproximatelytwenty-sevenmonthsfromOctober2013throughDecember2015.Theauthorsconsiderthisdataanalysisimportantforidentifyingcollectionsreceivingthelargestnumberofvisits,includingvisitsthroughharvestingsitessuchastheDPLA.Theauthorsarguethatsuchdataevaluationisimportantbecauseitcanbetterinformdecisionstakentobuildcollectionsthatwillattractusersandservetheirneeds.Additionally,thisanalysisofusagedatageneratedfromharvestingsitessuchastheDPLAdemonstratestheusefulnessofharvestinginincreasingdigitalcollections’usage.Lastly,thispapercontributestothebroaderliteratureonGoogleAnalyticsanditsusebylibrariesindataanalysis.

LITERATUREREVIEW

UsingGoogleAnalyticstostudyusageofelectronicresourcesiscommon;aconsiderableamountofmaterialexistsdescribingtheuseofGoogleAnalyticsinmarketingandbusinessfields.3

ParomitaBiswas([email protected])isMetadataLibrarianandJoelMarchesoni([email protected])isTechnologySupportAnalyst,HunterLibrary,WesternCarolinaUniversity,Cullowhee,NorthCarolina.

ANALYZINGDIGITALCOLLECTIONSENTRANCES:WHATGETSUSEDANDWHYITMATTERS|BISWASANDMARCHESONI|https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v35i4.9446

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However,thepublishedliteratureofferslittleabouttheuseofthissoftwareforstudyingusageofcollectionsconsistingofuniquematerialsdigitizedandplacedonlinebylibrariesandculturalheritageorganizations.Forexample,BettyhaswrittenaboutusingGoogleAnalyticstotrackstatisticsforuserinteractionwithlibrarian-createddigitalmediasuchasquizzesandvideotutorials.4FangdiscussesusingGoogleAnalyticstotrackthebehaviorofuserswhovisitedtheRutgers-NewarkLawLibrarywebsite.5Fanglookedatthenumberofvisitors,whatandhowmanypagestheyvisited,howlongtheystayedoneachpage,wheretheywerecomingfrom,andwhichsearchengineorwebsitehadreferredthemtothelibrary’swebsite.Findingswereevaluatedandusedtomakeimprovementstothelibrary’swebsite.Forexample,FangmentionsusingGoogleAnalyticsdatafortrackingthepercentageofnewandreturningvisitorsbeforeandafterthewebsiteredesign.

Amongarticlesthatdiscussusingwebanalyticstolearnhowusersaccessdigitalcollections,mosthavefocusedonacomparisonbetweenthird-partyplatforms,onlinesearchengines,andthetraditionallibrarycatalogtofindpreferredmodesofaccessandwhetherresultscallforashiftinhowlibrariessharetheirdigitalcollections.Forexample,intheirarticleontheimpactofsocialmediaplatformssuchasHistoryPinandPinterestonthediscoveryandaccessofdigitalcollections,BaggettandGibbsuseGoogleAnalyticsfortrackingusageofdigitalobjectsonthelibrary’swebsiteaswellstatisticscollectedfromHistoryPin’sandPinterest’sfirst-partyanalyticstools.6TheauthorsconcludethatwhileneitherHistoryPinnorPinterestdriveusersbacktothelibrary’swebsite,theyhelpinthediscoveryofdigitalcollectionsandcanenhanceuseraccesstolibrarycollections.SchlosserandStampercomparetheeffectsonusageofacollectionhousedinaninstitutionalrepositoryandrepostedonFlickr.7Whetherhousingacollectiononathird-partysitehadanadverseeffectonattractingtraffictothelibrary’swebsitewasnotasimportantasensuringusersaccessedthecollectionsomewhere.Likewise,O’EnglishdemonstrateshowdatafromwebanalyticswereusedtocompareaccesstoarchivalmaterialsviaonlinesearchenginesasopposedtolibrarycatalogsusingMARCrecordsfordescriptions.8O’Englishargueslibrarypracticesshouldchangeaccordinglytopromotepatronaccessanduse.Ladd’sarticleontheaccessanduseofadigitalpostcardcollectionfromMiamiUniversityusesstatisticsfromGoogleAnalytics,CONTENTdm,andFlickroveraperiodofoneyear.9Ladd’sfindingsrevealthatfewuserscametothemaindigitalcollectionswebsitetosearchandbrowse;instead,mostarrivedviaexternalsourcessuchassearchenginesandsocialmediasites.Theresultingincreaseinviewsmakesitimperative,Laddasserts,thatregularupdatesbothinCONTENTdmandFlickrareimportantforpromotingaccessanduseofthepostcards.

ArticlesonusingGoogleAnalyticsfortrackingdigitalcollectionusagehaveexploredtrackingthegeographicbaseofusers.Forexample,HeroldusesGoogleAnalyticstodemonstrateusageofadigitalarchivalcollectionbyusersatinstitutional,national,andinternationallevels.10HeroldlooksatservertransactionlogsmaintainedinGoogleAnalytics,on-andoff-campussearchingcounts,userlocations,andrepeatvisitorstothearchivalimagesrepresentingculturalheritagematerialsrelatedtoOrangAslipeoplesandculturesofMalaysia.Sheusesthesedatatoascertain

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYANDLIBRARIES|DECEMBER2016 21

thenumberofusersbygeographicregionanddeterminethat,whilemostvisitorscamefromtheUnitedStates,Malaysiarankedsecond.Thedatasupported,accordingtoHerold,thatthisparticulardigitalcollectionwasabletoreachanothertargetaudience:usersfromMalaysia.Herold’sfindingsindicatethatdigitizationofuniquematerialsmakesthemavailabletoaworldwideaudience.

WhetherharvestinghasincreasedusageofdigitalcollectionsavailableviaDPLAoritshubshasreceivedlimitedexplorationintheliterature.Mostwritingsonharvestingdigitalcollectionshavefocusedmoreonthetechnicalaspectsoftheprocess,liketheDPLA’singestionmethod,thequalityandscalabilityofmetadataremediationandenhancement,11andlargemetadataencoding.12Forexample,GregoryandWilliamswriteabouttheNorthCarolinaDigitalHeritageCenterasoneoftheservicehubsoftheDPLA.TheservicehubsarecentersthataggregatedigitalcollectionmetadataprovidedbyinstitutionsforharvestingbytheDPLA.Theauthorsdiscussmetadatarequirements,softwarereview,andestablishmentofworkflowforsendinglargemetadatafeedstotheDPLA.13Boyd,Gilbert,andVinson,intheirarticleontheSouthCarolinaDigitalLibrary(SCDL),anotherservicehubforDPLA,describetheplanningbehindsettinguptheSCDL,itsmanagement,andthetechnologyinvolvedinmetadataharvesting.14FreelandandMoulaisondiscusstheMissourihubasamodelfor“institutionswithsimilarcollectivegoalsforexposingandenrichingtheirdatathroughtheDPLA.”15Accordingtothem,byharvestingtheirmetadatatotheDPLA,institutionsareabletosharetheirdigitalcollectionswiththebroaderpublic.Additionally,institutionsthatharvestmetadatatotheDPLAgetvalue-addedserviceslikegeocodingoflocation-basedmetadataandexpressionofcontributedmetadataaslinkeddata.

DataCollectionParameters

HunterLibrarydigitalcollectionsusagedataincludedinformationonitemviews16andreferrals17foreachofthecollectionsincludingDPLAreferrals.Theauthorsalsoconsideredkeywordsearchterms18acrossallreferrals,andwithinCONTENTdmspecifically,thatbroughtuserstotheLibrary’scollections.Theauthorsconsideredthemostfrequentlyoccurringkeywordstoberepresentingthesubjectsofcollectionsthatweremostused.RepeatvisitorstotheLibrary’sdigitalcollections’websitewerealsotracked.Finally,sessions19weretracedbythegeographicarea20oftheusers.

HunterLibrary’scollectionsvaryinsize.TheLibrary’slargestandoneoftheoldestcollections,CraftRevival[Note:collectionsaresetinromanandcapitalized]showcasesdocuments,photographs,andcraftobjectshousedinHunterLibraryandsmallerregionalinstitutions.Thecollection’sitemsrepresentthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcentury(1890s–1940s)CraftRevivalmovementinWesternNorthCarolina,whichwascharacterizedbyarenewedinterestinhandmadeobjects,includingCherokeeartsandcrafts.TheCraftRevivalcollectionbeganin2005andincludes1,982items.Thesecondlargestcollection,GreatSmokyMountains,whichhighlightseffortsthatwentintotheestablishmentoftheparkandincludesphotographsonthelandscapeandfloraandfaunainthepark,beganin2012andconsistsof1,829items.Notalldigital


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collectionswereharvestedtotheDPLAatthesametime.WhilesomeoldercollectionswereharvestedtotheDPLAin2013,smaller,institution-specificcollectionsstartedlaterwerealsoharvestedlater.ForexampleWCU—OralHistories,acollectionofinterviewscollectedbystudentsofoneofWCU’shistoryclassesdocumentingthehistoryandcultureofWesternNorthCarolinaandthelivesofWCUathletesorartists’likeJosephinaNiggliwhotaughtdramaatWCU;HighlightsfromWCU,acollectionofuniqueitemsfromWCU’sMountainHeritageCenterandotherdepartmentsoncampus,includinglettersfromtheLibrary’sSpecialCollectionstranscribedbyWCU’sEnglishdepartmentstudents;andWCU—FineArtMuseum,showcasingartworkfromtheuniversity’sFineArtMuseum,wereharvestedtotheDPLAin2015.Asthesesmallercollectionswerestartedlater,theirtotalitemviewsandreferralcountswouldlikelybelessthansomeoftheLibrary’soldercollections;however,thesenewercollectionswereincludedastheymightprovidevaluabledataregardingharvestingreferralsandreturningvisitors.Table1showstheyearsthecollectionswerestarted,thenumberofitemsincludedineachcollection,andtheyeartheywereharvestedtotheDPLA.

CollectionName StartYearCollectionSize

(NumberofItems) HarvestedSince

CherokeeTraditions 2011 332 2013CivilWar 2011 68 2013CraftRevival 2005 1,982 2013GreatSmokyMountains

2013 1,829 2013

HighlightsfromWCU 2015 39 2015HoraceKephart 2005 552 2013PicturingAppalachia 2012 972 2013StoriesofMountainFolk

2012 374 2013

TravelWesternNorthCarolina

2011 160 2013

WCU—FineArtMuseum

2015 87 2015

WCU—Herbarium 2013 91 2013WCU—MakingMemories

2012 408 2013

WCU—OralHistories 2015 67 2015WesternNorthCarolinaRegionalMaps

2015 37 2015

Table1.Collectionsbyyear


CollectingDataUsingGoogleAnalytics

TheLibraryhashadGoogleAnalyticssetupononlineexhibits—websitesoutsideofCONTENTdmthatprovideadditionalinsightintothecollection—since2008andbeganusingGoogleAnalyticstotrackitsCONTENTdmmaterialswiththe6.1.2releaseinOctober2013.CONTENTdmversion6.4introducedaconfigurationfieldthatallowedtheauthorstoenteraGoogleAnalyticsIDandautomaticallygeneratethetrackingcodeinpagestosimplifythesetup.Followingthatsoftwareupdate,OCLCmadeGoogleAnalyticsthedefaultdataloggingmechanism.

TheLibrarysetupGoogleAnalyticssuchthatonlineexhibitsaretrackedtogetherwiththeirCONTENTdmcollections.ThisisaccomplishedbyusingcustomtrackingonallwebpagesandacustomscriptinCONTENTdm.ThisallowstheLibrarytolinkitsCONTENTdmandwcu.edudomainswithinGoogleAnalyticssothatsessionscanbeviewedacrossallonlinedigitalcollections.

DatawerecollectedfromGoogleAnalyticsusingseveraltools.GoogleprovidesanonlinetoolcalledQueryExplorer(https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/query-explorer/)thatcancreateandexecutecustomsearchesagainstGoogleAnalytics.Thisapplicationwasusedtocraftthequeries.MicrosoftExcelwasprimarilyusedtodownloaddata,usingthecustompluginResttoExcelLibrary(http://ramblings.mcpher.com/Home/excelquirks/json/rest)toparseinformationfromGoogleAnalyticsintoworksheets.TheExceladd-onworkswell,butrequiresknowledgeofMicrosoftVisualBasicforApplications(VBA)programmingtouseeffectively.Thislimitationpromptedtheauthorstolookforasimplerwayofretrievingdata.TheauthorsfoundOpenRefine(https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine)tocollect,sort,andfilterdata,withExcelusedforresultsanalysis.OnceinExcel,formulaswereusedtominedataforspecifictargets.

RESULTSANALYSIS

ThedatacollectedusingGoogleAnalyticsspannedaperiodofapproximatelytwenty-sevenmonths,fromOctober2013throughDecember2015.Table1andgraph1showeachcollection’sitemviews,itemreferrals,andsize(numberofitemsinthecollection).Thesenumberswerecalculatedforeachcollectionasapercentageoftotalitemviews,totalitemsreferrals,andtotalnumberofitemsforallcollectionstogether.Intable2,thetopfivecollectionsintermsofitemsviewsandreferralsarehighlighted.Graph1,agraphicalrepresentationoftable2,displaysmorestarklythedifferencesbetweencollectionsintermsofviewsandreferrals.


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CollectionName

ItemViewsasPercentageofTotal

Views

ItemReferralsasPercentageofTotalReferrals

NumberofItemsasPercentageofTotalItems

forallCollectionsCherokeeTraditions 6.38 6.12 4.74CivilWar 1.89 0.88 0.97CraftRevival 41.35 52.39 28.32GreatSmokyMountains 7.50 6.34 26.14HighlightsfromWCU 0.23 0.08 0.56HoraceKephart 11.67 7.62 7.89PicturingAppalachia 10.03 9.99 13.89StoriesofMountainFolk 3.51 2.45 5.344TravelWesternNorthCarolina 7.87 9.57 2.29

WCU—FineArtMuseum 0.19 0.08 1.24WCU—Herbarium 0.71 0.45 1.30WCU—MakingMemories 7.13 2.64 5.83WCU—OralHistories 0.80 1.08 0.96WesternNorthCarolinaRegionalMaps 0.26 0.11 0.53

Total 100.00 100.00 100.00Table2.Collectionsbypercentage

Graph1.Collectionsbypercentage


Asdemonstratedintheprecedingtableandgraph,CraftRevival,oneoftheLibrary’soldestandlargestcollections,contributesmorethan28percentofalldigitalcollections’itemsandgarnerscloseto42percentofallitemviewsand53percentofallitemreferrals.GreatSmokyMountains,thesecondlargestcollection,contributesalittlemorethan26percentofitemsbutreceivesonlyabout8percentofallitemviewsand7percentofallreferrals.TheHoraceKephartcollection,focusingonthelifeandworksofHoraceKephart—author,librarian,andoutdoorsmanwhomadethemountainsofWesternNorthCarolinahishomelaterinlife—istheLibrary’sfourthlargestcollection.Itreceivesalmost12percentofallitemviewsandabout8percentofallitemreferrals.PicturingAppalachia,thethirdlargestcollection—consistingofphotographsshowcasingthehistory,culture,andnaturallandscapeofSouthernAppalachiaintheWesternNorthCarolinaregion—makesup14percentofitemsandreceivesapproximately10percentofallreferralsandviews.TravelWesternNorthCarolina—visualjourneysofWesternNorthCarolinacommunitiesthroughthreegenerations—contributesfewerthan3percentofitemsbutscoreshighonbothitemsviewsandreferrals.WCU—MakingMemories,whichhighlightsthepeople,buildings,andeventsfromWCU’shistory,andStoriesofMountainFolk(SOMF),whichisacollectionofradioprogramsfromWesternNorthCarolinanon-profitCatchtheSpiritofAppalachiaandarchivedatHunterLibrary,arecollectionsthataresimilarinsize—receivingfewerthan3percentofallitemreferrals.However,WCU—MakingMemoriesreceivesamorethan7percentofallitemviewscomparedtoSOMF’salmost4percent.

ThesefindingsarenotsurprisingastheMakingMemoriescollectiondocumentsWesternCarolinaUniversity’shistoryandmayreceivemanyviewsfromwithintheinstitution.Overall,however,theCraftRevivalcollectioncanbeconsideredtheLibrary’smostpopularcollection.TheHoraceKephartcollectionappearstobethesecondmostpopularcollection.And,notsurprisingly,CherokeeTraditions,acollectionofartobjects,photographs,andrecordingssimilarincontenttotheCraftRevivalintermsofitsfocusonCherokeecultureandhistory,isquitepopularandreceivesmoreitemreferralsthanbothWCU—MakingMemoriesandSOMFandmoreitemviewsthanSOMF(table2).

AnanalysisofkeywordsearcheswithinCONTENTdmandkeywordsearchesacrossallreferralsourcesreiteratesthesefindings.Aspartoftheanalysis,datacollectedforthistwenty-seven-monthperiodforthetopkeywordsearcheswithinCONTENTdmandthetopkeywordsearchescountingallreferralswasrecordedinanExcelspreadsheetandthenuploadedtoOpenRefine.OpenRefineallowstextandnumericdatatobesortedbyname(alphabetical)andcount(highesttolowestoccurring).OncetheExcelspreadsheetwasuploadedtoOpenRefine,keywordsweresortednumericallyandclustered.OpenRefinehasa“cluster”functiontobringtogethertextthathasthesamemeaningbutdiffersbyspellingorcapitalization(forexample,“CHEROKEE,”“cherokee,”“cheroke”)orbyorder(forexample,“JaneSmith,”“Smith,Jane”).Theclusteringfunctionprovidesacountofthenumberoftimesakeywordwasusedregardlessofexactspelling.Afteridentifyingkeywordsbelongingtoacluster(forexample,aclusteroftheword“Cherokee”spelleddifferently),thedifferentlyspelledororganizedkeywordsineachclusterweremergedin


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OpenRefinewiththeirmostaccuratecounterparts.Finally,itshouldbenotedthatkeywordsincluding“!”and“+”symbolsweremostlikelygeneratedfromeitherusingmultiplesearchtermswithinCONTENTdm’sadvancedsearchorfromcuratedsearchlinksmaintainedonsomeofouronlineexhibitwebsites.Theselinkstakeuserstocommonlyusedresultsetswithinthecollection.Tables3and4providealistingofthetenmostfrequentlysearchedkeywordswithinCONTENTdmacrossallreferralsandnamesofcollectionsthataremostrelevanttothesesearches.

Keywords OccurrenceCount RelevantCollection(s)

Cherokee 187 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

CherokeeLanguage 107 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

SouthernHighlandCraftGuild

98 CraftRevival

basket!object 96 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

Indianmasks—AppalachianRegion,Southern

83 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

Basket!photographpostcard 82 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

W.M.ClineCompany 78 PicturingAppalachia;CraftRevival

Cherokee+Indian!photograph

72 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

Wood-carving—AppalachianRegion,Southern

70 CraftRevival

Indianwood-carving—AppalachianRegion,Southern

69 CraftRevival

Table3.TopkeywordssearcheswithinCONTENTdm


Keywords NumberofSessions RelevantCollection(s)cherokeetraditions 442 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditionshoracekephart 185 HoraceKephart;Great

SmokyMountains;PicturingAppalachia

cherokeepottery 55 CraftRevival;CherokeeTraditions

kephartknife 50 HoraceKephartamandaswimmer 37 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditionsappalachianpeople 36 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditions;GreatSmokyMountains;WCU—Oral

Historiescherokeeindianpottery 36 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditionscherokeebaskets 34 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditionsweavingpatterns 33 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditionsbasketweaving 26 CraftRevival;Cherokee

Traditions

Table4.Topkeywordsearchesacrossallreferrals

Tables3and4showthattopsearchesrelatetoartsandcraftsfromtheWesternNorthCarolinaregion(“baskets,”“Indianmasks,”“Indianwoodcarving,”“Cherokeepottery”),artists(“amandaswimmer”),ortopicsrelatingtoCherokeeculture(“cherokee,”“cherokeelanguage”).SearchesrelatingtotheHoraceKephartcollection(“horacekephart,”“kephartknife”)arealsopopular,explainingthefactthattheKephartcollection,whichaccountsforfewerthan8percentoftheLibrary’sdigitalcollections’itemsscoreshighlyintermsofitemviews(second)andreferrals(fourth).

ThepopularityoftopicsrelatedtoWesternNorthCarolinaisreiteratedinthegeographicbaseoftheusers.Graph2showsNorthCarolinaaccountsformostofthesearches,withcitiesinWesternNorthCarolina(Asheville,Franklin,Cherokee,Waynesville)accountingformorethan40percentofsessions.


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Graph2.Citiesbysessioncount

ThemajorityofitemreferralscomefromsearchenginessuchasGoogle,Bing,andYahoo!Graph3showsthepercentageofitemreferralsfromtheseexternalsearches.21However,theDPLAalsogeneratesafairamountofincomingtraffictothecollections.Forexample,whileallcollectionsgetreferralsfromtheDPLA,harvestingtotheDPLAisparticularlyusefulforsmallercollectionssuchasHighlightsfromWCU,WCU—FineArtMuseum,andCivilWarCollection.Eachofthesecollectionsgets17percentofreferralsfromtheDPLA,makingDPLAthelargestreferralsourcefollowingthesearchenginesfortheHighlightsandFineArtMuseumcollections.Graph4showsreferralseachcollectionreceivesviatheDPLAasapercentageoftotalreferrals.ThisindicatestheusefulnessofharvestingtotheDPLA.AtrendseemsalsotoshowthereisanincreaseintotalreferralsfromDPLApermonththelongeritemsareinDPLA(graph5).

Graph3.Percentageofsearchengineitemreferrals(Google,Bing,andYahoo!)

367319

171146 144 135 122 109 105 98

44%

29%

47% 44%

75%

43% 57%

11% 23%

75% 74%

38% 33%

6% 22%


Graph4.PercentageofDPLAitemreferrals

Graph5.IncreaseinDPLAreferralsovertime

Lastly,newandreturningvisitorstothecollectionsweretrackedasamarkerofuserinterestinparticularcollections.Graph6showsdatacollectedfornewandreturningvisitorscalculatedasaproportionofthetotalnumberofvisitsforeachcollection.SomesmallercollectionslikeHighlightsfromWCU,WNCRegionalMaps,WCU—FineArtMuseum,andWCU—OralHistoriesscorehighlyintermsofattractingreturnvisitors(graph6).

6%

17%

3%

12%

17%

4%

11%

6% 3%

17%

3% 4% 5% 0%


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Graph6.Newandreturningvisitors

DISCUSSION

TheaimbehindgatheringdatawastostudyusageofHunterLibrary’sdigitalcollectionsandexaminetheusefulnessofharvestinginpromotinguse.Althoughusagedatalogswereunabletoshedmuchlightontheactualusefulnessofthecollectionstousers,thelogsprovidedinformationonvolumeofuse,whatmaterialswereaccessed,andwhereuserswerelocated.Analysisofthetransactionlogsindicatesthatwhileallcollectionslikelybenefittedfromharvesting,CraftRevival,CherokeeTraditions,andHoraceKephart(collectionsfocusingonthecultureandhistoryofwesternNorthCarolina)werethemostheavilyusedandmostvisitorscamefromthestateofNorthCarolinaandfromtheregioninparticular.SearchtermsinthetransactionlogsalsoindicatedastronginterestinitemsrelatedtoCherokeecultureandHoraceKephart.AsHerold,whotracedthesecondlargestgroupofusersoftheOrangAslidigitalimagearchivetoMalaysianotes,thegeographicbaseofacollection’suserscanbeindicativeofthepopularityofasubjectarea.22Likewise,Matusiakassertsthatusers’commentscanbeindicativeoftherelevanceofcollectionstousers’needsandprovidedirectionforthefuturedevelopmentofdigitalcollections.23

AsneithertheCraftRevival,CherokeeTraditions,norHoraceKephartcollectionincludesitemsthatrelatespecificallytotheuniversity’shistory—unlikeotherinstitution-specificcollectionsmentionedearlier—itispossiblecollectionusersmaybemorerepresentativeofthelargerpublicthantheuniversity.Thesefindingspointtotheneedforquestioningidentificationofanacademic


library’suserbaseasmainlystudentsandfacultyoftheinstitutionandwhetherlibrariansshouldgivegreaterconsiderationtotheneedsofawideraudience.24Datasupportingtheexistenceofthisuserbase,whosetrueimportorpreferencesmightnotbecapturedinsurveysandquestionnaires,canserveasavaluablesourceofinformationforindividualsresponsibleforbuildingdigitalcollections.

InaninformalsurveyofHunterLibraryfacultycarriedoutbyHunterLibrary’sDigitalInitiativesUnitinSeptemberof2014,respondentsconsideredcollectionssuchasCraftRevivaltobemoreusefultousersexternaltotheuniversity.WhilethesurveycouldalludetothenatureoftheuserbaseofacollectionlikeCraftRevival,itunderstandablycouldnotcapturethescaleoftheitemviewsandreferralsgarneredbythiscollectionaswellasausagedataanalysiscould.Ontheotherhand,analysisofusagedata,asdemonstratedinthispaper,indicatedthatcertaincollections—HighlightsfromWCU,WCU—FineArtMuseum,andWCU—OralHistories—possiblyservedanicheaudience.Thesesmallerandmorerecentlyestablishedcollectionsconsistingofuniversity-createdmaterialsattractedmorereturningvisitors(seegraph6).Thesereturningvisitorswerelikelyinternaluserswhosevisitsindicated,asFangpointsout,aloyaltytothesecollections.25

Inthepaper“AFrameworkofGuidanceforBuildingGoodDigitalCollections,”authoredbytheNationalInformationStandardsOrganizationFrameworkAdvisoryGroup,theauthorspointoutthatwhiletherearenoabsoluterulesforcreatingqualitydigitalcollections,agoodcollectionshouldincludedatapertainingtousage.26Theauthorspointtomultipleassessmentmatrixesincludingusingacombinationofobservations,surveys,experiments,andtransactionloganalyses.AstheWCUdigitalcollectionsfindingsdemonstrate,acarefulanalysisofthepopularityofcollectionscanindicatetheneedforbalancingquantitativedatawithmorequalitativesurveyandinterviewdata.Thesefindingsalsoindicatethatusagedataanalysiscanbeveryvaluableinidentifyingtheextentofcollectionusagebyvisitorswhomaynothavesignificantsurveyrepresentation.Resultsfromthesmall(fewerthantenrespondents)WCUsurveyindicatethatsomerespondentsquestiontheinstitutionalusefulnessofcollectionssuchasCraftRevival.Theseresultsshowtheimportanceoftakingmultiplefactorsintoaccountwhenassessinguserneedsandinterestsindigitalcollections.

CONCLUSION

Theauthorsfeelfutureprojectsmightstemfromthisdataanalysis.Forexample,localsubjectfieldsbasedonthehighestrecurringkeywordsthatwereminedfromthetransactionlogscanbeaddedforallofHunterLibrary’sdigitalcollections.Usagestatisticsatalaterperiodcouldbeevaluatedtostudyifadditionofusergeneratedkeywordsincreaseduseofanycollection.AsMatusiakpointsoutinherarticleontheusefulnessofuser-centeredindexingindigitalimagecollections,socialtagging—despiteitslackofsynonymcontrolormisuseofthesingularandplural—isapowerfulformofindexingbecauseof“closeconnectionwithusersandtheirlanguage,”asopposedtotraditionalindexing.27Thetermsusersassigntodescribeimagesarealsotheonestheyaremostlikelytotypewhilesearchingfordigitalimages.Likewise,accordingtoWalsh,a


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studyconductedbytheUniversityofAlbertafoundmorethanfortypercentofcollectionsreviewedusedalocallydevelopedclassificationforindexingandsearchingtheircollections,andmanyoftheseschemescouldworkwellforsearcheswithinthecollectionbyuserswhoarefamiliarwiththecultureofthecollection.28

Usage-dataanalysiscanconstituteusefulinformationthatguidesdecisionsforbuildingdigitalcollectionsthatbetterserveuserneeds.Itcanidentifyalibrary’sdigitalcollections’usersandwhattheywant.Theseareimportantconsiderationstokeepinmindiflibraryservicesaretobeallaboutengagingandbuildingrelationshipwiththeusers.29HarvestingtoanationalportalsuchastheDPLAisbeneficialforHunterLibrary’scollections.Atthesametime,theLibrary’sinstitution-specificcollectionsreceivemorereturnvisits,likelybecauseofsustainedinterestfromthelargeuserbaseoftheuniversity’sstudentsandemployees,anassessmentsupportedbysurveyfindings.Conversely,collectionsnotsodirectlytiedtotheinstitutionreceivethemostone-timeitemviewsandreferrals.Itemsthatgetusedareagoodindicationofwhatuserswantand,asthispaperdemonstrates,thefocusofacademicdigitallibrarycollectionsshouldconsidertheneedsofboththeuniversityaudienceandthegeneralpublic.

REFERENCES

1. Alandingpagereferstothehomepageofacollection.

2. TheDPLAprovidesasingleportalforaccessingdigitalcollectionsheldbyculturalheritageinstitutionsacrosstheUnitedStates.“History,”DigitalPublicLibraryofAmerica,accessedMay19,2016,http://dp.la/info/about/history/.

3. PaulBetty,“AssessingHomegrownLibraryCollections:UsingGoogleAnalyticstoTrackUseofScreencastsandFlash-BasedLearningObjects,”JournalofElectronicResourcesLibrarianship21,no.1(2009):75–92,https://doi.org/10.1080/19411260902858631.

4. Ibid.

5. WeiFang,“UsingGoogleAnalyticsforImprovingLibraryWebsiteContentandDesign:ACaseStudy,”LibraryPhilosophyandPractice(e-journal),June2007,1-17,http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/121.

6. MarkBaggettandRabiaGibbs,“HistorypinandPinterestforDigitalCollections:MeasuringtheImpactofImage-BasedSocialToolsonDiscoveryandAccess,”JournalofLibraryAdministration54,no.1(2014):11–22,https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2014.893111.

7. MelanieSchlosserandBrianStamper,“LearningtoShare:MeasuringUseofaDigitizedCollectiononFlickrandintheIR,”InformationTechnologyandLibraries31,no.3(September2012):85–93,https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v31i3.1926.


8. MarkR.O’English,“ApplyingWebAnalyticstoOnlineFindingAids:PageViews,Pathways,and

LearningaboutUsers,”JournalofWesternArchives2,no.1(2011):1–12,http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives/vol2/iss1/1.

9. MarcusLadd,“AccessandUseintheDigitalAge:ACaseStudyofaDigitalPostcardCollection,”NewReviewofAcademicLibrarianship21,no.2(2015):225–31,https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2015.1031258.

10.IreneM.H.Herold,“DigitalArchivalImageCollections:WhoAretheUsers?”Behavioral&SocialSciencesLibrarian29,no.4(2010):267–82,https://doi.org/10.1080/01639269.2010.521024.

11.MarkA.MatienzoandAmyRudersdorf,“TheDigitalPublicLibraryofAmericaIngestionEcosystem:LessonsLearnedAfterOneYearofLarge-ScaleCollaborativeMetadataAggregation,”in2014ProceedingsoftheInternationalConferenceonDublinCoreandMetadataApplications(DCMI,2014),1–11,http://arxiv.org/abs/1408.1713.

12. OskanaL.Zavalinaetal.,“ExtendedDate/TimeFormat(EDTF)intheDigitalPublicLibraryofAmerica’sMetadata:ExploratoryAnalysis,”ProceedingsoftheAssociationforInformationScienceandTechnology52,no.1(2015),1–5,http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010066/abstract.

13. LisaGregoryandStephanieWilliams,“OnBeingaHub:SomeDetailsbehindProvidingMetadatafortheDigitalPublicLibraryofAmerica,”D-LibMagazine20,no.7/8(July/August2014):1–10,https://doi.org/10.1045/july2014-gregory.

14.KateBoyd,HeatherGilbert,andChrisVinson,“TheSouthCarolinaDigitalLibrary(SCDL):WhatIsItandWhereIsItGoing?”SouthCarolinaLibraries2,no.1(2016),http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/scl_journal/vol2/iss1/3.

15.ChrisFreelandandHeatherMoulaison,“DevelopmentoftheMissouriHub:PreparingforLinkedOpenDatabyContributingtotheDigitalPublicLibraryofAmerica,”ProceedingsoftheAssociationforInformationScienceandTechnology52,no.1(2015):1–4,http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pra2.2015.1450520100105/abstract.

16.Asingleviewofaniteminadigitalcollection.

17.Visitstothesitethatbeganfromanothersitewithanitempagebeingthefirstpageviewed.

18.KeywordsarewordsvisitorsusedtofindtheLibrary’swebsitewhenusingasearchengine.GoogleAnalyticsprovidesalistofthesekeywords.

19.Asessionisdefinedasa“groupofinteractionsthattakeplaceonawebsitewithinagiventimeframe”andcanincludemultiplekindsofinteractionslikepageviews,socialinteractions,andeconomictransactions.InGoogleAnalytics,asessionbydefaultlaststhirtyminutes,though


34

onecanadjustthislengthtolastafewsecondsorseveralhours.“HowaSessionIsDefinedinAnalytics,”Google,AnalyticsHelp,accessedMay20,2016,https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?hl=en.

20.Locationswerestudiedintermsofmostlycitiesandstates.

21.Thepercentageisbasedonthetotalreferralcountacollectiongets—forexample,a44percentreferralcountforCherokeeTraditionswouldmeanthatthesearchenginesaccountfor44percentofthetotalreferralsthiscollectiongets.

22.Herold,“DigitalArchivalImageCollections,”278.

23.KrystynaK.Matusiak,“TowardsUser-centeredIndexinginDigitalImageCollections,”OCLCSystems&Services:InternationalDigitalLibraryPerspectives22,no.4(2006):283–98,https://doi.org/10.1108/10650750610706998.

24.Ladd,“AccessandUseintheDigitalAge,”230.

25.FangpointsoutthattheimprovementsmadetotheRutgers-NewarkLawLibrarywebsitecouldattractmorereturnvisitorsandthusachieveloyalty.Fang,“UsingGoogleAnalyticsforImprovingLibraryWebsite,”11.

26.NISOFrameworkAdvisoryGroup,AFrameworkofGuidanceforBuildingGoodDigitalCollections,2nded.(Bethesda,MD:NationalInformationStandardsOrganization,2004),https://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/links/cached/chapter3/link3.2a.NISO.html.

27.Matusiak,“TowardsUser-centeredIndexing,”289.

28.JohnWalsh,“TheUseofLibraryofCongressSubjectHeadingsinDigitalCollections,”LibraryReview60,no.4(2011),https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531111127875.

29.LynnSilipigniConnaway,TheLibraryintheLifeoftheUser:EngagingwithPeopleWhereTheyLiveandLearn,(Dublin:OCLCResearch,2015),http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/2015/oclcresearch-library-in-life-of-user.html.

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