Print & Electronic Journal Usage Patterns:

a Library Case Study by ETH Zürich

Dr. Alice Keller, ETH-Bibliothek

Elsevier‘s 4th ScienceDirect Annual Conference, Amsterdam,14-15 March 2002

Journals at the ETH Library

• Print only journals: 2‘800

• Print + online journals: 2‘000

• Online only journals: 1‘200

• Total: 6‘000

3‘200 e-journals

Journal Usage at the ETH Library

Journals consulted in reading room no data available

Documents requested: 480‘000 items per annum how many are journals?

Requests for photocopies: 106‘000 per annum mainly journal articles

Print Journal Usage: Selected Titles

• Planta Medica, Thieme » 140 requests in 2001

• Journal of Animal Ecology, Blackwell » 82 requests in 2001

• Biochemistry, ACS » 432 requests in 2001

• Chemistry of Materials, ACS » 146 requests in 2001

• Historia Mathematica, Academic Press » 17 requests in 2001

online

online

online

Planta Medica, Thieme (1953-) Usage Pattern 2001

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

1973

1971

1969

1967

1965

1963

1961

1959

1957

1955

1953

Req

uest

s fo

r pr

int v

olum

es (

2001

)

140 requests in 2001

Journal of Animal Ecology, Blackwell (1932-)

Usage Pattern 2001

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

2001

1998

1995

1992

1989

1986

1983

1980

1977

1974

1971

1968

1965

1962

1959

1956

1953

1950

1947

1944

1941

1938

1935

1932

Req

uest

s fo

r pr

int v

olum

es (

2001

)

82 requests in 2001

Biochemistry, ACS (1962-) (online available from 1996)

Usage Pattern 2001

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

1973

1971

1969

1967

1965

1963

Req

uest

s fo

r pr

int v

olum

es (

2001

)

432 requests in 2001+ 3660 full text downloads in 2001

Chemistry of Materials, ACS (1989-)(available online from 1996)

Usage Pattern

146 requests in 2001+ 1069 full text downloads in 2001

0

5

10

15

20

25

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1990

1989

Historia Mathematica, Academic Press (1974-)

online available from 1996

Usage Pattern 2001

17 requests in 2001+ 3 full text downloads in 2001

0

1

2

3

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

Req

uest

s fo

r pr

int v

olum

es

(200

1)

Print Usage Patterns: Conclusions

• Recent years are most heavily used• However, backyears are also

requested regularly• Usage stats show roughly 8 times as

many full text downloads as print requests (estimate)

• Online access reduces – but does not eliminate – requests for print volumes

Electronic Journals at ETH Library

• 3‘200 e-journals (January 2002)• All STM titles• National consortia for

– Springer LINK– Academic Press– Elsevier ScienceDirect

Usage of Electronic Journals

• Usage statistics available at ETH Library

• Comparison of usage of different journals

• Benefits of journal consortia• Comparison of journal usage in

different subject areas

E-Journal Usage Statistics at ETH Library

E-Journals at ETH Zurich: Availability of usage stats according to publishers10%

9%

81%

Publisher supplied usagedata

Publisher could not supplydata

Publisher w as notapproached

E-Journals at ETH Zurich:Availability of usage stats according to Journals63%

26%

11%

Publisher supplied usagedata

Publisher could not supplydata

Publisher w as notapproached

E-Journal Usage Statistics at ETH Library

E-Journals Usage: Summary of All Titles (2001)

E-Journal Usage: All Titles

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

2600

2800

3000

and

ove

r

No. of full text dow nloads

No.

of j

ourn

als

... Looking at Those with under 100‘s Downloads...

E-Journal Usage: All Titles

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

over

100

No. of full text dow nloads

No.

of j

ourn

als

E-Journal Usage Patterns I: Conclusions

• 8,3% of the e-journals were never accessed during 2001

• A further 53% are not accessed more than 50 times

• 22 journals are accessed more than 3000 times ....

... These 22 Journals are ...

• Science, Am.Assoc.Adv.Science• Nature, Macmillan • PNAS, Nat.Acad.Sciences • Journal of Biological Chemistry,

ASBMB• Journal of the ACS, ACS• Lecture Notes in Computer Science,

Springer• Journal of Organic Chemistry, ACS• Cell, Cell Press• Tetrahedron Letters, Elsevier• Organic Letters, ACS• Computers and Security, Elsevier

• Physical Review Letters, APS• Journal of Chemical Physics, AIP• Chemical Communications, RSC• Journal of Physical Chemistry A,

ACS• Physical Review B, APS• Journal of Cell Biology, Rockefeller

Univ. Press• Biochemistry, ACS• Nature Biotechnology, Nature

America• Applied Physics Letters, AIP• Tetrahedron, Elsevier• EMBO Journal, OUP

Benefits of Journal Consortia

A consortium offers:

• New titles that were not available in print Increased Collection

• Access to articles that were not available in print Article Cross Access

Increased Collection

A consortium enriches the library‘s collectionwith new titles that weren‘t subscribed to before.

Article Cross Access

Users can download articles they didn‘t have access to before.

Benefits of Consortia according to Subject Area (all data ETH)

Subject areas analysed:• Biology • Chemistry• Earth Sciences• Mathematics• Medicine• Physics• Mechanical Engineering

Benefits of Consortia acc. to Subject Area: Increased Collection (2001)

All 3 Consortia (Springer, AP, SciDirect)

0

100

200

300

400

500

BIO

L

CH

EM

EA

RT

H

MA

TH

ME

D

PH

YS

ME

CH

No.

of j

ourn

al ti

tles

Journal in print collection Increased collection

Benefits of Consortia acc. to Subject Area: Article Cross Access (2001)

All 3 Consortia (Springer, AP, SciDirect)

0

10'000

20'000

30'000

40'000

50'000

BIO

L

CH

EM

EA

RT

H

MA

TH

ME

D

PH

YS

ME

CHN

o. o

f ful

l tex

t dow

nloa

ds

Journal in print collection Article Cross Access

Cross Access Rates Around the World

• ETH Library: 9-23% (*)

• Bayern Consortium: 24-31%

• OHIO Link Consortium: 30-85%(*) all depending on publisher

A high cross access rate indicates .... a successful consortium, .... or that the print collection was

inadequate.

Subject areas analysed:• Biology: 380 FTEs• Chemistry: 340 FTEs• Earth Sciences: 215 FTEs• Mathematics: 200 FTEs• Physics: 385 FTEs• Mechanical Engin.: 367 FTEs

(All faculty members (FTE), doctoral + postdoc students (FTE), advanced undergraduate students)

Comparison of Journal Usage in Different Subject Areas

Comparison of E-Journal Collection in Different Subject

AreasE-Journal Collection / Subject Area

0.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4

BIO

L

CH

EM

EA

RT

H

MA

TH

PH

YS

ME

CH

No.

of j

ourn

als

per

FT

E

Comparison of E-Journal Usage in Different Subject Areas

Full Text Dow nloads / Subject Area

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

BIO

L

CH

EM

EA

RT

H

MA

TH

PH

YS

ME

CH

No.

of f

ull t

ext d

ownl

oads

per

FT

E

All data from ETH Zurich, Jan-Dec 2001

E-Journal Usage Patterns II: Conclusions

• Usage data is still very incomplete• Many journals are rarely used, few are

very heavily used• Consortial deals increase size of collection• Cross access rates vary according to

libraries and subject areas• Heaviest e-journal usage is found in

Biology, Chemistry and Physics• Weakest usage in Engineering

A final word from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (22.02.02):

- Lügen- verdammte Lügen- Statistik- Internetstatistik

End