analyzing digital collections entrances: what gets used and why...

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(pbiswas@email.wcu.edu)isMetadataLibrarianandJoelMarchesoni(jmarch@email.wcu.edu)isTechnologySupportAnalyst,HunterLibrary,WesternCarolinaUniversity,Cullowhee,NorthCarolina.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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%

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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

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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.

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYANDLIBRARIES|DECEMBER2016 33

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

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

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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