levine-clark, michael, and kari paulson, “10,000 libraries, 4 years: a large-scale study of ebook...
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Levine-Clark, Michael, and Kari Paulson, “10,000 Libraries, 4 Years: A Large-Scale Study of EBook Usage and How You Can Use the Data to Move Forward,” NASIG 29th Annual Conference, Fort Worth, May 3, 2014.TRANSCRIPT
10,000 Libraries, 4 Years: A Large-Scale Study of eBook Usage and
How You Can Use the Data to Move Forward
NASIG Annual ConferenceFort Worth
May 3, 2014
Michael Levine-ClarkUniversity of Denver
10,000 Libraries, 4 Years: A Large-Scale Study of eBook Usage and
How You Can Use the Data to Move Forward
NASIG Annual ConferenceFort Worth
May 3, 2014
Michael Levine-ClarkUniversity of Denver
Previous Presentations
• Different data set – All books available across a four-year period
(ebrary) or three-year period (EBL) ending in 2013– No information about time spent in book– No information about number/type of institutions
with access to a particular title• Tested the methodology
http://www.slideshare.net/MichaelLevineClark/presentations
Data Overview
All e-books from ebrary and EBL • Usage for 2013• Worldwide• Three library types– Academic– Public– Special
Important Caveat
• ebrary includes 2013 usage data for titles available in 2013
• EBL includes 2013 usage data for all titles whether or not available in 2013– Titles no longer available– Titles made available in early 2014– Will be updated before the white paper
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– Measured in seconds, the amount of time spent
looking at the book
Some aspects of usage aren’t comparable
• ebrary has far more libraries than EBL– Averages and totals only useful when comparing
within one aggregator• EBL includes titles not available during the
usage period• There may be some platform differences that
drive usage in different ways:– More downloads per session on EBL = fewer pages
viewed – EBL has a landing page and ebrary doesn’t.
What can we learn by examining usage on such a large scale?
• Are we collecting the right things?• Does quality matter?• 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?
The Complete Data Set
Academic Public Special400,000
410,000
420,000
430,000
440,000
450,000
460,000
Academic Public Special0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
Academic Library eBooks
• 280,008 titles– Available on average in 724
libraries
• 278,428 titles with LCCN– Available on average in 727
libraries
• 456,298 titles– Available on average in 50
libraries
• 406,311 titles with LCCN– Available on average in 60
libraries
Academic Library eBook Usage
278,428 titles with LCCN
On average in 2013, each title:– Was held by 726.6 libraries– Had 424.9 sessions– Had 6,623.1 page views– Had 14.7 downloads– Was viewed for 54,556.8
seconds (15.2 hours)
406,311 titles with LCCN
On average in 2013, each title:– Was held by 60.3 libraries– Had 22.5 sessions– Had 466.6 page views– Had 2.9 downloads– Was viewed for 229.1
seconds (3.8 minutes)
Averages are per title across all libraries.
Academic Library eBook Usage
278,428 titles with LCCN
On average in 2013, at each library, each title:
– Had 0.58 sessions– Had 9.12 page views– Had 0.02 downloads– Was viewed for 75.09 seconds
406,311 titles with LCCN
On average in 2013, at each library, each title:
– Had 0.37 sessions– Had 7.74 page views– Had 0.05 downloads– Was viewed for 3.80 seconds
Average Number of Libraries with Title Available by Discipline
Arts & Humani-
ties
Social Sciences
STEM0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
ebrary
Arts & Humani-
ties
Social Sciences
STEM0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
EBL
Title Availability: Ebrary
E F U D M Z V B C P H J N A Q K G S R T L0.0
200.0
400.0
600.0
800.0
1000.0
1200.0
Average number of academic libraries with title available
Title Availability: EBL
L H J G N Z E M Q D T R K C B S F V U A P0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
Average number of academic libraries with title available
ARE THESE THE RIGHT BOOKS?
Sessions Compared to Availability
Arts &
Humanities
Socia
l Scie
nces
STEM
0100200300400500600700800900
ebrary
AvailabilitySessions
Arts &
Humanities
Socia
l Scie
nces
STEM
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
EBL
AvailabilitySessions
On this and the next two slides, sessions are multiplied to fit scale (ebrary X 1000, EBL X 100)
Sessions Compared to Availability: Ebrary
E F U D M Z V B C P H J N A Q K G S R T L0.0
200.0
400.0
600.0
800.0
1000.0
1200.0
1400.0
1600.0
AvailabilitySessions
Sorted by average availability (number of libraries with access)
Sessions Compared to Availability: EBL
L H J G N Z E M Q D T R K C B S F V U A P0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
AvailabilitySessions
Sorted by average availability (number of libraries with access)
DO HIGHER-QUALITY E-BOOKS GET USED MORE?
University Press Books
• A proxy for quality• ebrary – 41,177 titles• EBL – 39,021 titles
Do better books get used at a higher rate?
University Press Title Availability by Discipline
19075
13260
7533
Arts & Humanities Social Sciences
STEM
16065
11649
8183
Arts & HumanitiesSocial SciencesSTEM
Overall Usage: titles with at least one session
All Titles with LCCN
University Press0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
97.3% 99.5%
ebrary
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
66.8%74.8%
EBL
Overall Usage: average sessions per title per institution
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.000
0.100
0.200
0.300
0.400
0.500
0.600
0.700
0.584 0.615
ebrary
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.373 0.387
EBL
Overall Usage: average page views per title
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.001.002.003.004.005.006.007.008.009.00
10.00 9.12 9.51
ebrary
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0123456789
10
7.748.33
EBL
Overall Usage: titles viewed at least once
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
99.3% 99.3%
ebrary
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
65.6%73.7%
EBL
Overall Usage: time per title (in seconds)
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00
100.00
75.1083.73
ebrary
All Titles with LCCN
University Press Titles
0.000.501.001.502.002.503.003.504.004.505.00
3.804.35
EBL
University Press Summary
• Used at a higher rate across all categories.• Does this mean that users are seeking out
quality books?
BROAD DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES
The Disciplines
HumanitiesB (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)
STEMQ (Science)R (Medicine)S (Agriculture)T (Technology)
Percentage of Titles Usedebrary
Discipline % Titles with a Session
% Titles Viewed % Titles Downloaded
Humanities 96.62% 96.35% 34.64%
Social Sciences 98.61% 98.40% 32.06%
STEM 96.38% 96.06% 30.45%
Baseline (all titles with an LCCN) 97.27% 97.01% 32.24%
Percentage of Titles UsedEBL
Discipline % Titles with a Session
% Titles Viewed % Titles Downloaded
Humanities 62.76% 61.63% 34.61%
Social Sciences 69.97% 69.09% 43.22%
STEM 67.27% 65.79% 40.19%
Baseline (all titles with an LCCN) 66.76% 65.59% 39.58%
Average Usageebrary
Discipline Sessions Page Views Full Downloads Time (Seconds)
Humanities 0.48 7.32 0.0156 63.41
Social Sciences 0.68 10.45 0.0234 87.88
STEM 0.59 9.61 0.0225 72.99
Baseline (all titles with LCCN)
0.58 9.12 0.0203 75.09
Average UsageEBL
Discipline Sessions Page Views Full Downloads Time (Seconds)
Humanities 0.29 5.90 0.0338 3.05
Social Sciences 0.44 8.95 0.0561 4.46
STEM 0.36 7.77 0.4858 3.58
Baseline (all titles with LCCN)
0.37 7.74 0.4746 3.80
Actions Per Sessionebrary
Discipline Views Per Session
Downloads Per Session
Time Per Session
Humanities 15.12 0.032 130.61
Social Sciences 15.42 0.035 129.42
STEM 16.40 0.384 124.06
Baseline (all titles with an LCCN) 15.59 0.035 128.05
Actions Per SessionEBL
Discipline Views Per Session
Downloads Per Session
Time Per Session
Humanities 20.53 0.118 10.62
Social Sciences 20.15 0.126 10.05
STEM 21.81 0.136 10.06
Baseline (all titles with an LCCN) 20.74 0.127 10.18
Disciplinary Summary
• Social sciences far 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
MEASURING PREDICTED USE
Performance Relative to Predicted Use
H B J R D L K M E G Q N C A S V Z U F T P0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
% of available % of titles with a session
Performance Relative to Predicted Use
H R L N D M E A B G C Z V J U F S K P T Q0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
% of Titles Available % of Sessions
Performance Relative to Predicted Use
H L T J R N E M S D V A C G Z U B F K Q P0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
% of Titles Available % of Titles with a Session
Performance Relative to Predicted Use
H L R G J N A C V Z M U S E F K D B T P Q0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
% of Titles Available % of Sessions
INTENSIVE / EXTENSIVE USE
Breadth vs Depth
PERCENTAGE OF TITLES USED
AVER
AGE
AMO
UN
T O
F U
SE
ebrary Sessions – Avg and % Broad (high %) andDeep (more usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) andShallow (low usage of each title)
Broad (high % and Shallow (low usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) but Deep (more usage of each title)
EBL Sessions – Avg and % Narrow (low %) but Deep (more usage of each title)
Broad (high %) andDeep (more usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) andShallow (low usage of each title)
Broad (high % and Shallow (low usage of each title)
ebrary Page Views – Avg and % Narrow (low %) but Deep (more usage of each title)
Broad (high %) andDeep (more usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) andShallow (low usage of each title)
Broad (high % and Shallow (low usage of each title)
EBL Page Views – Avg and % Narrow (low %) but Deep (more usage of each title)
Broad (high %) andDeep (more usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) andShallow (low usage of each title)
Broad (high % and Shallow (low usage of each title)
ebrary Downloaded – Avg and % Narrow (low %) but Deep (more usage of each title)
Broad (high %) andDeep (more usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) andShallow (low usage of each title)
Broad (high % and Shallow (low usage of each title)
EBL Downloaded – Avg and % Narrow (low %) but Deep (more usage of each title)
Broad (high %) andDeep (more usage of each title)
Narrow (low %) andShallow (low usage of each title)
Broad (high % and Shallow (low usage of each title)
CAN WE DETERMINE LEVEL OF IMMERSION IN A BOOK?
Page Views Per Session
T Q F N R D H G C E M L Z P J B S K U A V0.002.004.006.008.00
10.0012.0014.0016.0018.0020.00
15.86
Seconds Per Session (Time in the Book)
E D F U H J M R G P K L C Q T N B S Z V A0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
140.00
160.00
128.05
Page Views Per Session
F N T M V E Q R K G D A C H P S J B Z U L0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
20.74
Seconds Per Session (Time in the Book)
F E D K J M C G V A U Q H R P T B N L S Z0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
10.18
Summary: Level of Immersion
• Users spend the most time (in seconds) in history books (D, E, F)
• Users examine a lot of pages in technology books (T) but spend a relatively small amount of time
CONCLUSIONS
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
Quality Matters
• University press books used at a higher rate by all measures
• Users appear to be making some judgment about quality
There are clear (but nuanced) differences by subject
• Two examples– F (History, Americas) • Low usage as % of available F titles• Low average usage rate• Very poor performance relative to availability of F titles• High # of page views by session• Lots of time in the book
– L (Education)• High usage as % of available L titles• High average usage rate• Very strong performance relative to availability of L titles• Relatively low # of page views by session/time in book
How do we use these observations to build better collections and
better serve our users?
White Paper…
…coming soon
• Merged data (EBL and ebrary)• EBL – titles available in 2013• Analysis by library type• Will be on the EBL and ebrary web sites
Plus future publications and presentations
Thank You
Michael Levine-ClarkAssociate Dean for Scholarly Communication and
Collections ServicesUniversity of Denver [email protected]
http://www.slideshare.net/MichaelLevineClark