Library Analytics and Metrics: Using Data to Drive Decisions and Services

Citation

Calvert, P. (2016), "Library Analytics and Metrics: Using Data to Drive Decisions and Services", The Electronic Library, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 174-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-09-2015-0168

The structure of this book is a little unusual, but this reviewer found it worked very well and could be a template for similar books. In an edited work, it is common for each chapter to be the work of different authors, but that is not the case here. Showers has a hand in every chapter; each one starts with an overview that leads into two or three case studies with contributors from the UK, the USA and Australia, followed with a summing up by Showers again. This enables the editor to keep all the contents focussed on the points he believes to be essential to the book’s purpose.

After a brief introduction, we are straight into Chapter 1 titled “Library data: big and small”, which has the purpose of demonstrating that while big data is currently attracting attention, there is a limit to its use unless we can interpret data on a smaller scale. One case study is on improving the “recommender” system in a University Library catalogue and the other (by Showers) on a shared analytics service for academic libraries. Chapter 2 focuses on the use of data analytics in collection management, with case studies from Harvard and Manchester Universities.

Chapter 3 turns our attention to the “hot topic” of demonstrating impact and value. The focus in academic libraries falls on how library use improves student attainment (or retention), for the simple reason that academic institutions in many countries are funded for their performance in those areas. It is possible to measure student use of electronic resources (though there are difficulties with data consistency) and this can be matched to student grades. Most institutions will do this at an aggregated level, e.g. a course, because there are privacy issues if they drill down to the individual level. It is pleasing to see the Wollongong Cube included here for it deserves much wider international attention than it has attracted so far. The other case studies are from the Universities of Huddersfield and Minnesota.

Chapter 4 goes beyond the numbers, as the title says, by examining how qualitative methods can aid our understanding of user behaviour and motivation. There are two case studies: the first a very full description of work done by OCLC in this area that explains the wide range of qualitative methods available to supplement and augment the numbers. The second from the University of North Carolina describes a study done on students’ use of space. Chapter 5 turns the focus on to web analytics; a fairly well established form of metrics but still probably under-used in libraries and other cultural heritage institutions. The case studies in this chapter are of the UK’s large cultural heritage organisations (The British Museum, the Tate, the Victoria and Albert, etc.), and the second one also looks at British cultural institutions, this time through a project involving several smaller institutions and some of the same larger ones included in the first case study. The overlap is a little surprising but forgivable because it is all so interesting.

The final significant, Chapter 6 is on the risk involved when using analytics, which is mostly the potential infringement of privacy and the legal and ethical problems that must follow on from that. This asks the question “whose data is it anyway?” The case study is rather theoretical though there is some direct reference to law in the UK. This is a difficult subject and the one that most practitioners find awkward and even distressing, but the chapter ends with a really helpful list of guiding principles. There is a very short concluding chapter and a good index.

This book stands out in its field. The structure works really well and keeps the focus tight. Nearly all of the case studies are very pertinent and contain ideas that many readers will want to introduce into their own organisations. Highly recommended.