Search results

The purpose of this paper is to advance extant theorizing around resource integration by conceptualizing and delineating the notion of a usage center. A usage center consists of a combination of interdependent actors that draw on resources across their individual usage processes to create value.

This paper provides a conceptual inquiry into the usage center.

This paper delineates the notion of a usage center by way of focal and peripheral resource integrators, as well as focal and peripheral resources that form part of interdependent resource usage processes. The conceptual analysis reveals the need for resources to be accessible and shareable to focal and peripheral actors, with rivalry and emergence central factors influencing the actor’s usage processes.

Responding to recent calls for research developing insights into multi-actor value cocreation, this paper is the first to comprehensively and coherently conceptualize the notion of a usage center. In doing so, the authors build an important foundation for future theorizing related to the potential emergence of usage centers as well as the cocreation of individual and collective value.

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether quality antecedents and individual characteristics can influence faculty members’ continued usage intention of electronic resources (e-resources) in selected public universities in Tanzania.

A total of 204 faculty members participated in the study from three public universities in Tanzania. The study used structural equation modelling, ANOVA and t-tests to perform analyses.

Better educated and middle-aged faculty members with a wide experience of using e-resources are more likely to continue using e-resources. Information quality had positive relationship with continued usage intention of e-resources while service quality had indirect impact to continued usage intention through information quality and system quality.

Based on the DeLone and McLean information systems success model, this study integrates quality factors (information, service and system quality) and individual characteristics as antecedents to the continued usage intention of e-resources. The study comprehensively documents empirical findings on impacts of quality factors and individual characteristics on e-resources in a developing country. The study reveals results that are useful for enhancing usage of e-resources by faculty in other institutions with similar conditions.

This paper aims to investigate the usage of electronic resources within the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) in order to support subscription and budget decisions. This has become necessary because of the difficulty faced by institutions in paying subscription fee as a result of the continuous increase in subscription fee, financial constraints and high exchange rates.

The study is a quantitative research of electronic resource use covering six years. Full-text download statistics of ten most used electronic resources accessed by an average of 33 institutions were sampled from 27 databases and analysed to investigate level of usage. Six out of the ten electronic resources were analysed to evaluate cost per use over four years. Sampling was purposive. Data analysis and presentation were conducted using a descriptive method of analysis of simple frequency count, mean and percentages, while Microsoft Excel was used to organise data into tables and graphs.

Findings revealed an improved usage of CARLIGH-facilitated electronic resources. However, the rate of improvement declined by the year. Also, October and November recorded high usage, while January and May-August recorded low patronage. Finally, using a mean as a benchmark, it was ascertained that costs per use/article was less than $0.98.

Because of limited data evaluated, the research results may lack generalisation; hence, there is a need for further research.

This study will be useful in supporting librarians’ decisions on continuous subscription, budget justification and promotion.

This paper aims to share some experiences and practical activities related to the use and management of usage data in the Digital Resource Acquisition Alliance of Chinese Academic Libraries (DRAA) as a reference for library consortia engaged in providing usage statistics services of e-resources to member libraries.

A literature review and online survey are used to analyze the research and practice of e-resources usage statistics conducted internationally. The case of DRAA is introduced to present how DRAA develops usage statistics services and promotes the implementation of the Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) to deliver usage statistics to member libraries. Future developments and enhancements are also described.

The main actions taken by DRAA to develop usage statistics services are as follows: development of the DRAA Usage Statistics Portal to provide a single point of access to usage statistics from participating publishers on behalf of member libraries; development of a SUSHI client, taking the lead in promoting SUSHI implementation to automatically obtain usage statistics in Chinese academic libraries; establishment of a working group on usage statistics and the China Academic Library and Information System/DRAA Standards and Recommended Practices Research Task Group to form a long-term mechanism for monitoring and gathering usage statistics; and strengthening of the understanding and application of standards and best practices for libraries and vendors in China. Scheduled enhancements in the future include a deep analysis and utilization of usage statistics, the promotion of Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources and SUSHI to Chinese academic resource publishers and raising awareness about normalizing usage statistics.

This paper has pertinence and wider implications for library consortia engaged in providing e-resources usage statistics services to member libraries.

E‐resource usage statistics contain a wealth of information, but mining that information from the massive amounts of data can be time consuming, expensive, and dangerous. Focuses on the practical aspects of getting some use out of usage statistics. Recent national studies in the USA and efforts to standardize the gathering and interpretation of e‐resource usage statistics show promise for accelerating the adoption and diffusion of reliable, meaningful usage information. The article concludes with some speculation about the overall value and long‐term potential for e‐resource usage statistics.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the usage of e‐resources in academic libraries. It also describes various studies undertaken to study the users' behavior and attitude towards e‐journals.

The paper provides a comprehensive review of the recent published literature on the importance of the usage statistics of e‐resources subscribed to by the academic libraries.

The findings show that the usage statistics help in studying and evaluating the users' behavior in an online environment. The library services can be extended and modified, to reflect user interests suiting the users the most, in the light of the evaluation and analyses done.

The paper has pertinence and wider implications for library staff engaged in providing e‐resources' services to readers.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a library with useful information about selection criteria for an electronic resource assessment system and practical assistance on how to implement efficiently such a system.

The paper is based on literature review, desk research, and implementation experience.

The paper identifies a number of homegrown, open‐source, and commercial electronic resource assessment systems and discusses their selection criteria. Based on the implementation of 360 Counter, the paper details the efficient way to implement the system.

Collecting usage statistics is very important to make informed and well‐rounded collection decisions. Libraries are seeking suitable measuring tools to meet their needs. This paper reviews several electronic resource assessment systems, discusses the selection criteria and implementation process of 360 Counter, and detailed learned lessons as well. Future directions for usage statistics are also explored. It is believed that the deployment experience should be instructive when carrying out similar projects.

As libraries are developing a larger Web presence, issues regarding the utility, accessibility, and impact of the usage of their networked resources and services are gaining critical importance. The need to assess systematically the networked electronic services and resources is great as increasing amounts of financial resources are dedicated to the Web presence of libraries. This paper aims to address this issue.

This project proposes to measure the impact of networked electronic services, building on MINES for Libraries^®, in a scalable way across libraries and consortia to enhance digital library service quality and impact on learning by enabling the future allocation of resources to areas of user‐identified need. Short, standardized web surveys are placed at the point‐of‐use of networked electronic resources and services through a network assessment infrastructure that uses contemporary mechanisms of authentication and access, such as EZproxy, openURL, Shibboleth, federated searching and others as modules to interface with ARL's StatsQUAL^®. A valid and reliable sampling method is proposed.

Point‐of‐use web surveys hold considerable promise as key tools in the assessment toolkit libraries may deploy to improve the research, teaching, and learning outcomes of their users.

This project enhances and deepens the information gained from vendor‐supplied data.

The developments described will make it easier for libraries to assess the usage of networked electronic resources and services.

This paper aims to assess the usage behaviour of electronic resources (e-resources) among health sciences faculty and their level information literacy (IL) practices, and whether individual characteristics and IL skills can influence faculty member’s usage of e-resources at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

The authors conducted questionnaire surveys using a stratified random sampling technique to 135 faculty members at MUHAS between August and October 2016. The study used regression analysis to determine factors associated with the use of e-resources among faculty members at MUHAS.

In addition to Google search engine, Wikipedia and four scholarly databases and search engines, the level of awareness of other 19 scholarly databases and search engines which are either subscribed or open access resources was less than 50 per cent. In addition to Google search engine, Wikipedia and five scholarly databases and search engines, the self-reported usage of other 18 scholarly databases and search engines was less than 50 per cent on the on “daily” and “weekly” categories. In total, 18 of the 32 IL competencies were rated below 50 per cent in the “good” grade by the faculty members. These IL competencies included information search techniques, reference management, critical appraisal and Web 2.0 technologies. The IL competencies (ß = 0.223), an experience of using e-resources (ß = 0.222) and some research disciplines [nursing (ß = 0.191) and pharmacy (ß = 0.186)] positively predicted self-reported usage of e-resources among faculty members.

This is a comprehensive study that assesses the use patterns of e-resources across different health sciences disciplines in a university setting, and the influence of demographic characteristics and IL skills on the usage of e-resources in Tanzania. The results of this study will be useful to academic libraries to inform and review their policies and practices in relation to the IL training programmes and information services in a university setting.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a scale involving the factors affecting usage of e-resources.

The present study identifies five factors affecting the usage of e-resources: training modes, awareness, influencers, utilitarian benefits, and experiential and hedonic benefits. To generate measurement items, two focus group discussions were carried out which resulted in 20 items. To empirically ensure reliability and validity of scale, data were collected from 347 postgraduate students actively using e-resources. To test reliability of scale, internal consistency reliability and construct reliability were examined. The construct validity of scale (which includes convergent validity and discriminant validity) was verified through confirmatory factor analysis using structure equation modeling.

Findings of the study present a statistically reliable and valid scale consisting of five factors and 18 items.

The present study is one of the distinctive studies on introducing a scale employing factors affecting usage of e-resources.