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This paper aims to discuss the viability of web server statistics for library‐generated web pages as measures of public service activity. For years librarians have gathered, reported, and analyzed traditional measures such as reference transactions, patron visits, book and reserve item circulation, and interlibrary loan transactions. Since the advent of web‐based databases and services, some traditional usage statistics have declined. Such declines can have political and financial implications for libraries.

The author did a literature review, studied a suggested revision to the NISO Z39.7‐1995 Library Statistics standard that includes counting usage of library‐generated web pages, participated in a task force on web statistics, and analyzed library web site statistics at a university library.

The recommendations of a task force on reporting web page usage statistics in an academic library are discussed. The reporting of the usage of library‐generated web pages can be a useful indicator of increased patron contacts and provide a more complete picture of public service activities.

This is a new area for library statistics, and its impact on the perceptions of libraries as sources of information in the digital age has yet to be proven.

This paper is useful to libraries which wish to integrate web page usage statistics into their output measures and reporting procedures.

Librarians have been involved in collecting and disseminating statistics for many years. Utilizing statistics to describe and assess the operation of library activities as a part of library tradition has received growing attention from researchers, policymakers, library managers, and professionals. However, few studies have investigated how statistics are used in libraries. This report compares directors’ uses of statistics provided by national agencies in the USA and China to highlight differences and similarities of the uses the two countries’ directors make of statistics and the statistical information that directors find particular useful. The results are intended to provide library administrators with an insight of how library statistics are used in the managerial process and may also help the national statistical providers to obtain an understanding of the characteristics and pattern of use of their products.

While the concept of vital statistics is rich in meaning, standardization of these valuable data has eluded governments, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), and demographic researchers. Primarily due to discrepancies of sociopolitical systems and availability of resources, international vital statistics are diverse and variant in terms of vital classification and registration and data processing and reporting. That said, birth, death, marriage, and divorce data are generally included in reported vital statistics. In recent decades, research institutes, universities, IGOs particularly the United Nations (UN), and NGOs have been working hard to organize, collect, and disseminate vital statistics from developing countries. This article analytically presents an overview of global patterns of vital registrations and numerations. It examines the major resources of international vital statistics, including registers, surveys, and print and digital materials. This literature presents a selection of surveys, monographs, serials, periodicals, databases, portals, and homepages based on their relevancy to information and scholarship related to international vital statistics.

Librarians have been involved in collecting and disseminating statistics for many years. Utilising statistics to describe and assess the operation of library activities as a part of library tradition has received growing attention from researchers, policymakers, library managers, and professionals. However, few studies have investigated how statistics are used in libraries. This report compares directors’ uses of statistics provided by national agencies in the USA and China to highlight the differences and similarities between the ways in which the two groups of directors make use of statistics, and the statistical information that directors find particularly useful. The results are intended to provide library administrators with an insight of how library statistics are used in the managerial process, and may also help the national statistical providers to obtain an understanding of the characteristics and pattern of use of their products.

The chapter aims to evaluate the efficacy of stakeholder participation in the solid waste management system of Mauritius in view of providing a possible mechanism to attain the goals of a sustainable waste management framework.

The study employs qualitative indicators, namely, User Inclusivity and Producer Inclusivity of the Wasteaware Benchmark Indicators. Secondary data are used to conduct a critical and comprehensive analysis of the sub-indicators falling under each of the two main indicators to determine the overall compliance level with respect to stakeholder engagement of the waste management sector of Mauritius.

The results of the study show a LOW/MEDIUM compliance level for both User Inclusivity and Provider Inclusivity indicators, which indicates that improvement is required in the stakeholder engagement mechanism in Mauritius. The main weaknesses identified comprise of lack of an adequate legal framework with clear definition of waste types with regards to segregation, especially for non-hazardous wastes, low efficiency of sustainable waste management awareness campaigns and lack of inclusion of the informal sector. The main strengths identified consist of a proper bidding mechanism in place and a good level of equity in the provision of waste management services with respect to comingled waste collection. Suggested improvement areas include a revamping of the existing legal framework related to waste management to cater for higher inclusivity of all stakeholders together with including sustainable waste management topics in the formal education curriculum.

The User Inclusivity and Producer Inclusivity indicators were previously applied only to cities to measure the level of stakeholder participation, but this study has demonstrated that these indicators can also be adopted on a nation-wide level to evaluate stakeholder engagement. The use of these indicators together with secondary data presents a less time-consuming method to assess stakeholder participation in the waste sector, which can be particularly useful for Small Island Developing States.

This study constructs a comprehensive, internationally comparative set of foreign trade data for the period 1857–1875. The dataset is constructed using information at the commodity group-level and contains import and export values for the UK, France, the Zollverein, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, and the United States, itemised by trade partner. The study tackles three basic problems related to the heterogeneity in national statistics of the period: different definitions of aggregates, inadequate ‘official’ pricing, and the ‘proximity bias’, i.e. the misleading practice of crediting imports to bordering countries from where they physically entered, but where they did not originate. After passing successfully a consistency test, the resulting dataset contains harmonised and country of origin-corrected bilateral trade values for 7 central importers, 10 points in time, and 21 commodity groups, along with ad valorem tariff rates for all commodity groups and countries. They offer new detailed insights into the composition and evolution of trade and tariffs in the third quarter of the 19th century. Furthermore, a basic implementation of the gravity equation shows that as a consequence of the proximity bias estimates using uncorrected data are to be taken with care, especially when assessing border effects and the impact of policy variables.

Purpose — The chapter presents the practical applications of web search statistics analysis. The process description highlights the potential use of search queries and statistical data and how they could be used in various forecasting situations. The presented case is an example of applied computational intelligence and the main focus is oriented towards the decision support offered by the software mechanism and its capabilities to automatically gather, process and analyse data.

Methodology/approach — The statistics of the search queries as a source of prognostic information are analysed in a step-by-step process, starting from their content and scope, their processing and applications, and concluding with usage in a software-based intelligent framework.

Research implications — The analysis of search engine trends offers a great opportunity for many areas of research. Into the future, deploying this information in the prognosis will further develop intelligent data processing.

Practical implications — This functionality offers a unique possibility, impossible until now, to observe, estimate and predict various processes using wide, precise and accurate behaviour observations. The scope and quality of data allow practitioners to successfully use it in various prognostic problems (i.e. political, medical, or economic).

Originality/value of paper — The chapter presents practical implications of technology. The chapter then highlights potential areas that would benefit from the analysis of queries statistics. Moreover, it introduces ‘WebPerceiver’, an intelligent platform, built to make the analysis and usage of search trends easier and more generally available to a wide audience, including non-skilled users.

This chapter presents a case study of challenges to psychology majors’ success in research methods and statistics courses at Bennett College, and a description and evaluation of measures taken to address these issues. In addition to changes to individual courses and the curriculum pattern, these measures include forming explicit linkages between courses and with relevant co-curricular activities to emphasize the centrality of research and quantitative skills to the psychology major. Particular emphasis is placed on infusing these changes into first-year psychology majors’ experiences and coursework, in order to prepare and motivate students prior to their entry into a significantly revised and expanded sequence of corequisite research methods/statistics courses. These changes are discussed with regard to impact on student achievement in statistics and research methods courses, timely progress toward degree completion, and acceptance into graduate and professional programs. Current challenges, ongoing efforts, and plans for further improvement are also discussed.

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.