7-7 Ebook Usage Statistics

Purpose:  To provide instructions required for collecting University of Maine (Orono) ebook and media usage statistics for the calendar year report, or as needed.

The Head of Collection Services determines which ebook/media vendors are to be included in the Orono ebook usage reports, and will advise on adding or subtracting vendors  as new ones are added or eliminated. The Head of Collection Services provides initial instruction to the department administrative specialist regarding how the usage statistics are accessed, i.e., a URL with username and password, a monthly emailed report, or contact information for requesting a report from the vendor. Usage statistics are necessary for subscription renewal decisions and annual ACRL reporting.

Maintain Access Instructions

Maintain “Ebook & Streaming Media Usage Statistics” instruction file on restricted internal library network drive using Microsoft Expression Web 4 software. Update as needed with new web site URLs, instructions, and/or usernames and passwords whenever vendor platforms or permissions change. Add to or delete from the list of ebooks tracked, as instructed by Head of Collection Services. Contact vendor technical support or designated contact person if necessary for assistance to access usage statistics.

Collect

Collect ebook and streaming media usage statistics annually at the end of January, or as soon as available, for the previous calendar year. Set up an Excel file “Ebook&MediaStats_[year]” with separate sheets in alphabetical order for each vendor listed in the “Ebook & Streaming Usage Statistics” instructions file. “Book Report 2 (R4), Number of Section Requests by Month and Title,” with a monthly breakdown of the annual total of all titles, is the current default report format to use whenever possible. Note if statistics reported are other than “Number of Section Requests by Month and Title,” i.e., full content units requested. For each title, export or copy/paste data or a screenprint of the pertinent annual usage statistics report to the corresponding spreadsheet page.

Record

Transfer calendar year “BR 2 total” data for each ebook/media vendor and record in a Excel “Ebook Usage Tally [year]” file in order to present total annual usage data in concise format on a single page. Use two columns listing 1) name of ebook/media vendor and 2) number of total section requests for the year. Make note if number reported reflects other than “Book Report 2:  Number of Successful Section Request.”

The annual Orono Ebook & Media Statistics report and Orono Ebook Usage Tally report files are both saved in the Collection Development shared drive folder.