E-Resource Usage Statistics for Fiscal Year 2006

Scope

These statistics report the majority of connections to Harvard Libraries electronic resources for the twelve-month period July 2005 - June 2006. The total number of connections reported for the year was 5,712,556. This represents a 10% increase over the previous year's figure of 5.19 million. Note that statistics are only recorded for resources when access is routed through the Harvard University Library proxy server (those requiring a valid Harvard ID and PIN).

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MetaLib (E-Research @ Harvard Libraries)

Launched on June 30, 2005, MetaLib allows for a new kind of use of e-resources — searching via the MetaLib interface (cross-searching). Such use of electronic resources is not included in the totals below. There is an Excel file that lists these statistics for FY 2006, although November, December and part of January are missing from the data. The statistics below should be used in combination with the MetaLib statistics to get a more accurate picture of searches conducted in a specific resource.

MARCit

With the implementation of MARCit in April of 2006, title-level usage statistics for e-journals are no longer available. Use of these titles is counted as deep links.

Types of Connections Counted

Continuing the practice begun in FY2003, the connections counted are of two types: direct logins and deep links. Below is a snapshot of totals in each category that are logged by Harvard's Access Management Service, followed by more detailed explanations.

A direct login is counted each time a successful connection is made to the entry page of a given resource — i.e. the page that is linked to by a Harvard-assigned e-resource URN. (e.g. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:### not http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.ejournals:sfx###)

A deep link is counted when a connection is made to an individual journal, article or other component item of the resource, either directly using a proxy-aware URL, or via Find It @ Harvard (SFX), which includes MARCit links.

Deep links may be of two types: attributed and un-attributed.

Un-attributed deep links: Deep links outside of SFX generally cannot be attributed to the resources to which they belong.

Attributed deep links: An attribution to the correct resource can usually be made when SFX is used to facilitate the connection.

Connections That Are Not Counted

In reviewing how the OIS access management software counts transactions in preparation for the conversion to MetaLib in 2005, it was discovered that a significant number of SFX uses are not counted in our present statistics-gathering scheme. Although the scope of omission is not completely known, one major omitted category that has been identified consists of SFX transactions that are associated with an eCommons (medical school) login. The number of these uncounted transactions may be as high as 40% of all SFX transactions.

E-Books

Although these titles are generally not listed in the E-Research service, connections from HOLLIS and other access paths (e.g. online reserves or library web pages) are counted in OIS statistics. E-book statistics can be found in the "Other Resources" alphabetical lists along with other non-journal resources. Statistics are not available for e-book collections that have been batch-loaded into HOLLIS at this time.

Statistics by Package

With the implementation of Harvard ERM, the University Library's e-resource management system, we are now able to identify electronic resources not only by vendor, but also according to the financial package arrangement through which a resource has been purchased. Package statistics are also provided for resources that are managed as if they were a single unit. Statistics grouped by vendor will continue to be posted when two or more packages are licensed from a given vendor.

Users with More Than One Faculty Assignment

A small percentage of all logins during FY2006 were by individuals who are recorded under more than one Harvard faculty in the University's administrative systems. This may represent persons who are employees of one faculty and students in another, faculty who teach in more than one school, students pursuing multiple degrees, etc. These sessions have been divided equally among the relevant faculties as fractional numbers. Thus, if a particular Medline login is associated with both the Medical School and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, it will be recorded as .5 for each faculty.

Undetermined Faculty Assignment

A little more than 1% of all user logins during FY2006 lack a faculty assignment in the portal logs. This problem may result from incomplete data in the University's LDAP database, or from some other unidentified factor. In order to provide as complete a picture of portal resource activity as possible, these sessions are included in the totals for each resource and vendor, with the caption "Undetermined." These figures have been excluded from the total in calculating the percentage of overall use reported for a given faculty in the detailed tables by resource and vendor, since a chief goal of the faculty breakdown is to assess relative usage among Harvard faculties for cost allocation purposes.