The digital environment has transformed how data on library material use is collected and reported, providing librarians with more information about usage but less clarity about how to interpret it. This article discusses current approaches to reporting and assessing library book use, addresses the question of what qualifies as a worthwhile use of…

Drawing on an original methodology using citations, downloads, and survey data, this paper analyzes journal usage patterns across 28 Canadian universities. Results show that usage levels vary across disciplines and that different academic platforms varied in their importance to different institutions, with for-profit platforms generally exhibiting…

This paper examines publisher ebook package use in the OhioLINK academic library consortium between 2007 and 2017 alongside use of the same titles at individual institutions. With nearly 100,000 titles acquired over 10+ years from three publishers and available to users at more than 90 institutions, the picture of ebook use this study presents is…

A growing number of studies have reported that using open educational resources benefits students, but few studies have investigated academic impacts of adopting library-sourced eBooks as the course textbook. This mixed-methods study utilizes the Open Education Group's COUP Framework (Cost, Outcomes, Usage, Perceptions), which has previously been…

Academic libraries invest thousands of dollars in assistive technologies (AT) for enhancing the delivery of information services to disabled patrons. However, offering AT might not result in their use by the patrons who need them, thereby leading to a service divide. The analysis of qualitative responses, including more than 1,400 quotations,…

This multimethod study investigates differences in question complexity and type between live chat, email, and texting by comparing findings from user interviews and virtual reference transcripts, with the goal of better understanding how different delivery methods can meet user needs in the context of an academic library. Findings reveal…

To better understand the library's role in student success, this research used student survey data to explore students' reported library building use, library resource use, library instruction, as well as student perceptions of the library's role in their success, and how these factors may vary by academic discipline. Cumulative GPAs were also…

To determine which engagement factors correlate with student success at a large, public, research university in the southeastern United States, the university library, along with representatives from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and other academic and support units across campus are collaborating in the alignment and analysis of student…

This article outlines a study assessing and comparing the rate of use of nonreference print and electronic book collections acquired during the same time period at one academic library. Rate of use was examined for both collections by discipline and method of acquisition. The author found that 74 percent of print titles acquired in 2008-2009 had…

Google Scholar and academic library discovery systems are both popular resources among academic users for finding scholarly information. By conducting an online survey with 975 users from more than 20 public research universities across the United States, this study comparatively investigates how and why academic users use these two resources.…

We report findings from an assessment of e-book user experience (search and information seeking) from usage data and user tests. The usage data showed that most reading sessions were brief and focused on certain pages, suggesting that users mainly use e-books to find specific information. The user tests found that participants tended to use…

Web-scale discovery services such as Summon (Serial Solutions), WorldCat Local (OCLC), EDS (EBSCO), and Primo (Ex Libris) are often touted as a single search solution to connect users to library-owned and -licensed content, improving discoverability and retrieval of resources. Assessing how well these systems achieve this goal can be challenging,…

The authors investigated quantitative methods of collection use analysis employing library data that are available in ILS and ILL systems to better understand library collection use and user needs. For the purpose of the study, the authors extracted circulation and ILL records from the library's systems using data-mining techniques. By comparing…

This longitudinal study at a large public university surveyed students of the 2008 freshmen cohort over four years about their use of websites and library resources for their research papers. The three goals of the study were to track changes in reported research behavior over time, to see if students' reported source choices were associated with…

This article presents the results of a faculty survey conducted at the University of Vermont during academic year 2014-2015. The survey asked faculty about: familiarity with scholarly metrics, metric-seeking habits, help-seeking habits, and the role of metrics in their department's tenure and promotion process. The survey also gathered faculty…