TY - JOUR
T1 - Capturing patron selections from an engineering library public terminal menu
T2 - An analysis of results
AU - Mischo, William H.
AU - Schlembach, Mary C.
N1 - Funding Information:
As a means of determining specific resource selection and usage at the point of contact with patrons, the Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has developed a mechanism to record user resource selection from the Grainger public terminal menu. This technique complements the data provided by vendors and provides some on-site evidence-based data for determining resource usage.
PY - 2001/9/1
Y1 - 2001/9/1
N2 - The Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a mechanism to capture and record user resource selection from the Grainger public terminal menu using a 'click-through' redirect transaction log technique. The transaction log record includes the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the source computer and an indication of the resource selected, whether it is located on a local or remote server. While there are limitations in this approach, this data is useful for collection assessment, user service needs analysis, and interface design purposes. An analysis of 84,824 public terminal menu selections over the period from January 2001 to May 2002 was performed. During this period, 67.8% of the recorded selections came from Grainger in-library computers, indicating heavy use of the public terminal page by remote users. Online catalog usage (at 35.6% of the total selections) and Abstracting and Indexing (A & I) Services usage (at an aggregate 34.6%) were high. Periodical access selections represented, at the minimum, 47.6% of the total selections and direct electronic journal links were 14.9% of the total. Patrons are making extensive use of publisher full-text repository sites.
AB - The Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a mechanism to capture and record user resource selection from the Grainger public terminal menu using a 'click-through' redirect transaction log technique. The transaction log record includes the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the source computer and an indication of the resource selected, whether it is located on a local or remote server. While there are limitations in this approach, this data is useful for collection assessment, user service needs analysis, and interface design purposes. An analysis of 84,824 public terminal menu selections over the period from January 2001 to May 2002 was performed. During this period, 67.8% of the recorded selections came from Grainger in-library computers, indicating heavy use of the public terminal page by remote users. Online catalog usage (at 35.6% of the total selections) and Abstracting and Indexing (A & I) Services usage (at an aggregate 34.6%) were high. Periodical access selections represented, at the minimum, 47.6% of the total selections and direct electronic journal links were 14.9% of the total. Patrons are making extensive use of publisher full-text repository sites.
KW - End-user searching behavior
KW - Grainger Engineering Library
KW - Public terminal menus
KW - Transaction logs
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U2 - 10.1300/J122v21n01_11
DO - 10.1300/J122v21n01_11
M3 - Article
SN - 0194-262X
VL - 21
SP - 127
EP - 138
JO - Science and Technology Libraries
JF - Science and Technology Libraries
IS - 1-2
ER -