Grand Valley State University

ScholarWorks@GVSU
Scholarly Publications University Libraries

1-1-2010

The Impact of Web-scale Discovery on the Use of a Library Collection

Doug Way
Grand Valley State University, wayd@gvsu.edu

Recommended Citation
Way, Doug, "The Impact of Web-scale Discovery on the Use of a Library Collection" (2010). Scholarly Publications. Paper 9. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/library_sp/9

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Libraries at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarly Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact garrisoj@gvsu.edu.

 TheImpactofWebscaleDiscoveryontheUseofaLibraryCollection Abstract GrandValleyStateUniversityLibrariesimplementedSerialsSolutionswebscalediscoverytool, Summon,duringthefallof2009.ThiscasestudyexploreswhetherSummonhadanimpactontheuse ofthelibrarysresourcesduringitsfirstsemesterofimplementation.Anexaminationofusagestatistics showedadramaticdecreaseintheuseoftraditionalabstractingandindexingdatabasesandanequally dramaticincreaseintheuseoffulltextresourcesfromfulltextdatabaseandonlinejournalcollections. Theauthorconcludesthattheincreaseinfulltextuseislinkedtotheimplementationofawebscale discoverytool. NOTICE:thisistheauthor'sversionofaworkthatwasacceptedforpublicationinSerialsReview. Changesresultingfromthepublishingprocess,suchaspeerreview,editing,corrections,structural formatting,andotherqualitycontrolmechanismsmaynotbereflectedinthisdocument.Changesmay havebeenmadetothisworksinceitwassubmittedforpublication.Adefinitiveversionispublishedin SerialsReview,2010;36:214220,doi:10.1016/j.serrev.2010.07.002.

TheriseoftheInternetoverthelasttwodecadeshasbeeninmanywaysablessingandacurse forlibraries.LibrarieshavebeenabletotakeadvantageoftheInternettomakemoreinformationthan everavailabletotheirusers.Sophisticatedonlinedatabasesallowuserstoperformpreciseandcomplex searches,whileaggregatedcontentandopenURLtechnologyprovidenearlyseamlessaccessbetween indexingandjournalcontent.Atthesametime,whilethemyriadofdatabasesavailableatmost academiclibrariesprovideuserswithmoreoptionsthanever,theyalsohavetheeffectofoverwhelming userswhohavegrownupusingGoogle. Googlessimpleinterface,speed,breadthofcontentandqualityresultshavesetthestandard

forsearchingbothamonglibraryusersandwithinthelibrarycommunity.IncontrasttoGoogle,the natureoflibraryresearchwithitssilosofcontentspreadamonghundredsofdatabaseswithdozensof differentinterfacesseemsbothantiquatedanddaunting. Libraries,awareofthisproblem,havesoughtsolutionsthatwouldallowuserstoaccesslibrary resourceswithouthavingtoselectaspecificdatabaseorthelibrarycatalog.Thesolutionidentifiedby RoyTennantandothersduringthelate1990sandearly2000swasfederatedsearching.1Federated searching,alsoreferredtoasmetasearching,allowsuserstosearchmultipleresourcesatthesametime, returningasinglesetofresults.Manylibrariesthoughtthatfederatedsearchingwouldallowlibrariesto competewithGooglefortheattentionofusers.2Academiclibraries,liketheoneatMaristCollege,used federatedsearchtocompeteagainstthesimplicityandpopularityofGoogle,whileprovidinguserswith accesstomorescholarlyresources.3 WhileMaristCollegedescribeditsexperiencewithfederatedsearchasawinwinsituationfor thelibraryandforusers,4overtimemoreandmorelibrariesandlibrarianshaveraisedissuesand concernswiththecapabilitiesoffederatedsearch.Authorsdescribetheimplementationoffederated searchasdifficult,prolongedandcomplicatedandfullofcompromises.5Concernsareraisedabout

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limitsonthenumberofresourcesthatcanbesimultaneouslysearched.6Thespeedoffederatedsearch isalsoaconcern,asitisdictatedbytheslowestrespondingresource,7andthereareissueswiththe abilityoftheseresourcestomerge,deduplicateandrankretrievedsearchresults.8Theseissueswith federatedsearchingandthedevelopmentofGoogleScholarledsometocallforanewkindofresource thatcouldcompetewithGoogleScholarbothintermsofspeedandscope.9 In2009SerialsSolutionsannouncedthedevelopmentofsucharesourcewhenitunveiledits

webscalediscoverytool,Summon.10Othervendorssoonfollowedwithsimilarproducts,suchasEbscos DiscoveryServiceandPrimoCentralfromExLibris.11Unlikefederatedsearchtools,whichsearchacross alimitednumberofindividualresourcessimultaneously,theseresourcespreharvestcontentintoone singleindex,allowinguserstosearchacrossagreateramountofcontent.Thissingleindexalsoallows forquickerresultsthanwithfederatedsearching.Andwhilefederatedsearchtoolshavealways struggledwithdeduplicating,mergingandrankingsearchresultsfrommultipleresources,thesingle, preharvestedindexesofwebscalediscoverytoolseliminatetheneedtomergeresultsandallowfor easierdeduplicationandbetterrelevancyranking. Forexample,Summonsearchesacrossmorethanahalfbillionitems,dwarfingthesizeofeven thelargesttraditionallibrarydatabase.Theindexincludeslocalholdingsfromalibrarysonlinecatalog andinstitutionalrepositories,aswellascontentandmetadatafrommorethansixthousandpublishers, databaseproducersandcontentproviders.Contentincludedrangesfrommanuscriptsandarchival materialstojournalarticles,monographsandsoundrecordings.Becausethiscontentispreharvested intoasingleunifiedindex,Summonisabletosearchacrossmorecontent,providebetterrelevancy rankingandquickerresultsthaneventhebestfederatedsearchtool.AndunlikeGoogleScholar, Summonistiedtoalibrarysresources.Sowhileuserscansearchacrossabroadrangeofcontent,they canalsolimittheirsearchtocontentavailableattheirowninstitution,whichiseasilyaccessedbythe

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user.Finally,unlikefederatedsearchorGoogleScholar,Summonsnormalizeddataalsoallowsfora greaterlevelofrefinementbothpriortosearchingandafterresultshavebeenreturned. GrandValleyStateUniversity(GVSU),acomprehensiveuniversityinAllendale,MI,with

approximately24,000studentshadimplementedtwodifferentfederatedsearchproductssince2004. Likemanyinstitutions,theGVSULibrarieswerelookingforaresourcetosimplifythesearchprocessfor users.WhileGVSUhadacurrentfederatedsearchimplementation,concernswiththeproductsslow speed,relativecomplexityandlackofanintuitiveinterfaceledmanywithinthelibrarytobelievethis wasnottheidealsolutiontostudentsinformationandresearchneeds.WhenSerialsSolutionsunveiled Summon,GVSUidentifiedthisasasolutiontotheirstudentsneedsandmovedquicklytoacquire Summon,becomingthefirstcommercialadopteroftheproductinJuly,2009.12BytheendofAugust, 2009,Summonwasliveandtheprimarysearchboxonthelibraryshomepage.Thisarticleexamines theuseofSummonatGVSUduringitsfirstsemesterofimplementationandtheimpacttheresource hadontheuseofthelibraryscollections. LiteratureReview Becausetheyaresonewtothemarket,thereislittleintheliteratureonwebscalediscovery

toolslikePrimoCentral,EbscoDiscoveryServiceandSummon.MarshallBreedingfirstdiscussedthis categoryofproductin2005,justafewmonthsafterthelaunchofGoogleScholar.13Breedingargued thatfederatedsearchcouldnotcompetewiththepowerandspeedofaresourcelikeGoogleScholar andcalledforthedevelopmentofwhathedescribedasacentralizedsearchmodel.14Thismodel involvedgatheringdataontheuniverseofinterestinadvanceandprocessingitintoindexesthatcan provideinstantresultstosearchersqueries.15Asidefromproductannouncements,theonlyother mentionsofwebscalediscoverytoolsintheliteraturediscussthepotentialtheypresenttolibrariesand theirusers.16

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Incontrast,federatedsearchinghasamuchmoredevelopedandwiderangingbodyof

literature.Belliston,HowlandandRobertsplacedtheliteraturein2007intofourcategories:(1) discussionsofthedesirabilityand/ordifficultyofcreatingarobustfederatedsearchtool,(2)reportson oneormorespecificfederatedsearchimplementations,(3)comparisonsoffederatedsearchproducts currentlyonthemarkettoeachotherand/ortoGoogleScholar,[and](4)viewsonhowtoimplementa subjectspecificfederatedsearchingtool.17Sincethentherehasbeenthedevelopmentofafifth categoryofarticlesthatexamineslibrariansandendusersperceptionsofandsatisfactionwith federatedsearching. OneofthefirstarticlesinthisnewercategorywasBelliston,HowlandandRobertsstudy,which

foundundergraduatespreferredfederatedsearchingovertraditionalsearchoptions,thattheyfelt federatedsearchingsavedthemtimeandthattheyweresatisfiedbytheirsearchresults.18Inanother articleTang,HsiehYeeandZhangexaminedthedifferencesbetweenstudentandlibrarianperceptions offederatedsearch,withlibrariansviewingfederatedsearchasasecondaryresourceandwithstudents viewingitasaresourceforaccessingfulltext.19InasimilarstudyLampertandDabbouralsofound librariansdidnotconsiderfederatedsearchtobeastartingpointforresearch,whilestudentsfound federatedsearchingtobeeasiertousethantraditionaldatabasesandthatitmettheirexpectations.20 Likewise,inseparatestudiesArmstrong,PonsfordandvanDuinkerken,andWilliams,BonnellandStoffel foundthatundergraduatestudentsweresatisfiedwithfederatedsearching.21Ponsfordand vanDuinkerkensstudyalsolookedatfacultyandgraduatestudentsandtheyfoundtheseusersoften wantedtodomorecomplexsearchesthatwouldallowthemtouseBooleanoperatorsandlimitresults byyearortoscholarlypublications.22AnadditionalfindinginWilliams,BonnellandStoffelsarticlewas thatundergraduatestudentsusedfederatedsearchinginconcertwithresourcesliketraditionallibrary databasesandsearchengineslikeGoogle.23Incontrasttomanyofthestudiesinthiscategory,Wrubel andSchmidtdiscoveredthatwhilestudentsfeltfederatedsearchwasausefultool,theyfoundittobe

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moredifficulttousethansearchengineslikeYahooandGoogleandthattheseuserscontinuedtoturn tothesemorefamiliarresources.24 Despitethelargebodyofliteratureonfederatedsearch,therehasbeenlittlewrittenaboutthe influenceoffederatedsearchontheuseoflibraryresources.Somearticlesdiscussthegrowthinuseof federatedsearchproducts,25whileotherscomparetheuseoffederatedsearchproductstostandard databaseslikeAcademicSearchPremier.26Still,fewarticlesdiscusswhetherincreaseduseinfederated searchtoolsleadstoanincreaseintheuseofspecificlibraryresources.Inanarticlethatdoesexamine thisissue,theLoughboroughUniversityLibraryfoundthattheimplementationoftheMetaLibfederated searchtoolincreasedtheuseofdatabases.27Likewise,theUniversityofWisconsinEauClairefoundthat anincreaseintheuseoffederatedsearchledtoanincreaseindatabasesearches.28However,neither articleaddresseswhethertheytriedtoseparateoutfederatedsearchesfromsearchesinthenative database,nordotheyexplorewhethertheincreaseinsearchesledtoanincreaseduseofjournals, booksorotherlibraryresources.Inonearticlethatdoesdiscusstheimpactoffederatedsearchonthe useofthesekindsofresources,NewtonandSilbergerfoundfollowingtheimplementationoffederated searchatMaristCollegetheuseofscholarlydocumentsdoubled,withanevenlargeincreaseintheuse ofnewspaperarticles.29 SummonatGVSU Atthestartofthefall,2009,semestertheGVSULibrariesimplementedSummon,makingitthe

mainsearchboxonthelibraryswebsite.30Usershadtheoptionofclickingatabandswitchingovertoa catalogsearchbox,butthemainsearchboxinviteduserstoSearchSummonforArticles,Books& More.TheLibrariesalsoreplacedthecatalogsearchboxwithaSummonsearchboxinBlackboard,the universityscoursemanagementsystem.SomelibrariansaddedSummonsearchboxestotheir

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LibGuidesandothersintroduceditthroughemailcommunicationtofacultyandduringinstructional sessions.Asidefromtheseefforts,theLibrariesdidlittletopublicizetheadditionofthisresource. AfteronesemesterofmakingSummonavailabletouserstheLibrarieswantedtodetermine

howmuchSummonwasbeingused.TheproblemwasthatSerialsSolutionshadnotreleaseda statisticsfunctionforSummon.Toovercomethis,theLibrariesdecidedtoexaminetheusagestatistics forotherresources.Itwasunclearwhetherthiswouldprovideuswithanymeaningfuldataorifwe wouldbeabletolinkanyofthestatisticsbacktoSummon,butafterexaminingstatisticsfromGoogle Analytics,databaseproviders,journalpublishersandtheLibrarieslinkresolverwewereabletodevelop apictureoftheimpactSummonwashavingontheuseofourcollections. Methodology ToexaminewhetherSummonwashavinganimpactontheuseoflibraryresources,usage

statisticsfromSeptemberthroughDecember,2009,werecomparedtothesameperiodtheyearbefore (2008)andtothefirsteightmonthsof2009(JanuarythroughAugust).Toprovideadditionalcontext, JanuarythroughAugust,2009,wascomparedtothefirsteightmonthsof2008.TheLibrariesused databasesearchstatisticsfromtheCOUNTERDatabaseReport1(DR1),aswellasfulltextarticle downloadsfromtheCOUNTERJournalReport1(JR1).Databasesandjournalpublishersthatdidnot supplyCOUNTERcompliantstatisticsforthe24monthsbeingexamined(January,2008,though December,2009)wereexcludedfromthisstudy. StatisticsfromtheLibrarieslinkresolver,SerialsSolutions360Link,werealsousedinthis study.SerialsSolutionsprovidesclickthroughstatisticsbyprovideranddatabase,aswellasbytitleand ISSN,andbothofthesereportswereexamined.Thesereportsprovideinformationonwhereusersof theLibrarieslinkresolverweregoing,butdonotprovideinformationonwheretheuseriscomingfrom. SoitispossibletodeterminehowmanytimesusersaccessedarticlesinadatabaselikeAcademic

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OnefileorhowmanytimestheyaccessedonlinearticlesfromaspecificjournallikeNatureorThe ChronicleofHigherEducation,butitisnotpossibletodeterminewhatspecificresourceauserwas comingfrom,beitSummonoroneofthelibraryssubjectdatabases. Finally,theLibrariesusedstatisticsfromGoogleAnalyticstoexaminehowuserswereaccessing Encore,theLibrariesmaincataloginterface.GoogleAnalyticsTrafficSourcesandReferringSites reportswereusedtotrackboththepercentageandtotalnumberofpeopleaccessingEncorevia Summon. DatabaseUse From2006through2008theGVSULibrariessawsteadygrowthintheuseofonlinedatabases,

but2009sawusedecline.Thecauseofthedecreaseinuse,atleastinthefirsteightmonthsof2009, wasunclear.Thelibraryhadnotmadeanymajorchangestoitswebsiteandtheuniversityhadseena slightincreaseenrollment.Moreover,thedropinusewaswidespreadacrossmostdatabaseplatforms andacrossdisciplines.DatabasesfromCSA,WilsonandFirstSearchwerealldowninthefirsteight monthsof2009,withthepercentdecreaseinusagebeinggreaterinthelastfourmonthsoftheyear. Overall,EbscodatabaseswereupfortheyearbothbetweenJanuaryandAugustandbetween SeptemberandDecember.However,ifstatisticsforAcademicSearchPremierandCINAHLareexcluded thereisamarkeddifferencebetweenthefirsteightmonthsof2009,whendatabasessawalarge increaseinuse,andthelastfourmonthsoftheyearwhenuseactuallydropped. Lookingatspecificdatabases,thereweresomethatsawanincreaseinusefromSeptember throughDecember,withothersseeingtheiruseessentiallyunchanged,butthevastmajorityofthe Librariesdatabasessawasteepdeclineinuseduringthefallsemestercomparedtothesameperiod duringpreviousyearandwhencomparedtothefirsteightmonthsof2009.Table1showsasamplingof databases,illustratingthatwhilesomelikeAcademicSearchPremiersawanincreaseinuse,otherslike

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CINAHLandEconlitsawconsistentuse.Forthemajorityofdatabases,however,therewasalargedrop inusecomparedtothefallsemesterin2008andcomparedtoJanuarythroughAugust,2009.Thiswas trueregardlessofplatform,subjectordiscipline. InsertTable1 FullTextUse Twosourcesofinformationwereusedtoexaminetheuseoffulltext.Clickthroughstatistics

fromtheLibrarieslinkresolverwereanimportantsourceofinformationbecauseSummonisonlyan indexandreliesonthelinkresolvertoconnectuserstofulltextjournalarticles.Inadditiontoclick throughstatistics,fulltextdownloadsfromtheJR1reportwereusedtoconfirmthenumbersseeninthe linkresolverstatistics.Mostfulltextsources,beitaggregatordatabasesorpublisherspecificjournal packages,sawadecreaseinclickthroughsfromJanuarythroughAugust,2009.Atthesametime,most oftheseresourcessawdramaticincreasesintheirusefromSeptemberthroughDecember,2009,when comparedtothesameperiodin2008. Aggregatordatabases. Table2illustratestheclickthroughstatisticsforaggregatordatabases.Across theboard,theysawdramaticincreasesinclickthroughsduringthefallsemestercomparedtothe previousyear.Thetableisbrokenintocategoriesforgeneralaggregatordatabases,likeGeneral Onefile,moresubjectspecificdatabaseslikeGenderWatch,andthendatabaseswithagreatdealof newscontent,suchasLexisNexisAcademic. InsertTable2 Journalcollections.Likemanyotherinstitutions,GVSUhasalargenumberofbigdealjournal collections,aswellasperiodicalbackfileslikeJSTORandPeriodicalArchiveOnline(PAO).These collectionsmirroredaggregatordatabasesinthatusewasgenerallydownorsteadyduringthefirsteight monthsof2009,butthensawasharpincreaseinusebetweenSeptemberandDecember.Table3

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showsclickthroughstatisticsfortheLibrariesmajorjournalcollections.Thereweresomenotable exceptionsfromthegeneraltrendfoundinmostcollections,includingProjectMuseandACMDigital Library,whichactuallysawdecreasesinuseduringthefallsemester,aswellasSage,whichessentially sawnochangeinuse.AllthreecollectionsarecompletelyincludedintheSummondatabase,though,so itisdifficulttodeterminewhytheysaweithernochangeinuseoradecreaseinuse,butitwasnot becausetherewasalackofindexinginSummon. Inserttable3 Inadditiontolookingatclickthroughstatisticsfromthelinkresolver,fulltextdownloadsfrom

theJR1reportwerealsoexamined.Asillustratedintable4,theseresultsmirroredthestatisticsfrom thelinkresolver,showingthatusageincreasedduringthelastfourmonthsoftheyearwhencompared tothesameperiodin2008.ExceptionsincludedlowerusecollectionslikeIEEE,ProjectMuseandWiley. Table4alsoshowstheregenerallywasanevengreaterincreaseinuseoverthepreviousyearduring NovemberandDecember,2009,whencomparedtothefallsemesterasawhole. Inserttable4 Individualjournals.Useofindividualtitleswasexaminedandoverallthetrendsmatchedwhatwasseen inthejournalpackagesandaggregatordatabases.Aggregatedclickthroughstatisticswereexamined forthefivethousandjournaltitleswiththehighestusein2008.Journalsinthetopfivethousandsawat least12usesin2008sononeofthesetitleswouldnecessarilybeconsideredlowusetitles.The majorityofthesejournalssawalargeincreaseinusebetweenSeptemberandDecember,2009,when comparedtothesameperiodin2008.Onaverage,thesejournalssawtheiruseincreasebysixtysix percent,totalinganadditional81,371clickthroughs.Thisreversedanoveralldeclineinuseduringthe firsteightmonthsof2009.However,itshouldnotbeassumedthatalljournalssawanincreaseinuse. Thirtysixpercentofthesejournalsdidseetheirusedecreasecomparedtothesameperiodin2008.

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Thisisincomparisontothetop250journals,whichsawonly20%ofitstitlesusedecrease.Thismay suggestthatlowerusejournalsweremorelikelytohavetheirusedecreaseduringthelastfourmonths of2009. Acloserexaminationwasdoneoftheonehundredtitlesfromthefall,2008,andfall,2009,

semesterswiththehighestusebasedonlinkresolverclickthroughs.Ofthosethatwereinthetop100 inthefallof2008,fiftyonedroppedoutofthattierin2009.Whileitispossiblethatsomeofthese titleswerenotindexedinSummonduringthefallsemester,allwereindexedatthetimeofthisanalysis. Inaddition,themajorityoftitlesthatdroppedinrankingactuallysawanincreaseinuseduringthelast fourmonthsof2009. Anexaminationwasalsomadeofthetitlesthatmovedintothetop100inthefallof2009. SomeweretitlesthatwerenewlyonlineatGVSUthatyear,suchasPerceptualandMotorSkills,while otherslikeScientificAmericanwerestandardtitlesthatin2008hadbeenjustoutsidethetop100.One categoryofpublicationsthatsawalargenumberoftitlesmoveintothetop100in2009was newspapers.ThisinsomewaysmirrorswhatMaristCollegefoundwhenitimplementedfederated searchandsawalargeincreaseintheusenewspapers.31 Allthenewspapersinthetop100,whethertheywereintherein2008orwhethertheymoved intothetop100in2009,sawstrongincreasesinuse.TheNewYorkTimes,forexample,sawan additional3,276clickthroughsduringthelastfourmonthsof2009,anincreaseof202%,whilethe GrandRapidsPress,thelocalnewspaperforGVSU,sawuseincreasebymorethan400%withan additional1,110clickthroughscomparedtothesameperiodin2008.Inaddition,nearlyhalfofthe newspapersthathadmovedintothetop100hadseenzeroclickthroughsinthefallof2008,even thoughallofthemhadbeenavailabletousers. MonographUsage

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WhenSummonwasimplemented,theSummonsearchboxbecametheprimarysearchboxon

theLibrarieshomepage.UsershadtheoptionofswitchingthesearchboxtotheLibrariesEncore catalogoverlaybyclickingonatab.Theycouldalsoclickonalinkonthehomepagethatwouldtake themtothemainEncoresearchpage.UsingGoogleAnalytics,thelibrarywasabletotrackfromwhat websiteauserwhoaccessedEncoreoriginated.Duringthefall,2009,semestermostpeoplecontinued toaccessthecatalogviathelibraryshomepage,butthroughoutthesemesteranincreasingpercentage ofpeopleaccessedEncoreviaSummon,goingfrom34%inSeptemberand37%inOctoberto42%in Novemberand43%inDecember. Discussion Whenexaminingtheuseofelectronicresourcesduringthelastfourmonthsof2009thereare

twoverycleartrends.First,theuseofabstractingandindexingdatabases,whichhadgenerallybeen decliningduringthefirsteightmonthsoftheyear,continuedtodecrease.Infact,theseresources generallysawanevengreaterdecreaseinuseduringthelastfourmonthsof2009.Thesecondtrend couldbeseenintheuseoffulltextsources.Duringthefirsteightmonthsof2009theuseofthese resourcesmirroreddatabases,withusegenerallybeingdown,butduringthelastfourmonthsofthe yeartheseresourcesgenerallysawdramaticincreasesinuse.Thissharpdeclineindatabaseuse combinedwithasteepincreaseinfulltextdownloadsandlinkresolverclickthroughssuggestsSummon hadadramaticimpactonuserbehaviorandtheuseoflibrarycollectionsduringthistimeperiod. Breakingdownwalls.TheLibrariesfoundthatSummonwasabletodriveuserstoresourcesregardless ofwhetherthecontentproviderhaddirectlypartneredwithSerialsSolutionstomaketheircontent availableinSummon.BothElsevierandJSTORjournalssawanadditional11,000downloadsduringthe lastfourmonthsof2009.YetneitherJSTORnorElsevierwerecontentpartnerswithSummonduring thefourmonthsstudied.ThismeantthatSerialsSolutionswasnotdirectlyreceivingcontentfrom

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eitherElsevierorJSTORforinclusionintheSummonindex.However,becauseSummonincludes contentfromindexesdevelopedbydatabaseproducerslikeProQuest,Gale,ThomsonReutersandH.W. Wilson,journalarticlesfromJSTORandElsevierjournalsthatwereincludedintheseindexeswere discoverabletoSummonusers. Webscalediscoveryservicesrepresentadramaticchangeinhowlibrariesprovideaccessto

collections.Silosthatexistedbasedonsubjectcontent,publisherorcontentproviderinmanywaysno longerexistorarenolongerimportant.ItdoesnotmatterthatElseviersScienceDirectcontentisnot directlyingestedintoSummon.WhatmattersisthatasourceanysourcethatisinSummonprovides indexingtothearticleswithinScienceDirect. Databaseuse.Thedropinuseforcoresubjectdatabasesasshownintable1isoneofthemore troublingtrendsidentifiedinthisstudy.Ifthesespecializedsubjectdatabasesstillplayanimportant roleintheresearchprocessandbringalevelofsophisticatedindexingandsearchingthatisnot availablefromatoollikeSummon,thenlibrariesmustidentifywaystoreconnectuserstothese resources.AtGVSU,wearelookingatwaystodothisthroughouronlinesubjectguidesandthrough ourinstructionprogram,butitisanareaofongoingconcern. Lessdisturbingwasthedecreaseinsearchesinlargemultidisciplinaryaggregators,likeGeneral OneFile,orlargesubjectaggregatorswithoutspecializedorsophisticatedindexing,likeSocINDEX.Over theyearstheseresourceshaveservedtwomajorneedsforlibraries.Theyproviderelativelyinexpensive accesstolargeamountsoffulltext,andtheyprovideagoodstartingpointforthelibrarytopointfirst andsecondyearstudents.Inareimaginedworldwithwebscalediscoveryproductstheystillfillthis firstrole,asallofGVSUsmajorfulltextcollectionssawsizeableincreasesinarticledownloadsafterthe implementationofSummon.However,onemustcalltheseresourcesroleasabasicstartingplacefor firstandsecondyearstudentsintodoubt.ThescopeandscaleofSummondwarfsaresourcelike

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AcademicSearchPremierandprovidesaccesstoamuchlargerbodyofliterature.Itseemsclearthat specializedandsophisticatedindexingfoundindatabaseslikePsycInfoandWebofSciencewillcontinue toplayamajorroleintheresearchprocess.However,theongoingimportanceofsubjectdatabases thatarevaluablesimplybecauseofthesheersizeoftheirindexmustbecalledintoquestion. ScholarlyJournalsandNewspapers.Thelargeincreaseinnewspaperuseshownintheanalysisoflink resolverclickthroughssuggeststhatSummonmaybemeetinganuntappeddemandforaggregated newscontent.Atthesametime,theoverallincreaseintheuseofscholarlyjournals,shownthrough boththeanalysisofjournalpackageuseandthroughtheanalysisofindividualjournaltitles,suggests thatuserswereableidentifyandaccessscholarlyjournalcontentusingSummon.Thatsaid,additional researchonhowusersnavigateSummontonarrowtheirfindingsisnecessarytodeterminetowhat degreeusersaresimplyrelyingontheresultsthatreturnedfirstorwhethertheyaretakingadvantage ofthefacetsandothertoolsinSummontorefinetheirresultslists. Monographs.TheanalysisofGoogleAnalyticsdatasuggeststhatuserswereabletoidentifyandselect bookcontentinSummon.Aswithnewspapersandscholarlyarticles,bookswerenotlostwithin Summonsmassiveindex.ThestatisticsalsosuggestthattheuseofSummonintensifiedduringthelast twomonthsofthesemester.Asdiscussedabove,thepercentageofusersreachingEncorefrom Summonwashighestduringthosetwomonths.Thatdataiscorroboratedbythestatisticsintable4 showingthatthepercentincreaseinarticledownloadswasgenerallyhighestduringthelasttwomonths oftheyear.Thisassumesthereisafairlysteadyratioofsearchestodownloadsorcatalogreferrals. OnceSerialsSolutionsmakesusagestatisticsavailableforSummonthelibrarywillbeabletofurther examinethisaspect. Areasoffutureresearch.Withacategoryofproductsasnewaswebscalediscoveryresources,thereis noshortageofareasneedingfurtherexamination.Basedonwhatwasseeninthisstudyitseemsclear

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thatadditionalstudiesareneededtoexaminewhyandhowpatronsareusingtheseresourcesandhow easilytheyaremeetingtheirinformationneeds,especiallycomparedtomorespecializedlibrary databases.Studiesofusagestatisticsoveralongerperiodoftimeareneededtofurtherexaminethe impactofwebscalediscoveryresourcesontheuseoflibrarycollections.Studiesexaminingtheimpact ofinstruction,promotionandtheplacementofsearchboxesontheuseofwebscalediscoverywould alsohelplibrariesmaximizetheuseofthesekindsofresources.Finally,thisearlyexaminationsuggests thattheseresourcesincreasetheuseoflibrarieselectroniccollections,buttheimpactontheuseof printcollections,andmonographsingeneral,stillneedstobeexplored. Conclusion DespitethelackofdirectusagestatisticsfromSummon,thisanalysisofusagestatisticssuggests

thatSummonwaswidelyadoptedinitsfirstsemesterofuseandthatitisincreasingaccesstothe librarysresources.FiveyearsafterMarshallBreedingcalledforanewkindofresourcetocompetewith GoogleScholar,32itappearsthatcategoryofresourceisathand.ThisisnottosaythatSummonorany otherwebscalediscoverytoolisperfect,norisittosaythatuserswillsuddenlystopusingGooglefor academicresearch.Librariesexpectingthesethingswillbedisappointed.Still,theresultsofthisstudy suggestthatthisnewcategoryofresourcehasthepotentialtoradicallychangehowusersinteractwith anddiscoverthewealthofinformationavailablewithinlibrarycollections.

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1.

2.

3.

4. 5.

6.

7.

8.

9. 10. 11.

12.

Notes Forexample:JudyLuther,TrumpingGoogle:MetasearchingsPromise,LibraryJournal128,no. 16(2003):3639;RoyTennant,TheRightSolution:FederatedSearchTools,LibraryJournal 128,no.11(2003):2830;RoyTennant,CrossDatabaseSearch:OneStopShopping,Library Journal126,no.17(2001):2930;RoyTennant,Interoperability:TheHolyGrail,Library Journal123,no.12(1998):3839. Luther,TrumpingGoogle;DonnaFryer,FederatedSearchEngines,Online28,no.2(2004): 1619. VerneW.NewtonandKathrynSilberger,SimplifyingComplexityThroughaSingleFederated SearchBox,Online31,no.4(2007):1921. Ibid.,21. FeiXu,ImplementationofaFederatedSearchSystem:ResourceAccessibilityIssues,Serials Review35(2009):235241;DennisWarren,LostinTranslation:TheRealityofFederated Searching,AustralianAcademic&ResearchLibraries38(2007):258269. MarshallBreeding,PlottingaNewCourseforMetasearch,ComputersinLibraries25,no.2 (2005):2729;Warren,LostinTranslation. Breeding,PlottingaNewCourse;DorisSmallHelferandJinaChoiWakimotoMetasearching: TheGood,theBad,andtheUglyofMakingitWorkinYourLibrary,Searcher13,no.2(2005): 4041. Breeding,PlottingaNewCourse;HelferandWakimotoMetasearching;Warren,Lostin Translation. Breeding,PlottingaNewCourse. JoshHadro,SummonAimsatOneBoxDiscovery,LibraryJournal134,no.3(2009):1718. JoshHadro,EBSCOhostUnveilsDiscoveryService,LibraryJournal134,no.8(2009):17;Primo CentralMoreDataforDiscovery,BetterServicetoendusers,LessHassleforLibraries, http://initiatives.exlibrisgroup.com/2009/07/primocentralmoredatafordiscovery.html (accessedMarch30,2010). TheSummonServiceTMGoesLive:GrandValleyStateUniversityisFirstAdoptionofWebscale DiscoveryService,http://www.serialssolutions.com/assets/attach_news/PRSummonLive.pdf (accessedMarch30,2010). 16

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13. 14. 15. 16.

17.

18. 19.

20.

21.

22. 23. 24.

Breeding,PlottingaNewCourse. Ibid.,27. Ibid.,28. DavidStern,Harvesting:PowerandOpportunitiesBeyondFederatedSearch,Online33,no.4 (2009):3537;EdTallent,WhereareweGoing?AreweThereYet?InternetReferenceServices Quarterly15,no.1(2010):310;NormMedeiros,ResearchingtheResearchProcess: InformationseekingBehavior,Summon,andGoogleBooks,OCLCSystems&Services25,no.3 (2009):153155. C.JeffreyBelliston,JaredL.Howland,andBrianC.Roberts,UndergraduateUseofFederated Searching:ASurveyofPreferencesandPerceptionsofValueaddedFunctionality,Collegeand ResearchLibraries68(2007):472486. Belliston,HowlandandRoberts,UndergraduateUse. RongTang,IngridHsiehYeeandShanyunZhang,UserPerceptionsofMetaLibCombined Search:AnInvestigationofHowUsersMakeSenseofFederatedSearching,Internetand ReferenceServicesQuarterly12(2007):211236 LampertandKatherineS.Dabbour,LibrarianPerspectivesonTeachingMetasearchand FederatedSearchTechnologies,InternetandReferenceServicesQuarterly12(2007):253278. AnnieR.Armstrong,StudentPerceptionsofFederatedSearchingvsSingleDatabase Searching,ReferenceServicesReview37(2009):291303;BennettClairePonsfordandWyoma vanDuinkerken,UserExpectationsintheTimeofGoogle:UsabilityTestingofFederated Searching,InternetReferenceServicesQuarterly12(2007):159178;SarahC.Williams,Angela Bonnell,andBruceStoffel,StudentFeedbackonFederatedSearchUse,Satisfaction,andWeb Presence:QualitativeFindingsofFocusGroups,Reference&UserServicesQuarterly49(2009): 131139. PonsfordandvanDuinkerken,UserExpectations. Williams,BonnellandStoffel,StudentFeedback. LauraWrubelandKariSchmidt,UsabilityTestingofaMetasearchInterface:ACaseStudy, CollegeandResearchLibraries68(2007):292311.

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25. DouglasKing,ManyLibrarieshavegonetoFederatedSearchingtoWinUsersBackfrom Google.IsitWorking?JournalofElectronicResourcesLibrarianship20(2008):213227. 26. JohnBoyd,MarianHampton,PatriciaMorrison,PennyPugh,andFrankCervone,TheOneBox Challenge:ProvidingaFederatedSearchThatBenefitstheResearchProcess,SerialsReview32 (2006):247254. 27. RuthStubbings,MetaLibandSFXatLoughboroughUniversityLibrary,VINE:TheJournalof InformationandKnowledgeManagementSystems33(2003):2532. 28. ChristopherCox,HittingtheSpot,TheSerialsLibrarian53(2007):147164. 29. NewtonandSilberger,SimplifyingComplexity. 30. www.gvsu.edu/library 31. NewtonandSilberger,SimplifyingComplexity. 32. Breeding,PlottingaNewCourse.

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Table1DifferenceinDatabaseSearchesbyDatabase:20082009 JanuaryAugust %Change 2008 2009

AcademicSearchPremier CINAHL SPORTDiscus LGBTLife SocialWorkAbstracts PublicAdministrationAbstracts SocINDEX ERIC BusinessSourceComplete PsycINFO America:History&Life SociologicalAbstracts EconLit MLA SocialSciencesAbstracts HistoricalAbstracts LLBA PhysicalEducationIndex GeoRef PAIS PhilosophersIndex SocialServicesAbstracts RILM BiographyIndex Film&TelevisionLiteratureIndex ArtAbstracts LibraryLiterature InternationalPoliticalScienceAbstracts AltHealthWatch BibliographyoftheHistoryofArt BiologicalandAgriculturalIndex WilsonSelectPlus AnthropologyPlus HumanitiesAbstracts GEOBASE AGRICOLA HistoryofScience,Technologyand Medicine ArticleFirst BookReviewDigest AlternativePressIndex ElectronicCollectionsOnline EssayandGeneralLiteratureIndex AppliedScience&TechnologyAbstracts GeneralScienceAbstracts WilsonBusinessAbstracts 155,944 58,497 10,497 1,769 4,292 1,590 27,977 30,442 28,880 69,183 7,289 9,918 8,048 7,258 1,629 5,619 7,528 6,247 4,067 7,364 10,516 9,411 2,176 263 3,123 2,014 427 4,888 4,882 1,624 2,282 54,132 3,430 702 2,644 3,986 885 5,114 106 3,183 2,905 240 340 313 759 173,056 73,061 16,484 3,278 6,908 2,701 23,518 23,915 30,757 74,320 7,953 7,329 7,076 7,546 1,135 6,221 6,780 5,365 4,632 5,695 3,852 7,558 1,508 248 3,521 1,283 468 6,128 5,729 1,553 1,658 48,281 3,371 879 1,960 2,333 954 3,203 176 1,557 2,159 201 302 527 605 11% 25% 57% 85% 61% 70% 16% 21% 6% 7% 9% 26% 12% 4% 30% 11% 10% 14% 14% 23% 63% 20% 31% 6% 13% 36% 10% 25% 17% 4% 27% 11% 2% 25% 26% 41% 8% 37% 66% 51% 26% 16% 11% 68% 20%

SeptemberDecember 2008 135,447 35,639 8,727 2,916 5,699 1,860 20,742 14,681 20,673 48,837 7,312 6,801 5,644 8,549 1,304 6,543 5,887 4,140 2,988 5,264 4,252 7,600 1,902 344 3,860 1,703 293 5,555 3,695 1,889 1,900 35,331 3,945 1,031 1,936 3,370 779 2,737 197 1,877 2,446 226 425 370 475 2009 184,964 45,167 10,459 3,311 5,943 1,857 20,446 14,178 19,686 45,722 6,771 5,931 4,788 7,232 1,088 5,378 4,701 3,239 2,168 3,841 2,707 4,179 1,050 174 1,881 765 133 2,347 1,528 773 776 14,151 1,513 365 572 975 212 725 51 452 484 36 55 40 31 %Change 37% 27% 20% 14% 4% 0% 1% 3% 5% 6% 7% 13% 15% 15% 17% 18% 20% 22% 27% 27% 36% 45% 45% 49% 51% 55% 55% 58% 59% 59% 59% 60% 62% 65% 70% 71% 73% 74% 74% 76% 80% 84% 87% 89% 93%

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Table2DifferenceinLinkResolverClickThroughsbyDatabase:20082009
GeneralDatabases AcademicSearchPremier GeneralOneFile AcademicOneFile SubjectSpecific ABI/INFORMGlobal PQMedical GenderWatch PQCriminalJustice SocINDEX LiteratureResourceCenter NewsFocused LexisNexisAcademic EthnicNewsWatch PQHistoricalNewspapers ABI/INFORMDateline InfoTracCustom Newspapers JanuaryAugust 2008 2009 % Change 33,575 25,806 23% 8,281 5,853 29% 10,110 7,332 27% 6,465 5,466 15% 14,814 13,987 6% 405 697 72% 779 812 4% 5,801 4,958 15% 474 324 32% 7,469 6,096 18% 426 335 21% 290 308 6% 28 39 39% 729 377 48% 2008

17,335 4,557 4,973 3,507 7,705 240 369 3,488 222 4,378 521 235 30 206

SeptemberDecember 2009 % AdditionalClick Change Throughs 33,227 92% 15,892 12,706 179% 8,149 8,202 65% 3,229 15,924 354% 12,417 16,176 110% 8,471 2,010 738% 1,770 1,262 1,631 342% 4,352 25% 864 572 158% 350 32,483 642% 28,105 3,199 514% 2,678 1,466 542% 1,231 1,037 3,357% 1,007 1,170 468% 964

ImpactofWebscaleDiscovery

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Table3DifferenceinLinkResolverClickThroughsbyJournalCollection:20082009 JanuaryAugust SeptemberDecember 2008 2009 % 2008 2009 % Additional Change Change ClickThroughs JSTOR 14,886 13,159 12% 9,149 22,537 146% 13,388 Elsevier 13,603 13,220 3% 8,538 13,730 61% 5,192 Blackwell 13,494 11,264 17% 7,512 11,421 52% 3,909 Sage 9,595 12,593 31% 8,548 11,667 36% 3,119 Springer 14,455 10,875 25% 8,119 9,576 18% 1,457 Wiley 4,391 3,582 18% 2,442 3,648 49% 1,206 PeriodicalArchive 2,172 1,972 9% 1,861 2,897 56% 1,036 Online ProjectMuse 1,916 2,551 33% 1,894 2,356 24% 462 OxfordUniversityPress 2,276 2,243 1% 1,732 2,136 23% 404 IEEE 1,030 783 24% 383 538 40% 155 AmericanChemical 1,014 892 12% 688 797 16% 109 Society AnnualReviews 461 525 14% 259 320 24% 61 ACMDigitalLibrary 156 1,150 637% 480 99 79% 381

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Table4DifferenceinFullTextDownloadsbyJournalCollection:20082009ab
JSTOR Elsevier Sage Springer PeriodicalArchive Online ProjectMuse OxfordUniversity Press IEEE Wiley Blackwell AnnualReviews JanuaryAugust 2009 % Change 157,167 143,204 9% 27,935 30,518 9% 23,932 24,328 2% 14,218 18,092 27% 3,175 1,463 54% 2008 6,042 5,473 1,044 6,469 22,719 1,732 8,473 6,187 950 7,279 18,269 2,532 40% 13% 9% 13% 20% 46% SeptemberDecember 2008 2009 % Change 120,286 131,445 9% 21,671 32,730 51% 15,537 17,084 10% 10,638 14,156 33% 2,210 2,955 34% 7,425 4,191 788 4,656 11,420 1,089 7,022 5,086 427 3,737 13,275 1,132 5% 21% 46% 20% 16% 4% NovemberDecember 2008 2009 % Change 53,761 69,849 30% 9,075 19,747 118% 6,473 8,467 31% 5,961 9,415 58% 1,024 1,636 60% 3,731 1,774 270 1,599 3,864 453 4,107 2,319 146 1,686 5,358 642 10% 31% 46% 5% 39% 42%

ACSstatisticsfor2008wereincompleteandexcludedfromthisevaluation. COUNTERcompliantstatisticswerenotavailableforACMDigitalLibrary,soitwasexcludedfromthisevaluation.

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