Michael Levine-Clark

Electronic books and the humanities: a survey at the University of Denver

Purpose – To identify levels of awareness and patterns of usage of electronic books by scholars in the humanities.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of the University of Denver community assessed knowledge about and usage of electronic books. The results for humanists are presented here.Findings – Scholars in the humanities have a higher level of awareness of e‐books than their colleagues across campus but use e‐books at the same rate. Their patterns of use are different, with humanists using less of the e‐book than do other groups. Humanists still prefer printed books to electronic texts at a higher rate than do other groups and care less about added features, such as searchability, than they do about content.Originality/value – Humanists conduct research differently than do most other scholars, using the library catalog and browsing as primary means of finding information, and valuing the book more than other resources. No previous research has assessed whether humanists have similarly unique patter...

A Comparative Citation Analysis of Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar

This article presents the results of a comparative study of Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and Google Scholar (GS) for a set of 15 business and economics journals. Citations from the three sources were analyzed to determine whether one source is better than another, or whether a new database such as Scopus, or a free database such as GS could replace WoS. The authors concluded that scholars might want to use alternative tools collectively to get a more complete picture of the scholarly impact of an article.

Developing a Multiformat Demand-Driven Acquisition Model

This paper discusses a patron-driven acquisition program at the University of Denver. Instead of selecting books from YBPs slip approval plan, the Penrose Library will load MARC records for these titles and for a selection of electronic books from ebrary and EBL. All University of Denver students and faculty will be able to select the title and format (print or electronic) that best suits their needs, thereby allowing the library to expend its collection funds in a more user-oriented way. Through this demand-driven acquisition model, the library offers its users a much wider range of titles, while ensuring that more of the titles purchased are used.

A comparative analysis of social sciences citation tools

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the utility of Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar as citation analysis tools for the social sciences.Design/methodology/approach – The 25 most‐accessed articles in 163 social sciences journals are searched in three citation databases.Findings – Web of Science has long been the only tool for citation analysis. Scopus and Google Scholar, while still new to the market, are complementary to Web of Science and in some cases can provide a more nuanced view of the importance of scholarly articles in the social sciences.Practical implications – As libraries struggle to provide the best tools to their users, they may wish to consider the freely‐available Google Scholar as a substitute or complement to expensive databases such as Web of Science and Scopus.Originality/value – Most analyses of citation databases have focused on the sciences. Because this study examined the social sciences literature, it has expanded on the research available on Web of Science,...

Finding Chemistry Information using Google Scholar: A Comparison with Chemical Abstracts Service

Abstract Since its introduction in November 2004, Google Scholar has been the subject of considerable discussion among librarians. Though there has been much concern about the lack of transparency of the product, there has been relatively little direct comparison between Google Scholar and traditional library resources. This study compares Google Scholar and Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) as resources for finding chemistry information. Of the 702 records found in six different searches, 65.1% were in Google Scholar and 45.1% were in CAS. Of these, 55.0% were unique to Google Scholar, 34.9% were unique to CAS, and 10.1% overlapped. When each record found was searched by title in the two databases, the figures change, with 79.5% in Google Scholar, 85.6% in CAS, and 65.1% overlapping. Based on this, researchers are more likely to find known published information through CAS than in Google Scholar. Results vary by type of search, type of resource, and date. For many types of searching, CAS performs significantly better than Google Scholar. This is especially true for searches on compounds or a personal name, both of which take advantage of advanced search features in CAS. For simple keyword searches, Google Scholar tends to perform better, most probably because Google Scholar searches through the full text of journal articles, while a keyword search through CAS only finds abstract and index terms.

The Alliance Shared Purchase Plan: A New Experiment in Collaborative Collection Development

Beginning in fall 2006, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries piloted a shared purchase plan designed to manage duplication of monographs and enhance the consortial collection. The plan covered only undergraduate books in four subject areas. Two vendors, YBP and Blackwell, participated in the project. YBP covered economics and religion; Blackwell, political science and mathematics. Distribution of books was based upon individual institutional profiles, the dollar amount allocated to the project by each institution, and anticipated usage. While analysis of project data suggests that the pilot did not meet its collection goals, the project is leading to other collaborative efforts.

Discovery or Displacement? A Large-Scale Longitudinal Study of the Effect of Discovery Systems on Online Journal Usage

Part of the Library and Information Science Commons An indexed, print copy of the Proceedings is also available for purchase at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston. You may also be interested in the new series, Charleston Insights in Library, Archival, and Information Sciences. Find out more at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston-insights-library-archivaland-information-sciences.

The effect of discovery systems on online journal usage: a longitudinal study

Many academic libraries are implementing discovery services as a way of giving their users a single comprehensive search option for all library resources. These tools are designed to change the research experience, yet very few studies have investigated the impact of discovery service implementation. This study examines one aspect of that impact by asking whether usage of publisher-hosted journal content changes after implementation of a discovery tool. Libraries that have begun using the four major discovery services have seen an increase in usage of this content, suggesting that for this particular type of material, discovery services have a positive impact on use. Though all discovery services significantly increased usage relative to a no discovery service control group, some had a greater impact than others, and there was extensive variation in usage change among libraries using the same service. Future phases of this study will look at other types of content.

10,000 Libraries, 4 Years: A Large-Scale Study of E-Book Usage and How You Can Use the Data to Move Forward

Michael Levine-Clark and Kari Paulson examine 2013 worldwide usage data for ebrary and E-book Library (EBL) covering hundreds of thousands of titles. They examine usage patterns across academic libraries globally and establish benchmarks useful to libraries and consortia for local planning. Sessions versus availability, the use of higher-quality e-books, broad disciplinary differences, performance relative to predicted use, and level of immersion are considered. Levine-Clark is in the process of analyzing ebrary and EBL data for a forthcoming white paper, and this presentation and associated discussion will inform the development of that study.

Rethinking Monographic Acquisition: Developing a Demand-Driven Purchase Model

Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/charleston An indexed, print copy of the Proceedings is also available for purchase at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston. You may also be interested in the new series, Charleston Insights in Library, Archival, and Information Sciences. Find out more at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston-insights-library-archivaland-information-sciences.