We have noticed a considerable drop in our PubMed usage statistics in the past 6 months. It has gradually been going down over the past year but now there is a sharp difference in usage. I contacted the PubMed Linkout people to see if anything has changed on their end calculating these statistics but they said no. Of course they wanted to make sure our patrons are using our designated url so that the usage is counted. But we are always reminding them of that.

 

I just wondered if other medical libraries are noticing this drop. I am inclined to attribute it to patrons just going to Google first and finding their article there, and bypassing PubMed altogether. Does anyone else have any ideas?

 

Thank you!

Pam

 

Pamela L. O'Brien

Library Technician

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Biomedical Library

262 Danny Thomas Place

Memphis, TN 38105

901-595-3389