---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 17:40:30 -0400
From: David Goodman <dgoodman@Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Re: E-J statistics (Mitch Turitz)

Mitch, all of your comments are certainly true, and I am sure you, I,
and most of us could add a great many other sources of uncertainty. But
I do not think that this means we must go blindly ahead spending ever
increasing sums of money without knowing how the material we buy is
being used. Up to now, like many, I have relied on scattered data,
anecdotes, and complaints. Even the best counts of physical item use,
like Wisconsin's, acknowledge that the actual values might range from
100% to 200% of that reported, and that is dealing with well understood
behavior and techniques.  Most library statistics involve very
inaccurate counts--the best we can do is have some indication of where
the errors are most likely to be, and in what direction. All this is a
reason to start working, not a reason to abandon measurement.

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 09:23:12 -0700
> From: Mitch Turitz <turitz@SFSU.EDU>
> Subject: Re: E-J statistics
>
> David:
>    One of the problems we've had with statistics reporting use is that
> the statistics reported by the different vendors are not uniform or
> standardized.  Some vendors count by how many times a patron click
> the mouse on their web page, others by just the login/logout, etc.
> The statistics would be one thing if we only had one vendor, but we
> subscribe to over 100 different online databases, providing access to
> thousands of titles (some just as the articles, not as the actual
> e-journals themselves).
>    Until there is a uniform way of reporting use statistics from ALL
> the vendors, I do not see a way of getting an accurate count. (Even
> if there is a standard, that does not mean all the vendors will
> implement it)
> -- Mitch Turitz
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 13:28:13 -0400
> From: David Goodman <dgoodman@Princeton.EDU>
> Subject: E-J statistics
>
> Are any of the readers of this list maintaining a month-by-month count
> of the total use by their library of _every_ ejournal they receive? (Not
> just the journals from a particular publisher or distributor.) I have
> been asked to provide an estimate of the work involved.
> Please contact me off list.
>
> --
> David Goodman
> Biology Librarian
> and Co-chair, Electronic Journals Task force
> Princeton University Library
> Princeton, NJ 08544-0001
> phone: 609-258-3235
> fax: 609-258-2627
> e-mail: dgoodman@princeton.edu
>
> ------------------------------
> --
>
>    _^_                                                 _^_
> ( ___ )-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-( ___ )
>   |   |                                               |   |
>   |   |     Mitch Turitz, Serials Librarian           |   |
>   |   |     San Francisco State University Library    |   |
>   |   |     Internet: turitz@sfsu.edu                 |   |
>   |   |     http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~turitz           |   |
>   |   |                                               |   |
> ( ___ )-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-( ___ )
>     V                                                   V
>       Growing old is mandatory, growing wise is optional

--
David Goodman
Biology Librarian
and Co-chair, Electronic Journals Task force
Princeton University Library
Princeton, NJ 08544-0001
phone: 609-258-3235
fax: 609-258-2627
e-mail: dgoodman@princeton.edu