At 08:10 AM 2/3/2009, you wrote:
>Hello, everyone. I'm with a publisher of a medical journal. We're looking at
>the possibility of getting set up to provide online usage statistics reports
>to our institutional and library subscribers. We will more than likely go
>forward with this since the majority of our subscribers have requested this
>service. We are, in fact, in discussions with vendors now. One question that
>has come to mind, just out of curiosity, is what kind of usage do librarians
>expect. Do you consider usage of 10 times per month satisfactory? Or, would
>you consider usage of 50-75 times per month more reasonable? Obviously it
>depends on how small or large your particular facility is, but is there a
>standard out there that most librarians follow?

It depends on more than the size of the facility.  There's cost, of course
-- an inexpensive journal might be worth keeping even if the usage is low.
Also, a small niche journal may well have low usage, but be essential
nevertheless.  For some titles, 10 uses a month is just fine.  For a big bad
Elsevier title, we might expect hundreds and hundreds.

But I must say, my immediate reaction to your question was the thought
that you wanted to design your system so that the numbers would be
acceptable to your customers.  I'm sure that's not true, but the question
seems very strange and ... well, unscientific to me.  SW

>Thanks in advance for your help. I haven't posted much, but each time I
>have, you've been more than willing to answer questions and help out when
>you can. I appreciate it!
>
>Regards,
>
>Sharon Landers
>Director of Circulation
>Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
>PO Box 752870
>Memphis TN 38175-2870
>Phone: 901.273.2705
>Fax: 901.273.2747
>Email: sharonL@psychiatrist.com
>

Susan Wishnetsky
Electronic Resources Librarian
Galter Health Sciences Library
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
303 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611-3008

(312) 503-9351
FAX (312) 503-1204
pasiphae@northwestern.edu