E-metrics for Library and Information Professionals: How to Use Data for Managing and Evaluating Electronic Resource Collections

Is your library squeezing every dollar's-worth out of that expensive database? Should you renew your subscription to that pricey e-journal? Are your indexes serving your users? The questions keep getting tougher. The answers have seemed illusive - until now! In this user-friendly guide, White and Kamal show you how to utilize e-metrics to measure library performance and value in the digital age. You will learn how to effectively use the electronic data captured from various network activities to manage library collections, budgets, and services. Using e-metrics, the authors show you how to identify: Underused digital resources; Strategies for better collection management and development, and Virtual patron behavior patterns. They offer real-world examples to demonstrate how to develop a locally-established library e-metric system and apply it with vendor usage statistics to critical collection management and financial decisions. Includes more than 100 forms, charts, and graphs you can model for assessing your own collection s use.