[Michlib-l] MeL Minute: Comparing Ideas About Database Usage with Actual Usage

[Norris, Sonya (MDE)]

As you may be aware, we recently conducted a large-scale survey of the Michigan library community about MeL database usage. We received 426 responses. One question we asked was: What are the top 3 most used databases by your library/patrons? Here's what library staff had to say:


1.      Chilton's (117 times it appeared somewhere in the top 3)
2.      Learning Express (117)
3.      Opposing Viewpoints in Context (94)
4.      Academic OneFile (87)
5.      Britannica school (68)



We decided to cross-reference this in two ways. First, we looked at the total number of full-text retrievals from the MeL databases.


1.      BookFlix
2.      WorldBook Kids
3.      Academic OneFile
4.      Britannica Suite
5.      Opposing Viewpoints in Context



All 5 of these received over 1 million full-text retrievals for the 2017 fiscal year!



As you can see, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Britannica and Academic OneFile made both of these lists.



Let's look at one other metric and that's the rate at which items were clicked on from MeL.org in the month of September of this year. This is the percentage of outbound traffic from MeL.org.


1.      BookFlix (40%)
2.      Academic OneFile (6%)
3.      Learning Express (4%)
4.      Opposing Viewpoints in Context (3%)
5.      Chilton's (3%)



Looking at this list, we can see that Chilton's and Learning Express, two resources rated highly in the survey, come back to the fore. However, by far and away the resource with the highest traffic at MeL.org is BookFlix, an early literacy resource.



Many thanks to Kathy Kosinski, our data analyst, for pulling these numbers together and allowing us to compare and confirm our ideas about database usage with actual usage.



Brought to you by Deb Renee Biggs and Sonya Schryer Norris, Library Consultants at the Library of Michigan



MeL databases are available to Michigan residents or Michigan library access only.



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Sonya Schryer Norris

Library of Michigan
702 W. Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-4457

http://michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan
http://mel.org
http://michlibrary.org

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