Have anybody tried to integrate google analytics site search with your opac
search?
Then you could have more accurate KPIs, and measure what happens, specially
bounce rate after keyword searching.
Because less time searching could mean (without mixing with other contextual
data):
a) you find everything quickly
b) you donīt find what you want, and you go out of the portal (quickly)
Just need to check your query parameter. Millenium OPAC's query parameter
was "search", for example.
More about:
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-11-03-n42.html
Cheers,
--
Jorge Serrano-Cobos
http//www.masmedios.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=590138596
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jorgeserranocobos
On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 2:50 PM, Edward M. Corrado <ecorrado_at_ecorrado.us>wrote:
> Corey,
>
> Thanks for sharing your numbers but I wonder what more sessions mean. If
> you multiply the average # of sessions by the average length, you get almost
> the same number of minutes the catalog is being used. Different software has
> different time outs, session parameters.It is comparing apples and oranges
> in many respects. Since the total amount of time is similar, I would be
> interesting to see a more in depth analysis as to why the total time is
> close but session lengths are different.
>
> I'd also be interested in any evidence that supports "decreased length of
> session implies that they are finding what they need more quickly than they
> did when we first launched the new tool" --- couldn't it just as easily
> imply searchers are just giving up earlier and not finding what you need. In
> previous(?)-generation systems when I looked at search logs, often I found
> short sessions where failures, not signs of success. For example, some would
> search for a title like "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" and because of the
> initial article wouldn't get any results, and they wouldn't refine their
> search (or if they did they would narrow(!) it). The searcher was unable to
> find the movie even though the library had multiple copies.
>
> I guess what I am saying is while I really think these next-generation
> OPACs are useful and should provide better interfaces and make it simpler to
> find things, just looking at raw numbers only goes so far. I think someone
> earlier in this thread asked about circulation stats. Do you (or anyone
> else) have any evidence that show a change in circulation patterns since
> implementing a next generation system?
>
> Edward
>
>
>
>
> Corey Harper wrote:
>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Sorry for the delayed foray into this thread.
>>
>> NYU is finding something similar to NLA's experience. We implemented
>> ExLibris' Primo in September 2008, and spent much of the following year
>> fine-tuning (and debugging) the service and providing instruction in its
>> use.
>>
>> Below are some statistics comparing September 2008 and 2009, the month we
>> rolled out a "next-gen" tool, and the first month of the new year. The
>> session information is very intriguing.
>>
>> Average Number of Sessions Per Day
>>> Sept 2008 4000
>>> Sept 2009 10200
>>>
>>> Average Length of Session
>>> Sept 2008 15 minutes
>>> Sept 2009 6 minutes
>>>
>>
>> We didn't track the length of session before 2008, but the following
>> numbers for previous Septembers show that 2009's usage patterns differ
>> greatly from those of our old OPAC:
>>
>> Average Number of Sessions Per Day
>>> Sept 2006 4500
>>> Sept 2007 3333
>>>
>>
>> Clearly, our system is getting *much* more use this semester than our
>> historic baselines for the start of the term, and the decreased length of
>> session implies that they are finding what they need more quickly than they
>> did when we first launched the new tool. It would be very interesting to
>> see that data for our old OPAC, though I don't believe we collected it at
>> that time.
>>
>> Best,
>> -Corey
>>
>>
>> Warwick Cathro wrote:
>>
>>> The National Library of Australia implemented VuFind in May 2008 to
>>> replace our previous (Voyager) OPAC:
>>> http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/
>>> The usage of our catalogue in the year July 2008 to June 2009 was 140%
>>> higher than in the previous year, with 20.9M catalogue searches compared to
>>> 8.7M in the previous year.
>>>
>>> We are hoping for a similar response to the renovation of our national
>>> collection discovery service (which combines eight existing services) when
>>> we release it in November 2009:
>>> http://sbdsproto.nla.gov.au/
>>>
>>> Warwick Cathro
>>> National Library of Australia
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:
>>> NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Kyle Banerjee
>>> Sent: Friday, 25 September 2009 7:49 AM
>>> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>>> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Stats showing impact of Next Gen Catalog ?
>>>
>>> I seem to remember that some libraries using worldcat local reported
>>>> an increase in interlibrary loan activity. There may an argument here
>>>> that if there were a more transparent way across all libraries to see
>>>> holdings easily/centrally from within the catalog that circulation
>>>> would increase, a rising tide lifting all boats, or at least the
>>>> bigger boats with more holdings.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Since implementing WorldCat Navigator -- a consortia level product that
>>> provides a discovery experience similiar to WorldCat Local, we have seen an
>>> increase in ILL across our member institutions. However, the impact is
>>> highly variable ranging from very little to over 200%.
>>> Some institutions also report increased use of electronic resources which
>>> could conceivably result from requests for nonreturnables that would
>>> normally go to ILL being routed through resolvers that identify electronic
>>> copy. Actual circ numbers are down.
>>>
>>> A number of logical explanations could be used to describe what is
>>> happening, but the reality is that associating cause and effect can be
>>> difficult.
>>>
>>> One thing that is often absent from discussion is the effect that service
>>> expectations have an impact on requesting. You can have the greatest
>>> discovery mechanism, but if you want reference libraries to plug your
>>> service and patrons to rely on your system, the delivery mechanism whether
>>> materials are physical or electronic needs to perform.
>>>
>>> kyle
>>>
>>> --
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>>> Kyle Banerjee
>>> Digital Services Program Manager
>>> Orbis Cascade Alliance
>>> banerjek_at_uoregon.edu / 503.999.9787
>>>
>>
>>
Received on Wed Oct 14 2009 - 15:24:51 EDT