In November 2013, UKSG published a UKSG and Jisc-funded research project “Impact of Library Discovery Technology” that evaluates the impact of library discovery technologies, specifically Resources Discovery Systems, on the usage of academic content. The report provides a wealth of useful information and a practical set of recommendations for actions that libraries, publishers and others in the academic information supply chain should take to engage with such technologies to best support the discovery of resources for teaching, learning and research. Valérie Spezi discussed the key findings of the report and the implications of these findings for librarians, publishers and content providers, RDS suppliers and other national and international organisations with an interest in the information chain.

1. Evaluation of the impact of
library discovery technologies
on usage of academic content
Valérie Spezi, LISU (Loughborough University, UK)
UKSG Webinar – 14th May 2014

2. Why this study?
• Commissioned by UKSG/Jisc in July 2013
Lots of interest in library discovery technologies
Questions about whether libraries, publishers and other
stakeholders should be engaging with those technologies
• Small-scale study
 A UK perspective
 No previous usage data analyses at the time - fills in the
gap
 Complements the 2 other studies that are currently taking
place
• Report available on UKSG website (Dec 2013)

3. Objectives of the research
 Evaluation of the impact of library discovery technologies
on usage of academic resources
 Provide evidence to determine if there is a case for
 Investment in library discovery technologies by libraries
 Engagement with library discovery technologies by
publishers and other stakeholders in the information supply
chain
 Provide recommendations for stakeholders to best support
the discovery of academic resources
 Identify additional research, data, discussion and initiatives
that will support the findings of the study

4. Methodology
Phase 1: survey of UK HE libraries
 Objective: determine the current RDS landscape
 Online questionnaire to UK HE library directors – 62 respondents
Phase 2: case studies of libraries and publishers
 Objective: collect usage data + views and perceptions on the
impact of library discovery technologies
 8 publishers and content providers; 6 case study libraries; Data received from
6 libraries & 4 content providers - COUNTER JR1, BR2 and DB1 or close
equivalent (2 years pre and post-RDS implementation)
Phase 3: interviews with stakeholders
 Objective: obtain a bigger picture on the perceived impact of library
discovery technologies and an insight of where the sector is going

5. Findings
1. UK RDS landscape (survey findings)
2. Libraries – usage trends & experiences
3. Publishers and content aggregators – usage
trends & perceptions

7. Journals – mixed picture, possibly some positive
influence to varied extent
E-books – positive correlation
Database results were inconclusive
LIBRARIES –usage data and experiences
• Improved user experience through a single search interface
linked to full-text – high level of satisfaction
• One stop shop experience for users
• Better use of subscriptions – no silos
• Possibly a positive influence of RDS on content usage, most
visibly for e-books
Multi-dimensional
environment
*****
Difficult to isolate the sole
effect of RDS
*****
Multitude of other factors at
play?

8. LIBRARIES –usage data and experiences
Perceived challenges
***********************
• Lack of clarity in coverage - RDS coverage of subscribed
resources ‘believed’ to be 50% or more – gaps in some
disciplines
• Lack of cooperation between some vendors is a concern –
not helpful according to libraries
• Interoperability between library systems – ‘ecosystem’
• No routine analysis of the RDS usage data (yet)
• RDS searching aimed at undergrads?
• Starting point?
• Can researchers benefit from RDS too?

9. PUBLISHERS –usage data and experiences
Key motivation - improving discoverability & visibility of
content
• Publishers have no clear evidence of their usage is being affected by
RDS
• difficult to isolate traffic mediated by RDS
• Still low traffic compared to search engines
• Our usage study shows a very mixed picture for publishers
• Some publishers may benefit more from RDS than bigger publishers
Perceived challenges:
• Metadata –compatibility and optimisation for improved discoverability
• Dilution of the publisher’s brand within the RDS
• Lack of feedback/communication from RDS suppliers
• Lack of clarity and understanding of how data are used
 Relevancy ranking
Engagement -
can publishers
afford to wait
and see where
this is going?

10. Conclusions
• There is a lot of data out there but it is imperfect
• Fantastic tool for library end-users but more work
needs to be done to take full advantage of RDS
technology
• Collaboration is key to success

11. What next?
Recommendations

12. Recommendations
Libraries
 Library community working closely with bodies such as SCONUL, RLUK,
UKSG, Jisc
 Consider issue of interoperability between products from different
vendors vs. moving into a particular vendor’s ecosystem
 Engage in cross-sectorial talks to understand better how minor changes
in the RDS settings can affect usage of certain resources
RDS
suppliers
 Working towards an open communication with libraries and content
owners/providers
 Consider user-testing for publishers and content providers
 Provide clearer information about what is indexed by the RDS
 Support the development of working relationships between competing
suppliers on the issue of disclosure and exchange of data for the
benefit of end-users
… etc.

13. Recommendations
Publishers
 Engage and work closely with libraries and RDS suppliers to
optimise content discoverability
 Voice the need for more communication and feedback from RDS
suppliers
Other
stakeholders
 Monitor developments led by COUNTER 4, particularly in the area
of database usage
 Inclusion of usage data from RDS suppliers and link resolvers in
initiatives such as JUSP or KB+
 Development of a COUNTER code of practice for RDS usage data
 COUNTER, NISO, ODI to work together and establish industry
standards
 Support new research

14. THANK YOU!
Report available on the UKSG website:
http://www.uksg.org/researchstudy
Get in touch with us!
v.c.l.spezi@lboro.ac.uk or lisu@lboro.ac.uk