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Re: COUNTER: current status and advice to users]



I assume that the answer to this question lies in the fact that many books are sold either as bundles on a subscription basis (Oxford Scholarship Online) or as part of bundles that include journals (Springer offerings).

Anthony

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandy Thatcher" <sgt3@psu.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 12:08 AM
Subject: Re: COUNTER: current status and advice to users]

Excuse my ignorance, but would someone please explain to me why anyone
cares about usage statistics for books? I can understand that usage
statistics for journals might enter into decisions about whether to
continue subscriptions, but what decisions follow from book usage
statistics? Since books are unique items, and a library has already
purchased the book before any usage statistics are available, what does
one do with the statistics one gathers about book usage? I can imagine
that authors might find the information valuable, as usage might be some
indicator of value, and even publishers might find the information useful,
as a sign of what kinds of books seem to have a greater receptivity in the
market than others. But why are these statistics important to librarians?

Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press