Re: COUNTER: current status and advice to users]

["Anthony Watkinson" <anthony.watkinson@btopenworld.com>]

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