scholarly statistics analysis for making collection development decisions

[Susan Payne <susan.payne@jhu.edu>]

Dear all,

I've been researching how libraries use their vendor statistics 
in order to inform collection development and I have been curious 
if any libraries are currently undertaking any projects in order 
to analyze your statistics from various vendors in a systematic 
fashion. Through online searching or from colleagues, I have come 
across the tools listed below. I'm wondering if your library uses 
one of them or if you use something else to help make decisions 
about your subscriptions besides the ones I've listed below, 
either free or commercial? I'm primarily interested in 
resources/tools for academic libraries. If you have any other 
suggestions, I'd be happy to compile them and send them on to the 
list.

1.Scholarly Stats 
<https://www.scholarlystats.com/sstats/default.htm> (commercial)

ScholarlyStats has been developed to provide information 
professionals with a single point of access to their vendor usage 
statistics. ScholarlyStats can deliver usage statistics via Sushi 
to selected vendors for integration into resource management 
systems and databases. This is a commercial tool.

2.JISC Academic Database Assessment Tool 
(ADAT)<http://www.jisc-adat.com/adat/home.pl> (free)

This site from JISC Collections aims to help libraries to make 
informed decisions about future subscriptions to bibliographic 
and full text databases. More information about the site's data 
sourcing and comparison method is a vailable on the 'About' page. 
This tool is free to use online, supported by various 
publishers/vendors.

3.Bibliostat Connect (commercial, aimed at public libraries)

This is a start-up by Paul Sybrowsky, one of the Dynix founders. 
Aimed at Public Libraries. Available through various vendors such 
as Baker & Taylor and Informata. Interestingly incorporates US 
Census data.

4.360 Counter from Serial Solutions 
<http://www.serialssolutions.com/management/360-counter/> 
(commercial)

"360 Counter aggregates data, inserts costs, associates 
subjects, standardizes titles, calculates usage and costs, and 
automates analysis. You then can customize reporting based on the 
criteria that's most important for your library. The outcome is 
better data, better information, better analysis, and better 
decisions." Other useful features: 
http://www.serialssolutions.com/management/360-counter/features/

5.Valuing Library Services 
Calculator<http://nnlm.gov/mcr/evaluation/calculator.html> (free 
from NLM)

Determining the value of resources and services provided by a 
library can be complicated and time consuming. Use this 
calculator to find out what a user would pay to get the same 
resources or services elsewhere in the event the library is no 
longer an option. The Cost/Benefit value of your services is 
updated as you enter statistics about the use of your library and 
resources.

6.CBA/ROI Calculator<http://nnlm.gov/mcr/evaluation/roi.html> 
(free from NLM)

How much benefit does your institution, your user, receive for 
every dollar spent by the library? What's the annual return your 
institution realizes on what you spend on your collection? Use 
this calculator to determine the Cost/Benefit ratio and Return on 
Investment of your services and collections.

7.Database ROI 
Calculator<http://nnlm.gov/mcr/evaluation/dbroi.html> (free from 
NLM)

How much benefit does your institution, your user, receive for 
every dollar spent by the library on databases? Use this 
calculator to determine the Cost/Benefit ratio and Return on 
Investment.

Thanks in advance!

Best,

Susan

Susan Payne
Science & Engineering Librarian for:
Physics & Astronomy and Mathematics
Sheridan Libraries
The Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone: 410-516-8366; FAX: 410-516-8399