E-Resources Usage Statistics as an Indicator and Measure of Knowledge Consumption in Higher Learning Academic Institutions

Abstract

Digital resources and services have become an essential part of the growing collection of libraries all over the world, and their relevance and importance in the higher academic and research institutions have been increasing day by day. Library users also embrace the electronic resources quite enthusiastically considering their multitude of advantages. On the other hand, the collection, development and management of e-resources demand a lot of financial commitments on the part of the institutions, and as a result, they expect and encourage a fair return on investment. Therefore it has become mandatory on the part of libraries to assess the usage and usability of their procured/subscribed resources. Usage statistics are now considered as one of the most prominent measuring tools that help the libraries to examine the usage of online resources and ensuring their optimum utilization. At the same time, the collection of usage reports from the vast number of e-resources is a challenging task for the librarians. E-resources exist in multiple formats such as e-journals, e-books; aggregated full-text databases, company, industry, statistical databases etc. and the usage data collected for these resources vary from each other. There exist many ways and methods to collect usage reports of e-resources. It can either be downloaded manually from the e-resources website, using administrative credentials provided by the publishers or automatically harvested through SUSHI (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative). This paper attempts to draw the attention of information professionals on the enormous potential in the usage of e-resources by the libraries. It presents the IIM Kozhikode library’s experience in obtaining the usage statistics of e-resources and attempts to examine how these reports are used as a tool to assess the usage of e-resources. This paper puts forth the argument that the e-resources usage statistics acts as an indicator of the knowledge consumption of the organization, as evidenced by the relative growth in its research output, quality of education being imparted and its placement records.