Click and Be Counted: A New Standard for Reference Statistics

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the National Information Standards Organization's new standard, NISO Z39.7-2004, which includes the reporting of the usage of library-generated Web pages and e-mail, live chat, and instant messaging reference queries. The integration of statistics on these new methods of providing service with traditional library statistics provides a more accurate picture of library services and demonstrates how libraries have expanded types of patron contacts in the digital age. This article also discusses the statistical reporting of individual reference queries handled away from the reference desk (e.g., in individual librarians' offices).     

Simplifying Usage Statistics: What's Next for SUSHI

Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) is the key to automating the harvesting of Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) usage statistics. Whether librarians are aware of it or not, SUSHI is a critical standard for measuring and monitoring the use of library online collections, eliminating hours of painstaking effort that would otherwise be required to locate, retrieve, and load usage reports. However, needs are evolving and standards like SUSHI need to evolve too. In this column I will examine some of the challenges facing SUSHI and how the National Information Standards Organization SUSHI Standing Committee is proactively addressing the challenges with its effort to develop a more flexible and easier-to-implement version of SUSHI.     

Standards that Impact the Gathering and Analysis of Usage

This column examines several standards and best practices that impact the gathering and analysis of usage data. The role of Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER), Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI), and Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) are each considered from the perspective of the environment within which the librarian is operating. The column also considers how the quality and consistency of the data exchanged while using these standards contributes to a successful outcome.     

Leaving the “Big Deal” … Five Years Later

Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) and the University of Oregon each withdrew from several Big Deals with major commercial journal publishers from 2008 to 2010. Analysis of the impact of these decisions was originally conducted and reported in 2011 and 2012. This article provides updated analysis based on interlibrary loan statistics, financial savings, and impact on the collections. Results show that interlibrary loan of lost content still represents a small fraction of prior use, savings have been considerable, and the libraries have been able to address other needs in their collections because of the decision to withdraw.     

Envisioning the Future of ERM Systems

ABSTRACT

Electronic Resource Management (“ERM”) Systems have developed quickly-especially since the release in 2004 of the report of the Digital Library Federation's Electronic Resource Management Initiative (“ERMI”). Several ILS and other vendors have now developed systems based on the “ERMI Specifications” and sold them to some 300 libraries worldwide. While these specifications provide a firm basis for current systems, early experience points to additional needs or requirements for future development. A second phase of ERMI will address some of these needs, including professional training of librarians on “mapping” license terms to the ERMI data dictionary, collaboration with other organizations on refining standards for communicating license terms, and efforts to automate usage data gathering through a protocol called SUSHI (for “Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative.”) Additional issues or areas needing development include greater integration with Integrated Library Systems, standards for and inclusion of more detailed coverage data, integration between link resolvers and ERMs, and automation of administrative tasks.     

Promoting access to education for disabled children in low-income countries: Do we need to know how many disabled children there are?

Poor people are most likely to be disabled, and the exclusion of disabled people from education means that they are also more likely to remain poor. Despite calls for better data to inform the extension of education for disabled children, data in this field remain weak. This paper asks whether a national survey of disability prevalence is the best starting point when promoting the educational inclusion of disabled children in low and middle-income countries. The paper analyses what information is needed about disability in education systems, and also analyses difficulties with measuring childhood disability. The paper concludes that the most pragmatic and ethical way forward is to make the most of knowledge we already have to develop and continue learning from existing provision.     

Prior knowledge moderates instructional effects on conceptual understanding of statistics

This study investigated the effects of different teaching and learning methods for statistics for 2 levels of prior knowledge on cognitive load, propositional knowledge, and conceptual understanding. Teaching methods were whether or not to provide students with propositional information, and learning strategies were self-explaining the learning material and explaining in pairs. The results indicate that prior knowledge facilitates propositional knowledge development and leads to differential effects of teaching and learning methods on conceptual understanding: Only low prior knowledge students profit from additional information in the learning task and/or explaining in pairs. An implication of these findings is that low prior knowledge students should be guided into the subject matter by means of working in pairs on learning tasks that comprise additional information. Once students have developed more knowledge of the subject matter, they should be stimulated to work individually on learning tasks that do not comprise additional information.     

用蒙特卡罗法求解贝特朗奇论

针对贝特朗奇论所涉及的一个几何概率问题,由于3种不同样本空间的确定导致其结果的差异,利用蒙特卡罗法随机模拟抽样来验证了解法3的合理性,借助计算机用Matlab软件编程以及数理统计中的统计计数等方法解决了该问题。不仅合理运用了蒙特卡罗法原理,而且对理解以及进一步认识几何概率问题中的随机性具有重要意义。     

高校体育院系毕业论文统计方法运用分析

文章运用文献资料法、数理统计法等对山西省四所高校中的体育院系本科毕业论文中体育统计方法的运用现状进行了研究,结果发现,体育统计方法的运用状况不容乐观,问题很多,普遍错误存在于数据整理、运用假设检验和运用方差分析。造成这一现象的原因主要有学生的数学功底薄弱、专业体育统计学教师的缺乏、学校的重视程度偏低和教材的质量不高几个方面。