Interlibrary Loan Patron Use Patterns: An Examination of Borrowing Requests at a Midsized Academic Library

The results of a recently conducted study of interlibrary loan fee-based borrowing requests are presented in this article. The study examined 3,074 borrowing requests completed over a three-year period from January 2007 to December 2009. Statistics were analyzed to understand patron behavior in submitting requests and the types of materials being requested.     

Electronic Reserves at Fort Lewis College Using Innovative Interfaces,Millennium Integrated Library System

Abstract

The John F. Reed Library at Fort Lewis College (FLC) implemented Electronic Reserves in the fall semester, 2003. FLC is a four-year liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado, with just over 4,000 students. Staff members use the Innovative Interfaces, Millennium Integrated Library System with the Course Reserves module along with Adobe Acrobat for scanning documents. The case study provides information on getting started, management of the project, necessary documentation, copyright concerns, implementation, statistics, and future directions.     

Chapter 6. Management of the Interlibrary Loan Department

Abstract

Many new ILL department heads are often new to supervision, and in addition to the challenges of managing a busy ILL service, new managers must also learn how to best supervise their most valuable resource—their staff. Supervising others can be one of the most daunting tasks a librarian has to face. Real-world strategies for hiring, motivating, and evaluating talented staff are discussed, along with practical guidance on budgeting, determining ILL costs, and quantitatively measuring ILL activity.     

Russia and the Low Countries: An International Bibliography 1500–2000

Abstract

The single most difficult situation publishers have faced since the depression and hyperinflation of 1991-1993 was the financial crisis which began on August 17, 1998. Prior to August 17, Russian publishers were on track to produce a record number of titles. After August 17, production plummeted. Yet by March of 1999 the industry was reviving, and as of May production had returned roughly to pre-cri-sis levels. The August crisis was a severe test for the publishing industry, but the rapid recovery demonstrates its vitality. The authors discuss monographs primarily, but serials are also included. They also explain why caution is necessary when using official Russian publishing statistics since 1991 and how such statistics can still be useful.     

Beyond Description: Converting Web Site Usage Statistics into Concrete Site Improvement Ideas

Web site usage statistics are a widely used tool for Web site development, but libraries are still learning how to use them successfully. This case study summarizes how Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale implemented Google Analytics on its Web site and used the reports to inform a site redesign. As the main campus library at a research university with about 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the library included resources from multiple library departments on a single site. In planning the redesign, Morris Library's Virtual Library Group combined usage reports with information from other sources, such as usability tests and user comments. The Virtual Library Group faced barriers to interpreting and applying the usage statistics in the site redesign, including some that were specific to the library's implementation of the Google Analytics tool and some limitations inherent with Web usage statistics in general. Some key barriers in applying the usage statistics to a redesign included sifting through data that did not have implications for the site redesign, interpreting the implications of usage numbers for the site redesign, and balancing competing interests within the library. Nevertheless, the usage statistics enabled the Virtual Library Group to make better decisions by providing a source of factual information about the site's use rather than relying on staff members’ opinions and conjectures.     

Telling Their Story with Data: What Academic Research Libraries Share on Their Websites

Abstract

Communicating library data with external stakeholders is a growing area of importance in the profession, and library websites provide an easy way of disseminating this information. Determining the types of data that will be most impactful in telling a library’s story is vital to an effective online data display. This research project reviewed the websites of 143 academic research libraries to determine if the libraries were publicly sharing general library data via a dashboard or other data display. For those libraries sharing data, information was recorded on the types of data shared, the types of data visualizations utilized, the age of the data presented, and whether multi-year trends were represented. The results showed that just under half of the academic research libraries in the study population had general library data displays on their websites. Most focused on traditional types of library data, such as collection size, reference and help desk interactions, instruction sessions, and circulation numbers for physically-held materials. Data visualizations were used infrequently.     

主成分聚类分析在行业统计数据中的应用

改革开放以来,在高速发展的中国经济带动下,各行各业有了飞跃的进步。当然,中国经济的发展也离不开各行各业认人士的辛勤劳动。虽然每个人从事的行业有所不同,但是每个人也都能在自己的行业上作出自己的贡献。文章以我国31个行政单位为研究对象,采用主成分聚类分析方法,运用spss19.0版软件,针对按照行业统计的31个行政地区的就业人数数据对31个行政地区进行聚类分析,表明了行业就业人数与地区的经济有关。     

港口企业生产经营形势分析

文章运用统计分析理论,对港口企业生产经营形势进行调查分析。结果显示,由于国内外经济形势影响,企业生产经营成本压力持续增加,铁路运力不足等多重因素影响,防城港市港口企业发展形势比较严峻。     

Problems With Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST): What Do the Textbooks Say?

The first of 3 objectives in this study was to address the major problem with Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) and 2 common misconceptions related to NHST that cause confusion for students and researchers. The misconceptions are (a) a smaller p indicates a stronger relationship and (b) statistical significance indicates practical importance. The second objective was to determine how this problem and the misconceptions were treated in 12 recent textbooks used in education research methods and statistics classes. The third objective was to examine how the textbooks' presentations relate to current best practices and how much help they provide for students. The results show that almost all of the textbooks fail to acknowledge that there is controversy surrounding NHST. Most of the textbooks dealt, at least minimally, with the alleged misconceptions of interest, but they provided relatively little help for students.     

广西高校本专科文理兼招专业的统计与分析

基于2013年普通高考招生数据,统计分析了广西高校本、专科文理兼招专业的比例。结果表明:平均而言,广西一本院校本科文理兼招专业的比例与中国名校相近;广西高校本、专科文理兼招专业的比例与高校的层次相关,比例从低到高依次是一本院校本科、二本院校本科、独立学院本科、一本院校专科、二本院校专科、高职高专院校专科;高职高专院校文理兼招专业的比例高达90%以上。