alpsp conference on discoverability lettie conrad presentation july 2013

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Why it matters and what difference it can make

ALPSP SeminarIt's all about discoverability, stupid! How to get your content seen by the right people

July 10, 2013

Lettie Y. Conrad, MASAGE Publications

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SAGE overview

● Independent, global scholarly publisher● Books, journals, reference, databases

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● SAGE overview

● Discovery channels

• Who uses it?

• Why does it matter?

• How do we monitor?

● Q/A

Session OutlineSaaa

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User knowledge >> channel knowledge

● Market research• Usability testing & observation• Librarian advisory boards• End-user focus groups, surveys, etc.• Info-seeking behavior research studies

● Data analysis• COUNTER reports• Google Analytics• Moz (previously SEOMoz)• Data Salon

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Discovery channels – what are they?

1. Open web search

2. Library search

3. Academic / A&I search

4. Marketing efforts

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Discovery channels – 3 questions

1. Who uses it? (reader / customer persona)

2. Why does it matter to SAGE?

3. How do we monitor?

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1. Open Web Search – who uses it?

● Everyone! (despite what they may say)

● Simple and user friendly

● Quantity vs. quality traffic

● Use case: quick search, new topic

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Open web search – why does it matter?

● Everyone uses it (remember?)

● SEO = ROI

● Common ‘starter’ channel

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Open web search – how do we monitor?

● Google Analytics

● Moz

● Market research

CQ Researcher Traffic Sources

Open web searchLibrary referralsSocial mediaAcademicN/A

SAGE Journals Traffic Sources

Open web searchLibrary referralsSocial mediaAcademicN/A

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2. Library search – who uses it?

● Advanced students, faculty

● Advanced search / browse

● Use case: narrow queries, “known searches”

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Library search – why does it matter?

● Capture advanced readers

● Win-win strategy

• Discovery services

• ERM feeds

• LibGuides, widgets and more!

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Library search – how do we monitor?

● Google Analytics

● COUNTER – cost / use

● Usability testing

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3. Academic / A&I search – who uses it?

● Advanced students, faculty, practitioners

● “Power” users

● Use case: deep research, building expertise

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Academic search – why does it matter?

● A&I

• reach experts, power users

• branding, profile, scholarly ecosystem

● Mainstream academic search

• hybrid, emerging technology

• reach wider audience, including advanced readers

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Academic search – how do we monitor?

● Market research

● Google Analytics % Total Usage (Sep-Dec 2012)

SAGE Journals 2.6%

SAGE Knowledge 0.6%

SAGE Research Methods

0.4%

CQ Researcher 1.5%

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4. Marketing campaigns – who uses it?

● Journals marketing• Faculty, authors society members, practitioners,

librarians• Use cases: receive flyers, emails; registering for

content alerts; attend conferences; social search

● Library marketing• Faculty, librarians• Use case: receive flyers, catalogs, emails, newsletters

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Journals marketing – why does it matter?

● Faculty, society members, practitioners, librarians, authors

● Use case: follow links in banners, emails

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Journals marketing – how do we monitor?

● Market research

● Email usage

● Google Analytics

● Platform feature usage

Jan-May 2013 Usage metric

Total emails sent 4.9 M

Email click-through rate 12.9%

% total usage from emails 1.3%

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Library marketing – why does it matter?

● Librarians: New sales, renewals, news

● Faculty / authors: Brand, influence, engagement

● Students/readers: Social media / networking

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Library marketing – how do we monitor?

● Market research

● COUNTER reports

● Google Analytics

● Data Salon

Visits

United States

Indonesia

United Kingdom

India

China

Romania

Iran

United States

Indonesia

United Kingdom

India

China

Romania

Iran

Mexico

Portugal

Germany

0.00% 50.00% 100.00% 150.00%

% New Visits

Bounce Rate

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Discovery channels – metrics & research

● Google Analytics: get what you pay for

● COUNTER: library ROI

● Data is not enough: know your users!

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Observational study

● Purpose: graphic representation of social science scholar workflow, beyond single site

● Participants: 3 MA & 8 PhD students, during literature review phase

● Methods: observation, interview, data analysis

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Findings: Web analytics

● User data available to most libraries and publishers

● Data limited to single website / domain• Traffic sources• Bounce rates• Visitor flows

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● Observational data (recorded research sessions)

● Field notes

● Discovery resource categories

Charting Researcher Behavior

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Mike Bostok, “Sanky Diagrams from Excel,” accessed on February 9, 2013: http://ramblings.mcpher.com/Home/excelquirks/d3/sankey.

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Findings: Participant workflows

● Query trends• Higher use of open-web search than reported• Validating authenticity • Browser trends

● Retrieval trends• 100% manually managed citations• Low usage of hyperlinked references• Low rate of checking for ‘version of record’

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Thank you!Lettie.Conrad@sagepub.com

● Cardwell, C. et. al (2012). “Beyond simple, easy and fast.” College & Research Libraries News, 73(6), 344-347. http://crln.acrl.org/content/73/6/344.full

● Haines, L. et al. 2010. Information-seeking behavior of basic science researchers: Implications for library services. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 98(1), 73-81. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801986/

● Holman, L. (2011). Millennial students’ mental models of search: Implications for academic librarians and database developers. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(1), 19-27. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133310002545