Database Usage
Use of subscription databases was above average this quarter, led by ASTM Compass, Knovel, and ASCE Library, which tend to be the three most popular databases in terms of downloads. However, this quarter we were surprised to see the second highest number of downloads coming as "clickthroughs" of non-subscription resources from the Library's Online Catalog. This is the second quarter in a row for such a high number of clickthroughs, a good reminder that patrons want and expect access to full text online resources, whether they are eBooks, online journals or conference papers, or publicly accessible reports cataloged by Gil Kenner, head of library technical services. It is notable this quarter that the library decided to subscribe to the ICE Virtual Library database, which was a trial last quarter, and our promotion resulted in a surprising 238 downloads, mostly in April following promotion and the library's creation of two new guides: ICE Virtual Library Quick Start Guide and ICE Journal Holdings.
The VDOT Research Library continues to expand access to key resources through desktop access to subscription databases. VDOT employees have access to 14 database subscriptions (13 of which are "full text") and because we serve the entire VDOT community, these resources see steady usage. The tables here show the number of downloads per month (below) for each database, and the trend over the past year (right), around 1,000 downloads/month.
| Subscription Downloads By VDOT: FY19 Q4 | ||||
| April | May | June | Total | |
| ASTM Compass | 311 | 262 | 289 | 862 |
| Non-Subscription Downloads (EOS Clickthroughs) | 175 | 166 | 181 | 522 |
| Knovel | 126 | 172 | 118 | 416 |
| ASCE Library | 72 | 159 | 116 | 347 |
| Skillsoft Books | 125 | 111 | 94 | 330 |
| TRR | 62 | 127 | 94 | 283 |
| ICE Virtual Library | 232 | 5 | 1 | 238 |
| Other (miscellaneous resources) | 11 | 13 | 15 | 39 |
| EBSCO Business Source Corporate Plus | 5 | 1 | 18 | 24 |
| EBSCO Business Book Summaries | 10 | 5 | 7 | 22 |
| EBSCO eBooks | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| ScienceDirect | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Monthly Totals | 1,133 | 1,032 | 936 | 3,101 |
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