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Library Quarterly Report FY20 Q1: July-Sept 2019


Database Usage

Use of subscription databases was well above average this quarter compared to the past five years of data on downloads. Leading resources were ASTM Compass (which is usually the most used database) followed by EOS Library catalog clickthroughs and finally Knovel, which is also usually in the top 3. This quarter we were again surprised to see the second highest number of downloads coming as "clickthroughs" of non-subscription resources from the Library's EOS Online Catalog. It seems to be growing more common that we are getting high numbers of catalog clickthroughs, a 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.  We see solid use of our newest subscription the ICE Virtual Library database, which was a trial two quarters ago and now an annual subscription.

 

 

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 those 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 this quarter (averaging 1,205/month this quarter), and the trend over the past year (right), averaging 1,048 downloads/month. 

   

Subscription database usage FY20 Q4.

 

Subscription Downloads By VDOT: FY20 Q1
  July  August  September  Total 
ASTM Compass  315  340  352  1,007 
Skillsoft Books  126  298  123  547 
  Non-subscription Downloads (EOS Catalog)  196  152  196  544 
 ASCE Library  83  158  248  489 
Transportation Research Record  141  114  64  319 
Knovel  84  126  101  311 
ICE Virtual Library  38  26  108  172 
*Other (miscellaneous journals)  37  69  49  155 
EBSCO Business Source Corporate Plus  13  25 
EBSCO Business Book Summaries  12  21 
EBSCO eBooks  16 
 ScienceDirect  10 
Monthly Totals  1,039  1,306  1,271  3,616 

Note: Miscellaneous resources includes International Journal of Pavement Engineering, Corrosion, and Road Materials and Pavement Design.

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