Richter Library Web Services Dream Design

Library Web Statistics and Web Trends

Currently, the University of Miami Libraries are beginning to use a new Web Statistics software, Web Trends. This entry takes a wider look at Library web statistics through Web Trends focusing on the library's main servers, Rook (www.library.miami.edu) but also using more significant figures from Findit (Databases, Subject Guides, Electronic Journals) and Digital (Digital Initiatives, Cuban Heritage Collection). The topic is not without interest in terms of both making larger contextualization and getting an overview of general library site usability trends. This entry also looks at statistics in terms of narrative to better contextualize information while trying to keep figures, web addresses and numbers to a minimum. Longer and more numerically detailed reports for all sections or the full reports are also readily available (5 full reports, approx. 140 pp. each respectively).

Visitors

In January 2004,the University of Miami Library System (Rook, Findit and Digital) had 142, 641 visits, approximately 46,000 of these, or around 1/3, were unique with the remaining 2/3 consisting of repeat visitors. The average online library website visit was between 2-6 minutes. Not surprisingly, most of the web traffic is internal, coming from the larger university of Miami website and from here, directly to the library. 10% of the hits are coming offsite from AOL and other search engines (Google) but also broadband/cable providers (i.e. AT&T Broadband, Verizon, Bell South, Comcast Cable). In other words, people connecting to U Miami libraries offsite are connecting through broadband or cable modem connections. This is not surpising given the nature of the university library site and its educated audience but it does lend justification to more concerted broadband oriented effort. 90% of the library’s web traffic is North American, another 6% coming from Western Europe, 2.2% from Asia. More hits come from Eastern Europe, Australia and the Middle East than South America and the Caribbean. Africa does not figure on the radar. In terms of countries, most hits are U.S. internal (88%) with the United Kingdom and Canada providing the next larger figures, 2% each. In terms of states, Florida has most site users. Other states interested in the site (i.e. prospective students, researchers) are California, Virginia, Georgia, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Massachusetts (cf. out-of-state student recruitment). Top cities registering hits are Miami followed closely by Tampa and Key Biscayne.

Pages and Files

Top areas of the site are the Homepage and Main Navigation Var (very well used), followed distantly by Databases and Indexes, Net Guides, Student Services, Libraries and Collections, Reserves, Subject Guides, Pan Am Collection, Interlibrary loan, Cuban Heritage Collection and Florida Postcard Collection.

The top document by a very large margin is the library Homepage (50%) followed by the Databases and Indexes, various Net Guides (2%), Libraries and Collections Pages (2%) and Reserves (2%). Both the Pan Am Collection and the Florida Post Card Collection’s high hit counts provide justification for expanding or enhancing these resources. In terms of forms, the Brockway Hall Document Request Form is the most widely used form for volume requests. Other heavier areas of use of the site include the Databases and Indexes, Archives, Netguides, Journals, Cuban Heritage Collection, New Books Page, Library Services, Government Docs. Our most downloaded files surround the various subject area pathfinder PDF’s (Caribbean Lit, Chemistry, Creative Writing, Drama, Nursing and Engineering) with the Margorie Stoneman Douglas Archival Finding Aid also being well used. In terms of larger site sections, the online library archive sections are well used followed by the Netguides (psych and social science methodologies), Ejournals, Cuban American Links, New Book pages, library services, government docs and reserves.

Navigation

Entrance to the site is mostly through the homepage (60%). Other unique entrances to the site come from the Database and Indexes, Subject Guides, Net Guides (Psychology 5%), Pan Am Site, Cuban American Net Guide, Florida Postcard Collection, Government Docs and Map Collection. Top entry to the site includes the homepage followed by various netguides and again the Pan Am Collection. There is justification to redo or expand these pages because of the large hit counts. Top paths through the site are not surprisingly from the homepage to Student Services.

Activity

75% of visitors simply view 1-2 pages on the site, find what they need, consult the catalog, databases or e-journals and move on. Web activity is highest Tuesday to Thursday. The weekends and Monday and Friday draw fewer visitors. Peak web activity hours are 11 A.M. – 4 P.M. Tuesday – Thursday. 50 % of visits to the site are less than 3 minutes in length.

Referers and Search Engines

75% of referrers coming to the site are coming from the larger university site. Another 15% are referred to the library site from various search engines (i.e. Google, MSN, AOL, Yahoo). Of the search engines, Google produces 55% of these references, the rest divide between the Microsoft Network and Yahoo (20% each). Unexpected larger referrers to the library site are the African American portals, Black Planet and Black Voices 4%, Florida International University and Jackson Memorial Hospital (Miami).

Browsers

The top browser used to access the site is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 82%, with Netscape coming in a distant second with 15% (inclusive of the AOL Netscape browser here). Of the IE Browsers, 84% of people use Explorer 6 with the other 15% using, IE 5. Of Netscape users, 90% use Netscape 5, 10%, Netscape 4.73. Of the platforms being used to access the site, this is overwhelmingly Windows, 94% (45% XP, 19% 2000, 12% 98, 9% NT, 5% ME, 1% 95), 3% Macintosh, 3% other.

Conclusions

From this brief look at the longer Web Trends reports, it is possible to draw a few larger conclusions. Looking towards further site development, unique pages and site sections that are receiving a lot of hits here should be examined more closely. Obviously, there is justification for expanding and applying for grants with regards to the online Pan Am Collection (last redone, ‘97’) and the Florida Postcard Collection as part of a larger Florida visual history site. The Cuban American Finding Aid and Archival Finding Aids (Margorie Stone Douglas, Mark F. Boyd Archival Papers et al.) could also use special project grant funding turning these areas into more full-fledged sites as these are receiving a lot of attention and hits on a monthly basis.

Artstor Archives Beta Critique

The University of Miami was recently chosen as test site for the Mellon Foundation's major imagebase project, Artstor. Artstor is a new type of image application for art history, architecture departments and wider academic departments involved in the study of the visual image. This entry goes into a little detail regarding this application focusing on content and technologies. Because this application is in beta, this analysis is constructively critical with an eye towards usability recommendation and adding features to provide a better final application.

The Artstor site is currently divided into Java application and accompanying website. The website uses Flash and HTML to present a nicely presented website. The application uses a more clunky and slow Java applet and Oracle back end to present a number of image based archives (i.e. MOMA art and architecture design collection, Carnegie Arts Collections, Art History Survey Collection). This type of programming needed for this application is possible in the newer versions of Flash (MX and 2004) and is quicker.

To begin with brief analysis, typing in "Aphrodite" in a keyword search produces 11 images - "Voodoo" produces 15 images across collections. Compared to something like Google's Advanced Image Search which produces thousands of good images, currently Artstor's collection size is small.

The central innovation of Artstor is higher quality images, abilities to zoom and save as image libraries for course teaching. This animated zooming ability has been done recently as or more effectively through Flash MX's zoomifyier and this could also be tested. To make a hard criticism, the quality of images is high but should be higher if this is to be used by Ph.D. art historians doing serious research. The interface is fairly intuitive, easy to use and the fade-up introducing images is nice. A choice of fades or wipes for more advanced users would be appropriate.

Compared to other applications, image loading is slow. The ability to drag across images is nice as is the ability to save. Larger consistency though should be maintained as to download image size and quality. Image metadata is provided as is the ability to show two images simultaneously for comparison - four windows similar to Adobe's "Imageready/Save For Web" feature would make this better if not essential for serious art historical comparison.

The images all should be photographed and/or scanned at a higher resolution for this type of application. Looking at something like the central nave of Kiev's Hagia Sophia, the cyrillic becomes quickly unreadable after a single zoom. The metadata for the central image does not automatically pull up accompanying 'detail' images. Also, when zooming, the contrast ratio cannot keep up and seems to change. An ability to focus the zoom or vary contrast for visibility would contribute to the application's effectiveness.

In larger searches, thumbnails are hard to recognize (a sharpen and contrast filter should be used) - it would be better to have options as to either more or less thumbnails per page.

Metadata for keyword searches are not fully thought out. In searching under "Russia" one receives Gaugin's "Conversation" simply because it is housed in St. Petersburg's Hermitage. Also a back button is essential. This should be enabled to make this application user friendly.

With regards to larger features, the application allows lecturers to save images into folders for later classroom use and presentation. As a Beta, Artstor is an excellent first effort and going in the right direction in many ways. As can be seen from cursory review, there is much room for improvement including expanding collection size (which the University of Miami will participate in), stronger attention to questions of image quality and perhaps most importantly, sharper focus on issues of usability.