Catching leopards in the library; or, of panthers and posterity

Michael Heaney

doi:10.1108/14678041111149336

Document Information:
Title:	Catching leopards in the library; or, of panthers and posterity
Author(s):	Michael Heaney, (The Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, UK)
Citation:	Michael Heaney, (2011) "Catching leopards in the library; or, of panthers and posterity", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 12 Iss: 2, pp.118 - 121
Keywords:	Libraries, Usage statistics
Article type:	Case study
DOI:	10.1108/14678041111149336 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Acknowledgements:	© Michael Heaney. This article is derived from a paper presented at the 8th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services: Libraries Plus: Adding Value in the Cultural Community, Istituto degli Innocenti, Florence, 17-20 August 2009. http://www.ifla.org The conference web site is: www.ifla2009satelliteflorence.it/meeting1/meeting1.html
Abstract:	Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the value of measuring usage of cultural heritage materials held by libraries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper studies how best to record usage patterns of cultural heritage material. Findings – Digitization has been found to make the measurement of usage of collections more useful. Experience so far has been that where older material is concerned, digitisation of the content does not mean that people neglect the physical volumes – instead, it tends to increase usage. Originality/value – The paper looks at the complex issue of older material consisting of numerous volumes, and how best to record usage of such material.