From: Laval Hunsucker <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:15:34 -0700

William,

Your useful reaction would appear, at least to me, to suggest
some intriguing possibilities.

> . . . my question to you . . . is what sorts of information
> about content use and methods of engagement you think
> would be most useful to know about to inform your own
> decisions.

A most pertinent question. But, when it comes to content
use and methods of engagement, it seems to me that the
short and honest answer, given our extensive cluelessness,
would have to be: all the information we can get! In the
first instance, at any rate. Let a thousand blossoms bloom.

When I wrote "we", I did indeed mean the librarian /
information services community, but I am myself no longer
active in library practice and would therefore be more than
interested to hear what specific practical responses any of
those here who *are* may have to your above question.

And, if I may, my own query at this point would be: are
there in fact any initiatives already underway, or planned,
whereby libraries do have access to, and are attempting to
put to use, that growing "wealth of information" and
"this sort of data" which Mendeley and similar facilities
(I'm thinking here of the likes of Colwiz) are now in the
process of accumulating? I am not aware of any offhand,
but perhaps others on this list are. It would be a pity, I
think, were this kind of collaborative activity not at least
being seriously looked into.

And incidentally: the subject line of this thread specifies
"usage statistics". Fair enough. But, instead of -- or rather,
beyond -- measuring usage, I would, myself, be more avid
to find some valid and reliable way of measuring impact or
"outcomes". And I sort of suspect that this might also be
true of, to use Fred Friend's recent words, "those providing
the money to support libraries".

- Laval Hunsucker
  Breukelen, Nederland


----- Original Message -----
> From: William Gunn <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:06:20 -0700
>
>> It's the old story that we still have, after all this time, precious little
>> practical knowledge of what those parties actually do with what we
>> provide them -- print _or_ electronic -- and, more in particular, of
>> _how_ they do it. Without that knowledge, our own deliberations
>> and pronouncements, however eloquent, will never mean a whole
>> lot, at any rate outside of our own circles.
>>
>> - Laval Hunsucker
>>   Breukelen, Nederland
>
> Laval, speaking as a scientist who does lurk here a bit, I think
> that's changing. I think there's getting to be quite a wealth of
> information available from scientists as the in-person social networks
> get created and realized in the form of online connections. My
> company, Mendeley, is in a unique position to collect exactly this
> sort of data and we're quite busily engaged in doing so, so my
> question to you (not to derail the thread) is what sorts of
> information about content use and methods of engagement you think
> would be most useful to know about to inform your own decisions.
>
> William Gunn
> +1 646 755 9862
> http://synthesis.williamgunn.org/about/