Improving usage and impact of digitised resources

1. Improving usage and impact of digitised resourcesPaola MarchionniJISC Digitisation Programme ManagereContent 2011 – programme mtgOxford, 29-30 March 2011

2. Usage, metrics and impact:some backgroundJISC Impact and embedding programme7 projects, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/digitisation/impactembedding.aspx

3. Toolkit for the Impact of Digitised Scholarly Resources (TIDSR)

4. http://microsites.oii.ox.ac.uk/tidsr/ - to be updated May 2011

5. Digital Impacts: how to measure and understand the use and impact of digital content

6. 20 May, Oxford http://bit.ly/g3nMdEUsage, metrics and impact:what have projects found out?full report out in May 2011

7. not (just) about metrics, usability or Search Engine Optimisation

8. issues relating to different stages in the development of a digital resource, life cycle approach

9. some highlights here – not a comprehensive or exhaustive list

10. some high level issues and nitty gritty details

11. some common patterns

12. some solutions

13. some common sense Some general principles (TIDSR)essential to view multiple sources of evidence when evaluating impact, not just numbers

14. plan on measuring impact from the beginning of a project, to integrate impact measures in the design

15. monitor impact regularly, but don’t become bogged down by it

16. make impact monitoring an institutional priority and don’t assume somebody else will install Google Analytics for you1. Recognising the importance of user engagementclose contact with users when developing a project is key - life-cycle approach

17. task somebody in the team with this responsibility

18. specific workpackage that branches off into all other activities

19. different ways of doing this – dedicated person vs shared taskEngagement Officer

20. developed as part of Marketing and Comms strategy

21. wide range of activities: recruitment of user panel, development of online user network, case studies, newsletter; blog, events and workshops, usability testing; launch etc…2. Design and serendipityDesigns which allow for more serendipitous discovery of materials by users and for flexible uses have more possibilities for impactoffering different ways of discovering unexpected content in the archive

22. and from other platforms

23. still in development!

24. 3. Resource discoveryyes, Google, but inclusion within a variety of trusted gateways is important for long term impact (eg library portals), also increases trust in resource quality and reliability

25. be wary of changing URLs and keep the association between project page and final web site40% of academic referrals came form library pages

26. but collection still not well integrated into catalogue searches

27. collection can be found through different routes: JSTOR, COPAC, Google Scholar, RLUK database, Europeana (in progress) CEDAR: an excellent JISC project and theatre resource but

28. project name (CEDAR), project blog (East London Theatre…) and final project web site (OTHA) all different

29. no hyperlink from project page/blog to new resource4. Cool URIsImportance of stable, clear and meaningful URIs if digital resources are to be used in teaching, learning and research

30. URIs to reflect transparent citation style clear, straightforward and easy to remember URI

31. Different downloadable citation styles 5. Which Web 2.0?lots of different examples but opportunities for users engagement should:

32. be quick and easy

33. reflect users’ working practices

34. be familiar to target users will remove wiki section because not used by researchers, too time consuming

35. will add other tools for annotations, corrections, bookmarking, tagging, and personal workspace D-TRACES project: used blog to supplement reflective practice in Personal Development Planning (PDP) - undergrads dance curriculum at Coventry Uni

36. tackled digital literacy issues6. Embedding in teaching and learningCan be done at different levels and by offering a variety of resources and tools embedding of theatre archive resources in courses/modules across four partner universities: UEL, Royal Holloway, Nottingham and Sheffield

37. case studies of work with students and teachers on web sitescreencasts for teachers to introduce resources preferred to learning packages

38. teachers liked potentials of folksonomies for work with students once they understood what they could do with it7. Non-usersEngaging non-users can be as important as consulting current usershigh volume of users but mainly general public, local and family historians

39. data sets relevant to researchers but not many researchers use the site

40. project is consulting with current non-users and creating new tools for researchers 8. Licencing contentclear licencing information on web site

41. open content to collections will increase impact

42. however, could charging for part of the content add to the “perceived” value of content?Clear licencing information on each page of the web siteanecdotal evidence:

43. Institute of Historical Research: difficulty in getting resources listed by libraries until they introduced an element of subscription content

44. perception of “value” of a resource if there is a charge/user has to pay for it?

45. some non-commercial resources are not designed and marketed as well as one by commercial publishers9. Use impact metrics to enhance impactPlant the seeds for measuring the impact of your resource when doing comms and dissemination activities, eg:

46. If you plan to measure how much your resource in being talked about in blogs, make sure you do promote your website through blogs in the first place

47. Same about citations, hyperlinks etc…10. Sustainability planningBuild in sustainability strategies from the beginning of your project

48. Identify a “champion” at the end of the project who will make sure the resource is looked after and sustained

Improving usage and impact of digitised resources

Related slideshows

More Related Content

Improving usage and impact of digitised resources

Editor's Notes