DLA aims & objectives
The aims of the DLA study are to:
• monitor, analyse and evaluate the usage of the e-books included in the project through deep log analysis techniques
• assess, understand and report on the behaviours of users through surveys informed by the deep log data
• analyse the deep log data for each title in the collection against the print sales figures provided by the publishers / aggregators over the lifetime of the study and for the past three years
• analyse the deep log data for each e-book in the project against the ‘print circulation data’ provided by librarians over the lifetime of the study
The objectives of the deep log analysis study are to:
• evaluate the deep log data analysis and survey results and present JISC Collections and librarians with:
• findings on the demand for e-books that form part of higher education taught courses by students and staff
• findings on the use of the e-books included in the project by students and staff
• findings to inform best practice for the effective promotion of e-books by libraries to their staff and students
• findings to inform the future pricing and licensing models for e-books that take into account student use and buying behaviours
• findings on the impact of the e-books included in the project upon teaching and learning practices
• findings on the impact of the e-books included in the project on library print circulation data
• evaluate the deep log data analysis and survey results and present JISC Collections, publishers and aggregators with:
• findings on the demand for the e-books included in the project by higher education institutions, faculty, students and staff
• findings on the use of the e-books included in the project by higher education institutions, faculty, students and staff
• findings to inform the future creation and design of e-books that support taught course students for the academic market
• findings to inform best practice for promoting e-books that support taught course students to libraries and students
• findings to inform future business and licensing models for e-books that take into account student use and buying behaviours
• findings on the impact of the e-books included in the project on publisher print sales using the data provided by publishers during the study and for the last three years.
Who developed DLA?
DLA has been developed by CIBER to specifically monitor use in a digital environment and was first used with e-books in the SuperBooks study.
Why was DLA developed?
Conventional transactional log analysis of the kind provided by publishers and aggregators in COUNTER-compliant form for libraries can only provide broad and shallow indicators of activity. To really understand what users do and why they do it, more in-depth analysis is* required. DLA will provide a detailed assessment of the information seeking behaviour of users and these data can be used to help determine impacts and outcomes through qualitative means.
How does DLA work?
DLA involves the processing of huge volumes of usage and search data as provided in the raw transactional logs of publishers/aggregators and then relating this to user demographics to provide a whole range of evidence-based user portraits – hence the word ‘deep’. In turn this information provides the foundation for follow-up user surveys and interviews, in that the logs raise the questions that need to be asked and the self-report and qualitative data provides the answers to these questions.
DLA provides authoritative data in that it: 1) is based on what people did and not what they say they did, or might do; 2) delivers data on the whole population of users, and not just a sample of them.
How will the deep log analysis study work?
The study will involve the cooperation of librarians, staff and students. Please read the workplan to find out how to participate in the study.