or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk



#PLA12 NewsBank Database Usage Study

   March 15th, 2012

NewsBank has been conducting a study with 100+ libraries of various sizes, to look closely at how library databases are used. Here are my notes on the presentation, and the short discussion afterward.

  • As daily newspaper shrink (in page count), archiving shrinks as well (many newspapers are posting more to their websites than they put in print, and they are not archiving that content)
  • The trend of investment is going to "first-to-web" systems model, mobile and social network integration, and paywalls and metering systems
  • Library databases appear to be ~80% remote usage
  • Majority of use is for older content, not current news - 80% of articles accessed are more than 90 days old. Of that 80%:
    • 18% = 1-4 years old
    • 32% = 5-9 years old
    • 50% = >10 years old
  • Majority of searches are for local news: people names and local topics (political issues, crime, businesses, development of schools, etc)

As a bonus, the local NewsBank rep explained how to properly order a Philly cheesesteak:

  1. Specify the quantity you want
  2. Specify your cheese:
    • Wiz = cheese wiz
    • American = American cheese
    • provi = provolone
  3. Specify fried onions or no:
    • Wid = with onions
    • Widout = without onions

So, an order for one cheesesteak with cheese wiz and onions would be:

One - wiz - wid




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One Response to “#PLA12 NewsBank Database Usage Study”

  1. New NewsBank Database Usage Study – Stephen's Lighthouse Says:

    […] #PLA12 NewsBank Database Usage Study From Swiss Army Librarian: March 15th, 2012 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2012/03/15/pla12-newsbank-database-usage-study/ […]