As we move into budget season, we are taking a close look at our students' database use. We are pleased to report that our overall database use is growing at an outstanding pace. We attribute this to several factors:
- We introduced meta searching in 2015. EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) cross-searches 60 of our 67 databases. Students enter their search terms in a search box on the nchslibrary.info home page and connect to their results with one click.
- We set up single sign on (SSO) authentication, which means that students do not need to log in to individual databases so long as they are logged into their school Google account in the same browser. Before SSO was implemented, username and password inquiries were those most frequently texted to the library. Eliminating that barrier has made it exponentially easier for students to access these valuable resources.
- Databases cite sources for students. Students find that piecing together website citations is complicated and using resources that provide citations streamlines their inquiry process.
- The content is vetted, and once they master the tricky business of crafting advanced searches, they appreciate the search refinement features that our database cross-searching tool (EBSCO Discovery Service) offers.
 |
| Our overall database usage increased by 20% between 2017 and 2018 |
 |
| Individual database use is also trending upwards by 34% since introducing SSO |
 |
| ProQuest National Newspapers |
In 2018, student use of ProQuest National Newspapers, a database that cross searches the six following daily newspapers increased by 95% over 2017 and 65% over 2016.
- Christian Science Monitor
- Boston Globe
- Hartford Courant
- New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- Washington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment