Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2010
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Web Librarianship
Volume
4
Issue
1
First Page
37
Last Page
54
DOI
10.1080/19322900903547414
Date of Submission
July 2014
Abstract
Web site usage statistics are a widely used tool for Web site development, but libraries are still learning how to use them successfully. This case study summarizes how Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale implemented Google Analytics on its Web site and used the reports to inform a site redesign. As the main campus library at a research university with about 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the library included resources from multiple library departments on a single site. In planning the redesign, Morris Library's Virtual Library Group combined usage reports with information from other sources, such as usability tests and user comments. The Virtual Library Group faced barriers to interpreting and applying the usage statistics in the site redesign, including some that were specific to the library's implementation of the Google Analytics tool and some limitations inherent with Web usage statistics in general. Some key barriers in applying the usage statistics to a redesign included sifting through data that did not have implications for the site redesign, interpreting the implications of usage numbers for the site redesign, and balancing competing interests within the library. Nevertheless, the usage statistics enabled the Virtual Library Group to make better decisions by providing a source of factual information about the site's use rather than relying on staff members’ opinions and conjectures.
Recommended Citation
Arendt, J. & Wagner, C. (2010). Beyond description: Converting Web site usage statistics into concrete site improvement ideas. Journal of Web Librarianship, 4(1), 37-54. doi: 10.1080/19322900903547414
Rights
Copyright Julie Arendt and Cassie Wagner
Comments
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an Article published in Journal of Web Librarianship, 2010, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/19322900903547414.