Images, Reviews, Tags and Recommendations: do enhanced contents and user contributed contents improve access to library resources in an academic library? Ya Wang, San Francisco State University Leonard Library Presented at the 2010 Electronic Resources & Libraries Conference. Abstract: This presentation allows San Francisco State University to share our information about patron usage of catalog enhanced services and a journal article recommendation service. The presentation looks at features offered by Syndetic Solutions and LibraryThing added to our online library catalog. We also evaluate the bX article recommendation service from Ex Libris. A summary of usage statistics is included.

1. Images, Reviews, Tags and
Recommendations: Do Enhanced
Contents and User Contributed
Contents Improve Access to Library
Resources in an Academic Library?
Ya Wang
San Francisco State University
Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER&L) Conference
Austin, Texas
February 1, 2010

2. Table of Contents
Introduction
Syndetic Solutions
Images, Reviews, Summaries & TOCs
LibraryThing
Tags & Recommendations
bX Recommender
Article Recommendation Service
Conclusion

3. Background
• San Francisco State University
– One of 23 California State University campuses
– Mostly 4 year
– FTE 25,000
– Collection facts: Over a million items in the
catalog
– Library Building Project
• Online Catalog – Innovative Interfaces Inc.
(III)
– Syndetic Solutions
– LibraryThing
• OpenURL linking server – SFX
– bX Recommender Service

4.  Syndetic Solutions offers cover
images, summaries, tables of
contents, excerpts and reviews to our
catalog.

5. Syndetic in the OPAC
Look & Feel

6. Syndetic in the OPAC
Look & Feel

7. Syndetic detailed information

8. Syndetic cover images in the
library homepage

9. Syndetic usage data

10. Syndetic usage discussion
 Images - well used
 Reviews - varied
 Summaries, TOCs – impressive
 Sample Chapter – not a great number

11.  Website that lets ordinary users create
quick and easy online public access
catalogs for their book collections
 Tag the books, not Subject Headings
 Recommendations
 Folksonomies, web 2.0

12. LibraryThing

13. LibraryThing tags &
recommendations in the OPAC

14. LibraryThing tag browse

15. LibraryThing tag click & search
results

16. LibrayThing usage data
March 11, 2008 - January 25, 2010
Feature use
 Tag browse 994
 Tags clicked on and tag searches
done 1739
 Recommendations links followed
2383

17. OPAC subject search sample
data
For 10 days, Subject Searches Retrieving Records - 559 out of 741.
Users most likely click Subject links to generate this result.

18. LibrayThing usage discussion
 There is a fair bit of activity
 Tags usage are not comparable with
subject headings usage
 Recommends links get some use.
They might generate more usage
because recommendations are hidden
in our OPAC.

19.  bX offers potentially related article
suggestions based on aggregate
usage data collected from participating
institutions that already use Ex Libris's
SFX link resolver
 Web 2.0-type, Amazon similar service
 Plug into scholarly search results

20. bX example

21. bX statistics as a target
service
 Number of clickthroughs per target service
BX_RECOMMENDER_SERVICE
getRecommendation

22. ILL statistics as a target
service
 Number of clickthroughs per target service
DOCDEL_ILLIAD getDocumentDelivery

23. bX usage data analysis
 Widely used
 Need more solid data to see
whether it affects our ILL service

24. Conclusions:
 Overall well used, different parts have widely varying usage
 We need to refine our package
 Tags - Not as popular as we thought
 Recommendations – adds a certain quality to the catalog
 Highly used, popular
 Cost effective

25. Contact
Ya Wang wangy@sfsu.edu

26. Questions?