Understanding Ultimate Use Data and Its Implication for Digital Library Management: A Case Study

Abstract

Information professionals and librarians have been studying, discussing, and developing digital libraries for more than two decades, but understanding ultimate use of images from digital libraries remains a mystery for many of them. Most articles written on digital library use focus on users’ search retrieval needs and behavior. Few mention how digital library patrons use the images they request. Like many digital libraries, archives, and special collections, the University of Houston Digital Library makes high resolution images available to its patrons. Image delivery is achieved by an automated system, titled the Digital Cart Service. An unexpected benefit of the Digital Cart Service is the reporting mechanism that produces data that includes intended use information. This article discusses the analysis of this data to determine why images were used, what products were created from the images, and what implications this has on digital library management. The authors believe that answering these questions creates an environment in which digital library innovators can better promote and design digital libraries, and describe and select the content in them.

KEYWORDS:

• digital libraries
• digital library users
• digital images
• user requests
• user study
• outreach
• data collection
• selection for digitization
• ultimate use
• metadata
• digital asset management systems

Notes

¹The definition of a digital library has been debated among the profession for decades. For other examples, see Christin Borgman 1999; G. G. Chowdhury and Sudatta Chowdhury 2003; Daniel Greenstein and Suzeanne Thorin 2002.