How do virtual visitors get to the library?
| Pages | 815-830 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470910998533 |
| Published date | 02 October 2009 |
| Date | 02 October 2009 |
| Author | Vivienne Waller |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
How do virtual visitors get to
the library?
Vivienne Waller
Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne,
Australia
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory and preliminary analysis of virtual
visitors to the web site of the State Library of Victoria (SLV) in order to enable more understanding
about the type of content people are accessing on library web sites.
Design/methodology/approach – Most of the analysis in this paper is based on web activity data
sourced from Hitwise. Different uses of the library web site are investigated as well as the
characteristics of the visitors, where they were on the internet before coming to the library web site
and where they went afterwards.
Findings – Queries on history, places and particular buildings were almost exclusively related to
Victorian places or buildings, reflecting the content of the SLV web site. These three categories of
query accounted for two fifths of all non-SLV-related queries. Most of the analyses presented in this
paper have shown little difference over the years 2006-2008.
Research limitations/implications – One of the things that is very difficult to gauge from the data
is whether the user obtained material of interest from the SLV site. To really find this out, one would
need to ask the user directly.
Practical implications – This analysis will have implications for libraries’ management of their
online presence.
Originality/value – This paper differs from most papers on web search as it attempts a manual
classification of the long tails of upstream web sites, downstream web sites and search queries. This
paper will be of interest to anybody interested in the use of library web sites or information search.
Keywords Information searches, Library networks,Online operations, Digital libraries,Australia
Paper type Research paper
1. Background
1.1 Introduction: changing information landscape
Clearly the advent of the internet has resulted in changes in the nature of information
seeking and information-provision. Whereas the library used to be an obvious first port
of call when seeking information, various studies show that this is no longer the case.
For example, an Australian study undertaken for the Libraries Working Group of the
Cultural Ministers Council in 1994 (Mercer, 1995) found that half (53 per cent) of library
non-users and roughly 90 per cent of library users would automatically use the library
if they wanted to find something out. In contrast, a study undertaken by the Pew
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
The author acknowledges the generous support of Hitwise and the State Library of Victoria.
Particular thanks go to Anne Beaumont, Jennifer Durant, Kelly Gardiner, Jon Hyne, Scott
Rippon, and Janice van de Velde of the State Library of Victoria, Sandra Hanchard of Hitwise and
Julian Thomas, Denise Meredyth and Ian McShane of the Institute for Social Research for their
assistance and insights. This research was funded by Australian Research Council grant
LP0775215.
Virtual visitors
815
Received 18 December 2008
Revised 21 December 2008
Accepted 12 January 2009
The Electronic Library
Vol. 27 No. 5, 2009
pp. 815-830
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640470910998533
Internet & American Life Project in 2007 (Estabrook et al., 2007) found that almost 60
per cent of respondents would consult the internet when they needed to address
problems, while just over 10 per cent would consult the public library. Implicit in the
library aim to ensure “access to information for all” (www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/
ourassociation.cfm; www.alia.org.au/governance/alia.vision.html) is the ideal of the
library as trusted source of quality information. However, there is evidence suggesting
that people searching for information in digital form rate ease of use, convenience and
accessibility as highly as information quality and trustworthiness (OCLC, 2005).
Digital technologies have facilitated the proliferation of new sources of information or
content. In the early 1990s, the “content” industries were traditional, specialized industries,
generally with high entry costs. These included newspapers and magazines, film, TV and
video, packaged software, recorded music, books, online information services, computer
games and consumer directories (Mercer, 1995). By 2007, Web 2.0 technologies enabled
user-contributed content to directly compete, in scale and popularity, with these
established industries. Figure 1 depicts the library as just one among a multitude of
different types of information sources, most of which have arisen in the last ten years.
In Australia, Wikipedia is the most commonly visited online reference source
(Source: Hitwise data) and in the USA, half (49 per cent) of internet users use a search
engine on a typical day (Fallows, 2005). Statistics such as these, on the use of search
engines and Wikipedia, are often quoted as evidence of the decreasing relevance of the
library in providing information to searchers. However, while such statistics do
demonstrate changes in information search, in order to understand their implications,
it is necessary to look more closely at who goes where for what sort of information.
This paper contributes to this research endeavour focusing on how people get to the
web site of the State Library of Victoria. It is part of a larger research project which
investigates the implications of new technologies for library services.
Figure 1.
A schematic depiction of
information sources
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