It is, indeed, a very interesting question since different vendors count views or engagement differently. I was recently looking closely at views/engagement for some streams from different vendors for a course and comparing vendor data with data from Ares. The Ares data shows user id by date/time. When you look at this level of granularity you see multiple hits by the same user within very short periods of time, sometimes 10 hits or more in a minute. Clearly they are not watching a full film in that short space of time nor are they gaining a meaningful browse or “engagement”. This type of data must be taken with a grain of salt. Someone should be able to devise an algorithm based on data (patron behavior, hit length, and computer issues) that could be applied to the hit data to provide a more realistic picture of what patrons are actually watching.
Engagement, depending on how it is defined by the vendor, is probably a better measure but still requires some framing. For me, engagement would have to be at least 15% or more of the total run time. Certainly not a hit of 30 seconds or less, even a couple of minutes for a two hour films is questionable. And, if, over time, a film never shows that it is watched in its entirety, should we be paying full price or purchasing access to the desired clip? Or, dare I say it?, claiming fair use instead. We need to ask vendors pointed questions about the data they are supplying us. Vendors need to be very transparent about that data collection and presentation process in order to avoid being labeled as the fox guarding the henhouse . What data are you counting? Hits to a url or some percentage of the total film length a user spent with a film (engagement)? If its number of minutes watched, what percentage of the total films did those minute comprise? How do you define engagement? How many different users engaged? What was the date range of the engagement/hits? What was the last date of engagement/hits? Were the hits/engagement all for the same portion of the film (clips vs. watching a film)? Streams are expensive and I am sure we are not the only library to be taking budget hits. We need to be sure we are paying for streams our patrons are actually watching and not just browsing or pinging on trying to get them to load, or some other computer issue that is clouding patron use. I would advocate for a different model altogether, purchase of streams outright for a reasonable price the way we purchased VHS, then DVD. Actual ownership of the format until it changes to a new format. Then all this counting could be amortized over a much longer period of time, the enormous and expensive investment libraries make in purchasing licenses, tracking licenses, and renewing licenses could be better spent on other activities. And perhaps we would have the time to devise an automated way to track patron viewing behavior that would provide us with meaningful and reliable data on which to base purchase decisions. Jo Ann Jo Ann Reynolds Reserve Services Coordinator University of Connecticut Homer Babbidge Library 369 Fairfield Road, Unit 1005RR Storrs, CT 06269-1005 860-486-1406 voice 860-486-0584 fax From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sarah E. McCleskey Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 4:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Videolib] Looking for annual data on video circulation in academic libraries I think Jonathan asks a very interesting question. The different platforms for streaming report “engagement” or how long someone viewed the content, with varying degrees of granularity. But I know that for us hard copy circulation is steadily declining and streaming use is growing every year. Unfortunately our hard copy collection also took an accessibility hit a couple of years ago when I had to reduce hours in the Film and Media Library, because of a rather unexpected staff loss due to a layoff. So I think the physical collection has had several strikes against it. I have hatched a scheme to move the physical collection back to the main library for greater accessibility, but that may not come to fruition for several years. Accordingly, I am adding fewer and fewer DVDs and more and more streaming titles. Sarah From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jonathan Miller Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 4:20 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Looking for annual data on video circulation in academic libraries Dear Jane How do you determine a streaming “circulation” ? is that like a view, and if so for how long a time (30 seconds, 2 minutes etc)? Also if I read your graph correctly, hard copy circulation since 2010 is basically flat, and in fact from 2013 to 2014 it went up, and more or less just as much as streaming went up? Best Jonathan From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Wochna, Lorraine Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 4:07 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Looking for annual data on video circulation in academic libraries Thanks Jane and Chris, I am working on the same project at Ohio U in order to make my case for streaming services, along with providing enough data to show that we need a general fund for purchasing media either in streaming or DVDs. For us, I don’t think all subject librarians are aware of how much use our collection gets; so getting stats together will help me raise awareness and promote collections. I’m also trying to put together a ‘media team’ as we have no official ‘media librarian’ (I’m the ‘go to/cares about’ person and have not updated our collection policy in quite a while. Lots to gather, but these kinds of conversations are very useful to me, so thank you. Best, lorraine lorraine wochna Reference & Instruction librarian Alden Library, 2nd floor Ohio University Athens OH 45701 W 740-597-1238 From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hutchison, Jane Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 3:20 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: Re: [Videolib] Looking for annual data on video circulation in academic libraries You can see where our circulation is heading at William Paterson University. We have invested much in building our streaming titles and through a careful collection development plan, we have been purchasing individual titles that are requested or identified that support the curriculum. [cid:[email protected]] Regards, Jane Jane B. Hutchison Associate Director Instruction & Research Technology 300 Pompton Road Wayne, NJ 07470 (w)973-720-2980 (cell) 973-418-7727 From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Lewis Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 3:10 PM To: Videolib Subject: [Videolib] Looking for annual data on video circulation in academic libraries I know the general trend is declining based on the growth of Amazon/Netflix/iTunes and YouTube but I'd like to get some numbers for comparison to our trend locally. If you are willing to share and prefer to do it privately I will reciprocate. -- Chris Lewis American University Library 202.885.3257
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
