Analysis of US College & University

Library Home Pages

Steve McCann

University of Montana

librarydigitalprojects.com

Chris Beckett

Library Access: A Long-Tail Problem

Chris Beckett

Methodology1. 1,803 Library Websites Found

– 570 with their own domain ( 32% )• i.e. http://lib.umt.edu/ not http://umt.edu/~library.cfm?blah

2. Ranked with Alexa.com– 1st Place: Stanford # 873– Last Place: “Small College USA” # 1,598,139

• 51 Sites Below that Rank

3. Isolated Sites Ranked in the Top 100,000• 269 Library Websites

4. Categorized Top Page Strategy• Browse & Search

5. 2001—2005 archive.org

Site Strategies

• Browse Strategies– Grid– Cascade– Frame– Radial

• Search Strategies– No Search Box– Catalog Search Box– Site Search Box– Combination Site &

Catalog Search

Browse Strategies

• Grid

• Frame

• Cascade

• Radial

or

or

or

2006 Results

Browse Strategy Trends

Browse Strategy Trends

Archive Error

0

50

100

150

200

200620052004200320022001

Grid

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

200620052004200320022001

Cascade

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

200620052004200320022001

Frame

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

200620052004200320022001

Radial

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

200620052004200320022001

Search Strategy Trends

2006 Search Strategies

None

Catalog Only

Site Search & Catalog

Site Search

Search Strategy Trends

None

0

50

100

150

200

200620052004200320022001

Catalog Only

0

50

100

150

200

200620052004200320022001

Site Search & Catalog

0

50

100

150

200

200620052004200320022001

Site Search

0

50

100

150

200

200620052004200320022001

Archive Error

0

50

100

150

200

200620052004200320022001

Findings

• Browse– Grid & Cascade are

dominant– Grid shows

momentum– Radial needs a miracle

• Search– Site & Catalog search

strong increase in 2006

– “No Search Strategy” probably won’t last

Questions?