Harmony by algebra: Science and education in university through the dodecahedron of online library statistics

Pislyakov, Vladimir Vladimirovich 
PhD in Physics and Mathematics., Vice-director Library, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
pislyakov@hse.ru


Abstract
The classic proverb says: "You are what you eat." In science, we may say: "You are what you read." In a modern university, the main channel of information are online documents—journals, books, theses, proceedings etc. The most authoritative peer-reviewed literature comes via university library electronic subscription services.
What is important, electronic resources are not only a comfortable way of reading for their users, they also provide immense possibilities for the librarians to analyze the needs and preferences of the university's audience. Well-designed vendor systems for gathering usage statistics, development and worldwide expansion of the COUNTER standard, protocols for automated harvesting, all these demonstrate the key role of exploring the online reading statistics in universities.
The thorough analysis of electronic subscription usage statistics in the university library may reveal not only the gross indicators of total demand, but also the degree of involvement of different departments and programs in the world information flow, draw a map of the most hot and actively emerging topics, identify disciplines where information supply should be improved.
Along with the evaluation of economic effectiveness of electronic subscription investements, this analysis may highlight many faces of the scientific and educational life in university.  

Keywords: electronic resources usage statistics, COUNTER, library science, hot topics, information usage analysis, electronic resources in libraries