Evaluating information seeking and use in the changing virtual world: the emerging role of Google Analytics

• Published in: Learned publishing Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 185 - 194
• Main Authors: CLARK, D.J., NICHOLAS, David, JAMALI, Hamid R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Letchworth ALPSP 01-07-2014; Association of Learned and Professional
• Subjects: Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information professionals; Information publishing, dissemination and reproduction; Information science. Documentation; Information seeking behavior; Library and information science. General aspects; Publishing. Electronic publishing. Bibliological aspects; Sciences and techniques of general use; Use and user studies. Information needs; Webometrics; United States; North America; America; Evaluation; User; Customer; Search engine; Resource; Information retrieval; Data; Change; Publisher; Statistics; Information use; Perspective; World wide web; Environment; Influence; Paper; Log file; Web site; User behavior; Information professional
• ISSN: 0953-1513; 1741-4857
• DOI: 10.1087/20140304

ABSTRACT
The paper identifies changes that have occurred in the Web environment over the last decade which have gradually rendered server logs, once the preeminent source of intelligence on usage and information‐seeking behaviour, an ineffective, impractical, and uneconomic resource. It also looks at the implications of these changes for information professionals and publishers who have come to rely on this data to understand the behaviour of clients and customers in the virtual environment. Ubiquitous and expanding, Google Analytics generates statistics about a website's traffic and traffic sources, albeit from a marketers' perspective, is evaluated as a possible replacement; something which might plug the user knowledge gap which is worryingly opening up, or maybe even, put us in a better position overall. The paper is built on the knowledge and experience of evaluating server logs for more than a decade, mostly for publishers and libraries, and also on two recent projects where server log analysis was supplemented with Google Analytics.