Library Web page usage: a statistical analysis

To improve the design of the library home page and facilitate user access to it, a Web usage analysis was conducted by the Humanities & Social Sciences Services at Texas Aamp;M University General Libraries through examination of statistics generated by Web tracking software, which many library managers are now implementing. The study examined the geographic distribution of users and usage patterns of the library Web page, the peak usage times, and the computer environment information, which includes type of Web browsers, operating systems, screen resolutions, and screen colors, etc. In addition, the study also compared usage statistics gathered before and after the library’s Web page promotion activities, to measure the effectiveness of these business management and library marketing efforts. The findings of the study concentrate on identifying Web page design problems, thus allowing the establishment of recommendations that will modify standards of library Web page design and improve strategies of library home page promotion.