As part of its commitment to achieving a culture of assessment, York University Libraries has joined other Ontario universities in participating in MINES for Libraries™ (Measuring the Impact of Networked Electronic Services), an online transaction-based survey that collects data on user demographics and the purpose of use of electronic resources.

MINES is a short, five-question web survey that is delivered at the point of use, every 250th time an e-journal or digital collection or service is accessed from Scholars Portal via SFX. It takes one to two minutes to complete and all responses are completely anonymous.

As access to York’s electronic resources is increasingly achieved through portals, collaborations, and consortial arrangements, the MINES for Libraries™ protocol offers a convenient way to collect information from users in an environment where they no longer need to physically enter the library in order to access resources. This web survey focuses specifically on the use of those electronic resources that are accessed via SFX or the Find it @ York link. It is managed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the consortium OCUL (Ontario Council of University Libraries).

OCUL launched the survey in mid-February and it will run for the next twelve months.

We feel very strongly that simply recording usage statistics is not enough to provide a full picture of the impact of networked electronic resources on our users. This survey methodology will allow the library to collect more qualitative data from actual users of Scholars Portal e-resources and will provide OCUL with rich, reliable data for decision-making and service improvements.

York University Libraries would like to thank all those who have participated (and will participate) in the survey — and to encourage all users of the Libraries' eresources to take a minute or two to complete the MINES survey when it shows up during an eresources search! You'll be helping us to gain more knowledge about your use of digital resources in the digital environment.