Identify popular e-resources with accurate usage analytics

4 March 2025

With rising subscription costs and shrinking budgets, the library team at the University of Oviedo sought to identify their most valuable e-resources.

Pulling together usage analytics from each platform was a time-consuming process and delivered limited insights. "This basic data was no use for decision-making," said Ignacio del Pino, Systems, Applications, and Projects Librarian.

But the problem was bigger than that. Every day, library users complained that they couldn't access the e-resources they needed. Dealing with these issues took up valuable time and raised a strategic issue: low usage would weaken the value of library collections in the eyes of institutional decision-makers.

The library team needed the right solution to make access easier and to gather and analyze usage data. The solution would have to operate across the university's complex infrastructure and serve 24,000 users from 15 library sites, five campuses, and one hospital.

The library selects EZproxy and EZproxy Analytics

The library selected EZproxy® to simplify access to e-resources from any location. It was the only tool that could overcome the university's infrastructure challenges while meeting the security and privacy requirements needed to safeguard the hospital's healthcare data.

"We knew that EZproxy customers had given positive feedback," said Gema.

Shortly after selecting EZproxy, the library invested in EZproxy® Analytics. The library's user support issues vanished and usage increased.

Complete and accurate usage analytics

With almost all usage traffic passing from EZproxy to EZproxy Analytics automatically, the library obtained accurate and up-to-date insights. This transformed the team's ability to make data-informed decisions and demonstrate return on investment.

The library team then introduced user profiles, giving them even richer insights through EZproxy Analytics. "And that couldn't be more important," said Ignacio. "We aren't limited by absolute values in the way that we were with the more basic COUNTER reports. Using EZproxy Analytics, library staff can access data that gives us the context to improve the way we interpret e-resource usage."

"What lies behind all our efforts is an attempt to make even-handed decisions and accurate reports," concluded Gema. "We tried to establish objective criteria, comparing pears with pears and apples with apples. When you mix them all up, you can end up with misunderstandings or poor management. Throughout our journey with EZproxy and EZproxy Analytics, OCLC has given us full support. For me, they're 100% efficient and I recommend them 100%."

Location

• Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

Library at a glance

• University of Oviedo is an ancient institution which opened for classes in September 1608
• The library serves 24,000 users across 15 sites, five campuses, and one hospital
• The library’s digital collection comprises more than 60,000 e-resources