posted on 2024-07-12, 17:29authored byVivienne Waller
This report compares accessing the website of the State Library of Victoria (SLV) via Internet search results with accessing its collection via the SLV catalogue. It compares estimates of the numbers of people who access the collection via each pathway. It also compares the subject of the query that leads to the website with the subject of the queries that members of the public type into the library catalogue. Although there are a range of caveats to the analyses in this report, the following findings are clear: (1) In May 2008, the catalogue was still the main pathway to the SLV collection. It was particularly important for users wanting to find out about contemporary issues, cultural practice or art, or wanting to look up particular books or authors; (2) Internet searches on history and places provide a significant pathway to the SLV's collection. SLV collection material relating to history or places is more likely to be arrived at via search engine results than through catalogue queries; (3) It appears that search engines are opening up the SLV collection, particularly Victoria-specific material, to people who would not choose to use the SLV catalogue.
Funding
Australian information seekers and the social consequences of information poverty