VITAL RESOURCES Use of physical library resources rose again in 2023-24. This growth is being driven by use of reserve materials, including both course reserves (textbooks) and non-course reserves (charging devices, equipment). Use of the main book collection declined by 2.7%, which may reflect the fact that course textbooks are now pulled out of the main collection for course reserves. Use of Interlibrary Loan and OhioLINK rose just over 10% this year. Filling interlibrary requests for other institutions grew the most, but OhioLINK loaning and borrowing both showed modest gains. Other parts of the physical collection saw minor fluctuations in usage. 2023-24 Print Usage Checkouts 57,972 Renewals 17,520 Internal Use 8,964 Main Collection 16,411 Reserves 28,062 Audio/Visual 552 CMC 9,110 OhioLINK 3,019 Other 818 The substantial change to the library’s print reserve service in 2022-23 continued to pay dividends this year. Course materials on reserve were used 12,750 times in 2023-24, up 15% from the prior year and over double the usage of 2021-22, even with fewer items on reserve. This service requires a significant investment in staff time and effort but has significantly increased the usage of selected library materials and provide students with an option for reducing educational costs. Use of non-course reserves (such as equipment and test prep materials) increased as well. Usage of digital resources remains a complex area to assess accurately, for a variety of factors. In 2023-24, use of e-journals and e-books showed a slight decline in usage. The total usage of digital resources exceeded half-a-million uses which is roughly $0.85/use, which is a very good cost/use value. For reference, major journal publishers often charge $30 or more to access a single journal article.
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