Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Simultaneous Usage Of Online Databases In Academic And Public Libraries, Carol Tenopir, Danielle M. Green

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Pricing based on the number of simultaneous (concurrent) users is an attractive pricing option for many academic and public libraries. Anticipating the needed number of simultaneous usage ports, however, often requires guesswork. If too few simultaneous users are allowed, patrons may be frustrated; too many and the library is paying for unused access. Usage patterns for academic and public libraries help take the guesswork out of the simultaneous user calculation. Six months of usage data (July-December) from a random sample of approximately 200 academic and public libraries that access online databases from a major database aggregator show similarities and differences …