OhioLINK Collection and Circulation Analysis—Circulation Data

On this page you can obtain access to the database (the OhioLINK Circulation Data) that was used in the OhioLINK Collection and Circulation Analysis research activity carried out by OCLC Research. You can read about the activity here and read the full report of the activity here.

If you're on this page you probably know that:

• the database is comprised of circulation data compiled by OhioLINK and corresponding bibliographic data from the WorldCat database maintained by OCLC;
• this was a joint study by OhioLINK, OhioLINK members, OhioLINK Collection Building Task Force (CBTF) and OCLC Research;
• the OhioLINK circulation data, incorporating usage data from 2007-2008, is the largest and most diverse set of academic usage data for books ever collected. From a statistical perspective, the results are limited to the Ohio academic libraries;
• the goal of the project was to better understand the usage patterns of books in academic libraries; what books are being used, what books aren't being used, how many copies are needed, the ideal size of subject collections, etc.; and
• the study is limited to books and manuscripts since these materials typically circulate and circulation is a significant element in evaluating book collections.

Our analysis described in the report mentioned above represents only a fraction of what might be done with the data. Although the current project team will continue to study the data, we know that other expertise is needed to exploit the full potential of the data. The circulation records and the corresponding bibliographic records are available here to download for study and research.

License

This OhioLINK Circulation Data is made available by OhioLINK and OCLC under the Open Data Commons Attribution License: http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/ohiolink/odcby.htm.

The License allows the data to be used for study and research, among other things, with attribution in works produced from the database. The plain language summary of the License can be read here.

Attribution

We'd be glad if you attributed us like this:

This [title of report or article or dataset] contains information from OhioLINK Circulation Data which is made available by OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. and OhioLINK under the ODC Attribution License.

If including implicit links isn't possible, links can be included explicitly:

This [title of report or article or dataset] contains information from OhioLINK Circulation Data (http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/ohiolink/circulation.htm) which is made available by OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. and OhioLINK under the ODC Attribution License (http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/ohiolink/odcby.htm).

Community Norms

Since the bibliographic data in this database comes from the WorldCat database maintained by OCLC, we request that your use of the bibliographic data be consistent with the community norms of the library members of the OCLC cooperative who built WorldCat. The community norms are set forth in WorldCat Rights and Responsibilities for the OCLC Cooperative. Use of the WorldCat bibliographic data in the database for study and research is consistent with the community norms, but if you plan to use the bibliographic data for other purposes, whether or not you are an OCLC member, we ask that you review and comply with the community norms. You are welcome to get in touch with us for advice regarding the community norms.