Increasing digital use

Library. Photo: pixabay.com

The digital use of academic and special libraries continues to increase as the traditional use decreases. In 2015, about 26 million documents were downloaded. Downloads account for about 86 per cent of library use.

For the 190 academic and special libraries that form the basis of these statistics, 26 million documents were downloaded in 2015 compared to 24 million the year before. This is an increase of almost eight per cent. The downloads are from full text databases and from institutional archives. For full text databases alone, the increase was almost 17 per cent from 2014 to 2015.

Fewer loans
In 2015, a total of 1.6 million books and other physical library documents were borrowed from the academic and special libraries; a decline of more than seven per cent compared to 2014. First time loans and loan renewals accounted for more than five per cent. Non-local loans accounted for about two per cent.

More participants on formalised teaching courses
The academic and special libraries conduct basic and advanced courses on library use and use of full text databases. Libraries at universities and university colleges have reported figures on formalised education since 2013. In 2015 there were almost 102 000 participants on such courses; an increase of more than 13 per cent from 2014.

Increase in media expenses
From 2014 to 2015, academic and special libraries had a six per cent increase in media expenses. A total of NOK 488 million was spent on buying physical and digital library items in 2015.

More man-years
A total staff of 1 648 man-years worked in the academic and special libraries nationwide in 2015. In 2014, the corresponding figure was 1 637; an increase of 0.7 per cent.

 

Souce: SSB / Norway Today