DLS statistics: 2021 first semester-emerging trends

The Department of Library Services (DLS) continues to strive to provide the highest quality service to library users, which necessitates constant adaptation to changing environmental and user needs. The national lockdowns caused by the various COVID19 waves that emerged throughout 2020 and 2021 had a significant impact on the academic calendar for all universities. As a result, the UP calendars were modified to account for lost time and complete the 2020 syllabus. Lectures for the year 2021 only began on the 15th of March 2021 and ended at the end of July. Since library usage is dependent on the academic calendar, this calendar change affects library statistics. Taking this into consideration, to review usage behaviour and emerging trends in 2021, the first semester of 2021 (January to July) is compared to the usage statistics of the previous two years' first semesters (January to June).

The Library's use of digital resources and services increased. This includes an increase in the use of eBooks (38%) and eJournals (19%). Despite a 2% decrease in the eJournal collection and a 3% increase in the eBook collection, these services are in high demand in the new digital era. UPSpace was one of the most popular resources during this period, with abstract views increasing by 35% and item downloads increasing by 30%. In addition, Information Specialists produced 8% more bibliometric reports for researchers, which are a variety of quantitative measures that assess the impact of research outputs. These reports are provided by the Library to academic staff members for a variety of reasons, including demonstrating the impact of their research outputs, identifying new and emerging areas of research, and identifying potential research collaborators and journals in which to publish.

The Digitisation Unit scanned over 80 000 pages in the first semester of 2021 alone, compared to 16 040 and 22 027 pages in 2020 and 2019, respectively. This means that the Library digitised four times as many pages as the previous year; this increase is also due to the theses and dissertation project, which aims to digitise all paper-based theses and dissertations. The subject guides also saw an increase in activity, with 19% more views than the previous year.

The Marketing Office successfully reached more people through social media channels, with Facebook posts reaching 59% more people than the previous year and Instagram posts reaching nearly four times as many people in 2021. Staff and postgraduates continue to inquire at a higher rate than undergraduates, but consultations for all user groups have increased. Furthermore, postgraduate students were given more training opportunities, resulting in a higher attendance rate than the other groups. Undergraduate inquiries, training sessions offered, and training attendance have all declined. Users continue to prefer in-person, email or phone interactions over online interactions (chats and Ask a Librarian).

Although the Library still allows for print book loans within certain conditions due to COVID19 regulations, the use of print books continues to decline. Interlibrary loans are also on the decline, with a 43% decrease during the period under review. Interlending, on the other hand, reported an increase in both the number of items supplied to other university libraries and the number of items received. UP borrowed 27% more and supplied 57% more documents, with the majority of these being articles. Website usage continues to decline, although at a slower rate than previously. According to the Rate Us feedback, users appear to be satisfied with the service provided by the Library.