SHORTCUTS
INDEX
Annual report 2009
The services
Catalogue
The Library System catalogue is managed by the software Aleph 500 and it's available in Internet at the address: http://opac.biblio.polito.it.
The catalogue includes all the material owned by Politecnico's libraries. Searches can be made both on the whole catalogue and for a single type of documents (monographs, serials, theses).
In 2009 the catalogue has been improved by the link between ISBN codes and Google Books service. With a click on the icon on record's left, you can see book's abstract and pages digitized by Google.
In 2009 the unique sessions of OPAC (Online Public Access Cataloge) accesses were 294.283, with a huge increase compared with 2008 (224.810 sessions). Without any doubt, catalogue improvements and access facilities through the new acquisitions' advertising box, introduced in 2008, encouraged its use.
The following chart shows the growing trend of sessions number since 2005:
Library System web site
The following list shows statistics about Library System's web site usage in 2008 and 2009.
| Year | Visits | Unique visitors | Accesses (without automatic accesses) | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 377.395 | 167.029 | 9.562.832 | 3.385.389 |
| 2009 | 351.499 | 167.029 | 14.999.043 | 6.337.867 |
We can see a huge increase of accesses, but a slight decrease of unique visitors' number.
Consultation in the central libraries reading rooms
The consultation service of both printed and electronic materials is available in Architecture and Engineering Central Libraries.
In Autumn 2008, after the restructuring works, the modern monographs collections, the last years of the current serials and of the degree theses of the Architecture Central Library have been moved in the new wing. Rare books and serials and degree theses (from 1 to 6391) can be consulted fixing an appointment. The remaining part of collections will be unavailable until building works end up.
Engineering Central Library replaced ancient books collection, that is again available in the suitable reading room. Early in 2010 Library System is going to organizing the opening ceremony.
In the online catalog it is possible to search the records related to the ancient books owned by Politecnico's Libraries (mainly Architecture Central Library, Engineering Central Library, Building engineering and territorial systems library and History and analysis of architecture and human settlements library).The ancient books online catalog is under revision.
Loan, interlibrary loan and document delivery
Engineering students, to prepare their exams, borrow the Engineering Central Library books. In this library, almost all the monographic material is loanable, except the serials, the ancient books and the general consultation works.
Architecture Central Library, with open access stacks, provides users access to all collections, except ancient and rare books, available on appointment. Only a limited section is available for the loan. Students who are writing a thesis and professors can take advantage of a wider loan service.
In 2009 60.910 loans, 22.726 renewals and 60.817 returns were made.
The transactions among the different libraries are split up like this:
| LIBRARY | LOANS | RENEWALS | RETURNS |
|---|---|---|---|
| AER (Aerospace engineering Library) | 239 | 0 | 261 |
| BCA (Architecture Central Library) | 7.550 | 136 | 7.509 |
| BCI (Engineering Central Library) | 29.623 | 10.598 | 29.313 |
| BCM (Mondovì campus Library) | 2.483 | 545 | 2.489 |
| BCV (Vercelli campus Library) | 4.710 | 2.048 | 4.670 |
| CCT (History and analysis of architecture Library) | 1.421 | 138 | 1.450 |
| CLAB (University Language Centre V. Boggio) | 2.228 | 704 | 2.332 |
| CLAD (University Language Centre C. Duca) | 8.237 | 3.546 | 8.212 |
| EDI (Building engineering Library) | 78 | 7 | 85 |
| ELN (Electronics and computer engineering Library) | 783 | 634 | 812 |
| ELT (Electrical engineering Library) | 35 | 6 | 32 |
| ENE (Energetics Library) | 397 | 681 | 511 |
| FIS (Physics Library) | 177 | 4 | 226 |
| GEO (Land, environment Library) | 60 | 12 | 102 |
| IDR - TRA (Hydraulics and transport Library) | 124 | 25 | 88 |
| MAT (Mathematics Library) | 1.036 | 158 | 1.085 |
| MEC (Mechanical engineering Library) | 241 | 33 | 207 |
| SPE (Production systems Library) | 802 | 3.361 | 762 |
| TER (Inter-university Territorial studies Library) | 686 | 90 | 661 |
| TOTAL | 60.910 | 22.726 | 60.807 |
Compared with 2008, in 2009 the total number of loans was slightly decreased, but renewals increased (62.550 loans and 21.081 renewals in 2008, against 60.910l loans and 22.726 renewals in 2009), showing a stable situation.
For each library, the following chart compares the situation in 2008 and 2009, highlighting the variations observed:
| LIBRARY | 2008 loans, renewals and returns | 2009 loans, renewals and returns | Difference (in absolute value) | Difference (in percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AER (Aerospace Engineering Library) | 465 | 500 | 35 | +7% |
| BCA (Architecture Central Library) | 15.757 | 15.195 | -562 | -3,57% |
| BCI (Engineering Central Library) | 67.728 | 69.534 | 1.806 | +2,6% |
| BCM (Mondovì campus Library) | 6.760 | 5.517 | -1.243 | -18,4% |
| BCV (Vercelli campus Library) | 10.155 | 11.428 | 1.273 | +12,5% |
| CCT (History and analysis of architecture Library) | 3.231 | 3.009 | 223 | -6,9% |
| CLAB (University Language Centre V. Boggio) | 8.031 | 5.264 | -2.767 | -34,5% |
| CLAD (University Language Centre C. Duca) | 17.494 | 19.945 | 2.451 | +14% |
| EDI (Building engineering Library) | 366 | 170 | -196 | -53,6% |
| ELN (Electronics and computer engineering Library) | 2.352 | 2.229 | -123 | -5,3% |
| ELT (Electrical engineering Library) | 175 | 73 | -102 | -58,3% |
| ENE (Energetics Library) | 1.583 | 1.589 | 6 | +0,3% |
| FIS (Physics Library) | 860 | 407 | -453 | -52,7% |
| GEO (Land, environment Library) | 66 | 174 | 108 | +163% |
| IDR (Hydraulics and transport Library) | 191 | 237 | 46 | +24% |
| MAT (Mathematics Library) | 2.457 | 2.279 | -178 | -7,3% |
| MEC (Mechanical engineering Library) | 452 | 481 | 29 | +6,4% |
| SPE (Production systems Library) | 4.627 | 4.925 | 298 | +6,4% |
| TER (Inter-university Territorial studies Library) | 1.627 | 1.437 | 190 | -11,7% |
| TOTAL | 144.377 | 144.453 |
With regard to the different types of users, the loans are shared like this:
| Users | 2008 loans | 2009 loans | Difference (in absolute value) | DDifference (in percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| students | 49.843 | 51.043 | 1200 | +2,4% |
| professors | 5.297 | 3.694 | -1.603 | -30,3% |
| staff | 1.862 | 2.309 | 447 | +24% |
| Ph. D. students | 3.620 | 3.279 | -341 | -9,4% |
| external reseachers | 504 | 426 | -78 | -15,5% |
| interlibrary loans | 160 | 159 | -1 | -0,6% |
Analyzing data, we can see a loans increase for students (51.043 loans in 2009, against 49.843 in 2008), especially evident in libraries greatly used by students (BCI, CLA); in particular the huge acquisition of textbooks made by the Engineering Central Library in 2009 met users' approval.
Interlibrary loans shown in this chart were send between Politecnico's libraries.
As regards document delivery, 44 article requests were sent to the British Library and other suppliers and 11 requests were received.
Electronic resources consultation
During 2009, nearly all the sites providing statistics about e-resources conformed themselves to the standard COUNTER, so now data are really comparable, but sometimes are different from those included in 2008 annual report.
E-journals
In 2009 e-journals consultation has greatly improved, because of both new subscriptions and increase of downloads from other packages. Science Direct, interdisciplinary e-journals package published by Elsevier, that offers 2.013 e-journals and is available on two sites, had the highest amount of downloads. The total number was 190.174 (59% of 2009 downloads). It is also noted a shift from CILEA's site to the more functional Elsevier's site.
| Name | 2008 Download | 2009 Download | Difference (in absolute value) | Difference (in percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ACM  |
-- | 4.084 | -- | -- |
| APS | 6.626 | 10.494 | 3.868 | + 58,4 % |
| Emerald | 939 | 2.328 | 1.389 | +147,9% |
| IOP | 5.624 | 6.903 | 1.279 | +22,7% |
| IEL | 87.546 | 78.970 | -8.576 | -9,8% |
| Nature |
-- | 2.837 | -- | -- |
| Science Direct (Cilea) | 59.270 | 36.455 | -22.815 | -38,5% |
| Science Direct (Elsevier) | 100.931 | 153.719 | 52.788 | +52,3% |
| Springer | 11.417 | 23.778 | 12.361 | +108,2% |
| Wiley |
-- | 5.449 | -- | -- |
| TOTAL | 267.293 | 325.017 |
E-books
In 2009 also e-books consultation has greatly improved: the total amount of downloads was 89.624 (in 2008 was 59.544). The 70% of downloads was from Ebrary (collections Computers & IT and Engineering & Tecgnology), in which are many textbooks suggested by Politecnico's professors, but also other packages increased usage. The following list and chart point out the comparison with 2008 and 2009.
| Name | 2008 Download | 2009 Download | Difference (in absolute value) | Difference (in percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ebrary | 41.674 | 48.030 | 6.356 | + 15,2 % |
| Knovel | 1.936 | 4.074 | 2.138 | + 110,4 % |
| Emerald | 939 | 2.328 | 1.389 | +147,9% |
| Lecture Notes e altri e-book Springer | 8.637 | 11.158 | 2.521 | +29,2% |
| IEL | 87.546 | 78.970 | -8.576 | -9,8% |
| Encyclopedia Britannica | 1.079 | 8.474 | 7.395 | +685,3% |
| Oxford Reference Online | 1.857 | 4.214 | 2.357 | +126,9% |
| Referex | 2.681 | 8.942 | 6.261 | +233,5% |
| Grove Art | 1.680 | 7.732 | 6.052 | +360,2% |
| TOTAL | 59.544 | 89.624 |
Databases
Data about queries in bibliographic databases are shared like this:
| Name | 2008 Queries | 2009 Queries | Difference (in absolute value) | Difference (in percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Index e Art Index retrospective | dati non paragonabili | 4.724 | -- | -- |
| Avery Index | 28.058 | 25.195 | -3.863 | -13,3 % |
| Chem-Bank | 1.530 | 486 | -1.044 | -68,3% |
| Lecture Notes e altri e-book Springer | 8.637 | 11.158 | 2.521 | +29,2% |
| Compendex | 18.209 | 20.466 | 2.257 | +12,4% |
| CSA Social Sciences databases | 4.776 | 12.734 | 7.958 | +166,6% |
| DAII | 4.211 | 7.077 | 2.866 | +68% |
| Environment Index | 229 | 7.735 | 7.506 | +3277,7% |
| Francis | dati non paragonabili | 3.387 | -- | -- |
| ICONDA | dati non paragonabili | 3.199 | -- | -- |
| INSPEC | 17.813 | 3.098 | -14.715 | -82,6% |
| Journal Citation Reports | 4.030 | 3.456 | -574 | -14,3% |
| MathSciNet | 28.473 | 28.187 | -286 | -1% |
| Web of science | 59.606 | 65.675 | 6.069 | +10,2% |
| TOTAL | 166.405 | 184.933 |
The decrease of the number of queries in INSPEC, since 2009 on IET platform, while previously was available together with Compendex on EI Village, is significant; clearly researchers were used to consult together the two databases.
Now users consult less INSPEC, because part of the database is the index of IEL and is included in it; this situation reduce strongly the need to consult the integral version of the database.
Meta engine (Search Solver) and link resolver (Link Solver)
E-resources' usage has been improved by meta engine and links resolver.
Meta engine
It offers a unique interface to search subscribed e-resources and open resources free on the net. E-resources are arranged in conformity with materials typology and subject (there is also a subset for architecture); this organization helps users with the query; an easy access to full-text accelerates information retrieval.
Link resolver
For each record retrieved, this tool allows to identify access conditions to the document: the library holdings the printed document or the direct online access to full-text.
DigProxy
DigProxy service is offered to Politecnico professors, researchers and senior year students, by guarantee received from their supervisors, and allows access from home to subscribed electronic resources. The total number of sessions in 2009 was 12.155. This chart displays sessions trend during 2009 months:
The service's users are 878, split among the different categories, as the chart below shows:
| Users | Numbers |
|---|---|
| Professors and researchers | 363 |
| Staff | 63 |
| Students | 148 |
| Ph.D. students | 196 |
| Research assistants | 3 |
| External teachers | 3 |
| TOTAL | 878 |
New services
- New acquisitions and other information displayed on monitors.
In cooperation with CELM, since January 28th 2009 on monitors located in Politecnico's buildings, people can see a page about "News in the library", in which last 10 books catalogued by Architecture and Engineering Central Libraries (in total 20 books) are shown. Covers' images and concise bibliographical data (author, title, library) are presented in a cyclic way in groups of 5 books. Covers' images are digitized by a scanner and are sent to CELM, responsible for the program, with fixed specifications. Aim of the initiative is realizing a virtual showcase of acquisitions. In addition, people can also see information about culture and books world, for instance about the winners of Nobel prizes. - Desiderata.
To suggest additions to monographs' collections, a site was created (https://www.biblio.polito.it/desiderata/, available from the Library System's home page ("Suggest a book"). This service is still being tested. Registered users can suggest to buy books in Torino and Vercelli Central Libraries and are able to add comments in total openness. Proposers can find books' data in Google database or fill a form; all the proposals are transferred into a public blog, where users and libraries write comments. This initiative is very successful: more than 160 books were suggested in 2009, mostly to Engineering Central Library (120), followed by Architecture Central Library (51). Books suggested are very interesting and almost all of them have been purchased by the libraries. This is an useful and easy way for professors, researchers and students.
- Professors and researchers can reserve monographs and serials consultation in Engineering Central Library.
Professors and researchers who are going to consult up to 10 volumes of monographs or serials can send an e-mail to the library (bibli.infobci@polito.it ). Requests have to be sent by the previous day, so that library staff can find the books. Users will find them at loan desk and the material will be available during all the day. - Increase of opening hours in Architecture Central Library.
Since October 1st 2009, Architecture Central Library has increased opening hours on Friday; formerly the Library closed between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., now only loan service is closed.