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- About the authors
Library Technology Reports, October 2016 (52:7)
Libraries are actively using Google Analytics to monitor the usage of their various websites and online tools. In this Library Technology Report, Farney recommends several Google Analytics features that all libraries should be using, including Google Tag Manager. Farney also tackles the challenge of enhancing Google Analytics' tracking ability for a variety of library specific online tools including link resolvers, online catalogs/discovery services, Springshare's LibGuides, digital repositories, and social media websites. Farney focuses on:
- best practices to optimize your Google Analytics for improved data collection;
- practical, hand-on tips and explanations on how to use Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to track usage in journal searches and link resolvers
- features within Google Analytics that will help you gather statistics that show how users access and navigate a digital repository website;
- how to add Google Analytics to your library catalog or discovery service to enhance your system's built-in usage reporting;
- options for installing google Analytics on LibGuides and how it affects data assessment at the individual guide level; and
- the benefits of using campaign URLs to measure the success of your social media marketing.
Tabatha Farney
Tabatha Farney is the director of web services and emerging technologies for the Kraemer Family Library at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She is an avid analytics enthusiast with over ten years of experience. Tabatha coauthored the 2013 LITA Guide Web Analytics Strategies for Information Professionals and has written two Library Technology Reports on configuring Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for library-specific websites and search tools. She has presented her analytics research at national conferences and served as an analytics consultant for various library organizations. She is a co-founder and current co-chair of LITA’s Altmetrics and Digital Analytics Interest Group.
Library Technology Reports
Published by ALA TechSource, Library Technology Reports helps librarians make informed decisions about technology products and projects. Library Technology Reports publishes eight issues annually and provides thorough overviews of current technology. Reports are authored by experts in the field and may address the application of technology to library services, offer evaluative descriptions of specific products or product classes, or cover emerging technology. Find out more information on this publication here.