SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts)

University of Oxford Usage statistics: October 1999 - September 2000

Introduction

During the first year of Oxford University's subscription SciFinder Scholar was used for a total of 264102 minutes/4402 hours, during 12279 separate sessions and from 341 different machines (not including dial-in and RSL network connections). The average session length was 21.5 minutes.

Data and graphs below answer the following questions:

How much is SciFinder Scholar being used?
Who is using SciFinder Scholar?
When is SciFinder Scholar being used?
What is SciFinder Scholar being used for?

Notes

All figures and graphs apply to the period October 1999 - September 2000 unless otherwise specified.
A table showing the data from which the various charts and graphs were derived, and also giving Numbers of different machines used, Total Number of sessions, Total minutes connected and Average session length for each user group is appended.

How much is SciFinder Scholar being used?

Apart from dips during the vacations there has been a continuous and steady rise in the use of SciFinder Scholar over the year.

Who is using SciFinder Scholar?

Breakdown of SciFinder Scholar usage (in terms of total minutes connected) is shown below in 4 pie-charts:

Total use
Use within Chemistry Department
Use within Colleges
Use by other Science Departments

A table showing the data from which these charts were derived, and also giving Numbers of different machines used, Total Number of sessions, Total minutes connected and Average session length for each user group is appended.

1. Total use by location of user:

It is likely that most or all of the use from colleges and via the OUCS dial-up connection, and some of the use from within the RSL, was made by members of the Chemistry Department.

2. Chemistry Department use by sub-department:

53% of Chemistry Department use (and 48% of the total use - see table) was from within the Dyson Perrins (organic chemistry) Laboratory.

3. Use within Colleges:

N.B. This comprises only 5% of the total SciFinder Scholar usage.

There was also a small amount of use from Christ Church, Corpus, Hertford, Keble, Merton and St Hilda's Colleges, and university Graduate Accommodation.

4. Use by Other Science Departments:

N.B. This comprises only 4% of the total SciFinder Scholar usage.

When is SciFinder Scholar being used?

During the period October 1999 - September 2000 a maximum of 3 simultaneous users were allowed from the Oxford University domain; additional connection attempts were turned away with a "Busy" message.

The graph below shows the times of day when failed connection attempts/busy messages were most common. Mid morning (10 am - 12 noon) and mid afternoon (3pm - 5pm) are the busiest periods.

Best times to search:

before 9am
after 7pm
lunchtime: 1 - 2pm
weekends (not shown)

Simultaneous users

The initial contract allowed 2 simultaneous users from the Oxford University domain; this was increased to 3 simultaneous users in December 1999. This resulted in a decrease in the percentage of connection attempts receiving the Busy message from 44% to 27% for several months; however the percentage then began to rise, dipped during the long vacation, and rose again dramatically to 52% during September 2000. Overall 34% of all attempted connections resulted in a Busy message during Oct 99 - Sep 00.

monthly busy

What is SciFinder Scholar being used for?

Several different types of types of search can be carried out. Topic searches (using words to describe the required subject) are the most common, followed by author and exact structure searches.

Table showing use of SciFinder Scholar by various groups within Oxford University.

October 1999 - September 2000

Dept.	No. different machines used	Total No. sessions	Total mins	% total	Average session length
DP (organic)	51	5800	125749	47.6
ICL (inorganic)	*100	3212	67619	25.6
PTCL (physical)	37	976	20110	7.6
OCMS	13	318	7220	2.7
IT Centre	41	351	13083	5.0
Chem Crystallog.	1	1	5
Total CHEM	243	10658	233786	88	22 mins

Engineering	5	234	3144	1.2
Plant Sciences	9	128	3068	1.2
Pharmacology	3	75	1633	0.6
Materials	6	35	799	0.3
Biochemistry	7	31	518	0.2
Physics	2	8	291	0.1
JR Hospitals	4	5	30
Zoology	1	3	28
Wellcome Trust	1	1	25
Geography	2	4	11
Total other depts	40	524	9547	4	18 mins

Balliol	3	36	757
Brasenose	4	16	342
Christ Church	2	5	56
Corpus	1	1	20
Hertford	1	7	48
Jesus	4	53	1091	0.4
Keble	1	5	40
Lincoln	1	5	148
Magdalen	1	19	499
Merton	1	5	24
New College	6	99	1302	0.5
Oriel	3	42	511
Pembroke	2	3	75
Queens	2	9	196
St Catz	3	9	501
St Edmund Hall	3	156	4443	1.7
St Hildas	1	1	3
St Johns	2	21	218
St Peters	1	14	165
Trinity	3	3	67
Wadham	7	55	1109	0.4
Wolfson	5	26	742
Graduate Accom	1	40	710
Total Colleges	58	630	13067	5	21 mins

OUCS Dial -in		94	1975	1	21 mins
Radcliffe Sci Lib		373	5725	2	15 mins

TOTAL		12279	264102		21.5 mins

* inflated because most ICL computers changed IP number during the period; true value is probably just over half this.

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Updated 28/2/02. If you have any comments please contact: cheminfo@chem.ox.ac.uk