[Genealib] Genealogy Stats

[Robert Sullivan]

> Also, if you have created a digital collection and/or database, do you count the number of times the site was accessed or have another way to justify the resources spent to create?

Just to clarify... if your goal is to justify the investment in
creating this resource, page views are probably the best way to get
some count of usage which is consistent over time.  What many tools
report as "hits" counts each access to every file on a site, including
all the graphics and style sheet files.  That may result in an
impressive number, but it could be off by an order of magnitude in
terms of assessing actual use.  (The last time I checked the main
library site's access logs, about 92% of the requests were for
something other than Web pages.)

I don't need a detailed analysis for the history site, so my SiteMeter
counter gives me the figures I need with minimal effort and I check in
on it frequently to see where the hot areas are.  If you do need to
track specific projects, you might use multiple counters.

-- 
Bob Sullivan
Schenectady Digital History Archive
<http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/>
Schenectady County (NY) Public Library