Temporal analysis of the usage log of a research networking system.

Despite the proliferation of research networking systems (RNS), their value and usage remains unknown. This study aims to characterize the temporal usage of an RNS, Columbia University Scientific Profiles (CUSP), and to inform the designs of general RNSs. We installed a free usage logging service, Google Analytics, on CUSP and applied time series analysis to compare the usage patterns of the two modes of CUSP: restricted (authenticated) and open access.

An initial log analysis of usage patterns on a research networking system.

Usage data for research networking systems (RNSs) are valuable but generally unavailable for understanding scientific professionals' information needs and online collaborator seeking behaviors. This study contributes a method for evaluating RNSs and initial usage knowledge of one RNS obtained from using this method. We designed a log for an institutional RNS, defined categories of users and tasks, and analyzed correlations between usage patterns and user and query types.