Abstract

In this study, by examining the actual usage data of the university library website before and after COVID-19 outbreak, the usage behavior of users was analyzed, and the data before and after the virus outbreak was compared, so that university libraries can provide more efficient information services in a pandemic situation. We would like to suggest ways to improve it. In this study, the user traffic made on the website of University C was ‘using Google Analytics’, from January 2018 to December 2018 before the oneself of the COVID-19 virus and from January 2020 to 2020 after the outbreak of the virus. A comparative analysis was conducted until December. Web traffic variables were analyzed by classifying them into three characteristics: ‘User information’, ‘Path’, and ‘Site behavior’ based on metrics such as session, user, number of pageviews, number of pages per session time, and bounce rate. To summarize the study results, first, when compared with data from January 1 to January 20 before the oneself of COVID-19, users, new visitors, and sessions all increased compared to the previous year, and the number of sessions per user, number of pageviews, and number of pages per session, which showed an upward trend before the virus outbreak in 2020, increased significantly. Second, as social distancing was upgraded to the second stage, there was also a change in the use of university library websites. In 2020 and 2018, when the number os students was the lowest, the number of page views increased by 100,000 more in 2020 compared to 2018, and the number of pages per session also recorded10.46, which was about 2 more pages compared to 2018. The bounce rate also recorded 14.38 in 2018 and 2019, but decreased by 1 percentage point to 13.05 in 2020, which led to more active use of the website at a time when social distancing was raised.