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PurposeThe article presents a methodology that can be used to analyze data from the transaction log of EBSCO Discovery Service searches recorded in Google Analytics. It explains the steps to follow for exporting the data, analyzing the data, and recreating searches. The article provides suggestions to improve the quality of research on the topic. It also includes advice to vendors on improving the quality of transaction log software.Design/methodology/approachCase studyFindingsAlthough Google Analytics can be used to study transaction logs accurately, vendors still need to improve the functionality so librarians can gain the most benefit from it.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is applicable to the usage of Google Analytics with EBSCO Discovery Service.Practical implicationsThe steps presented in the article can be followed as a step-by-step guide to repeating the study at other institutions.Social implicationsThe methodology in this article can be used to assess how library instruction can be improved.Originality/valueThis article provides a detailed description of a transaction log analysis process that other articles have not previously described. This includes a description of a methodology for accurately calculating statistics from Google Analytics data and provides steps for recreating accurate searches from data recorded in Google Analytics.

Goths. How did we get from warlike Germanic tribes sacking Rome, to an aesthetic or subculture imbued with “the dark and melancholy, a hint of horror tinged with romance.” This column will show you how widely this aesthetic is represented in art, architecture, film, literature and more, and along the way you will undoubtedly find some great resources to add to your collections, from music CD, to academic journals, reference works and the usual popular and academic books. Rachel Fischer has ably put together an excellent resource for anyone wanting to build a collection from the ground-up, or add some new and interesting resources.—Editor

When presented with subjects unfamiliar to the general public, the selection of an appropriate and rounded catalog is important to libraries, both public and academic. And stretching across multiple genres of subjects, including literature and philosophy, the concept of postmodernism may not be an easy undertaking for those not in the field to grasp. Fortunately Rachel Fischer, who holds a MLIS from Dominican University and a BFA in Fine Arts from Columbia College, has provided a well-rounded collection focusing on the topic, ranging from introductory texts, art, and literature, all the way to religion and multimedia. This is her second contribution to the Alert Collector.-Editor I f you really do not understand what postmodernism is yet, you are not alone. The term was first coined in the 1950s but did not become a well-known philosophical term in France until the 1970s; however, it was not uncommon for those who studied philosophy and sociology in the United States to have never heard of the term. Postmodernism is still not taught widely in universities outside of art history, philosophy, humanities, and cultural theory classes, yet postmodernist theories have truly impacted how we understand our society and interact with other societies today.So what is postmodernism? It is a term that is inseparable with the study of other known philosophies. Postmodernism' s precursors include linguistic theory, semiology, phenomenology, and modernism, and were closely associated with German philosophers like Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. French philosophers like Jean-François Lyotard, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Derrida contributed to making postmodernism what it is today. Since then other "post" terms have become more common in the classroom, such as postcolonialism, postethnic, poststructuralism, postproduction, and even postblack.In relation to art and literary theory, Jean-François Lyotard stated in The Postmodern Condition, "The postmodern would be that which, in the modern, puts forward the unpresentable in presentation itself; that which denies itself the solace of good forms, the consensus of a taste which would make it possible to share collectively the nostalgia for the unattainable; that which searches for new presentations, not in order to enjoy them but in order to impart a stronger sense of the unpresentable." With this quotation, one can see that postmodernism is tied strongly to cultural theory. As an example, it explores how our society has viewed stereotypes throughout history and how the cultures of our world are intermingling in a globalized society to become hybrids of each other.While the meaning of postcolonialism may seem obvious Rachel k. Fischer

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