As libraries move to become centers of digital collections, maintaining information on the usage of these collections is ever more critical. It's also essential to be able to maintain common measures across heterogeneous collections, in order to be able to effectively analyze how the library's collection dollars are being spent. The Project COUNTER Code of Practice and the SUSHI protocol aid in this work. This session will explore the newly-published Release 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for e-Resources and highlight its use in conjunction with the SUSHI (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative) protocol in an active library environment.

1. http://www.niso.org/news/events/2012/nisowebinars/usage_statistics/
Making Better Decisions
with Usage Statistics
June 13, 2012
Speakers: Peter Shepherd, Oliver Pesch, and
Amy Lynn Fry

2. Release 4 of the COUNTER
Code of Practice for e-
Resources
Peter Shepherd
COUNTER
June 2012

3. COUNTER Release 4
- objectives
 A single, unified Code covering all e-resources,
including journals, databases, books, reference works,
multimedia content, etc.
 Improve the database reports
 Improve the reporting of archive usage
 Enable the reporting of mobile usage separately
 Expand the categories of „Access Denied‟ covered
 Improve the application of XML and SUSHI in the
design of the usage reports
 Collect metadata that facilitates the linking of usage
statistics to other datasets, such as subscription
information

4. Release 4: main features
 A single, integrated Code of Practice covering
journals, databases, books, reference works
and multimedia content
 An expanded list of Definitions, including terms
such as „Gold Open Access‟, „Multimedia Full
Content Unit‟, „Record View‟, „Result Click‟, as
well as different categories of „Access Denied‟,
etc. that are used for the first time in Release 4
 Enhancements of the SUSHI (Standardised
Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative) protocol
designed to facilitate its implementation by
vendors and its use by librarians

5. Release 4: main features
 A requirement that Institutional Identifiers, Journal DOI
and Book DOI be included in the usage reports, to
facilitate not only the management of usage data, but
also the linking of usage data to other data relevant to
collections of online content.
 A requirement that usage of Gold Open Access articles
within journals be reported separately in a new report:
Journal Report 1 GOA: Number of Successful Gold Open
Access Full-text Article Requests by Month and Journal.
 A requirement that Journal Report 5 must be provided

6. Release 4: main features
Modified Database Reports, in which the previous requirement to report
Session counts has been dropped, and new requirements, to report Record
Views and Result Clicks, have been added. (Database Report 3 has also
been renamed Platform Report 1).
A new report, Multimedia Report 1, which covers the usage of non-textual
multimedia resources, such as audio, video and images, by reporting the
number of successful requests for multimedia full content units
New optional reports covering usage on mobile devices
A description of the relative advantages of logfiles and page tags as the
basis for counting online usage
Flexibility in the usage reporting period that allows customers to specify a
date range for their usage reports

7. Release 4: Standard Usage
Reports
 Journal Report 1: Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Month and
Journal
 Journal Report 1 GOA: Number of Successful Gold Open Access Full-Text Article
Requests by Month and Journal
 Journal Report 2: Access Denied to Full-Text Articles by Month, Journal and
Category
 Journal Report 5: Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Year-of-
Publication (YOP) and Journal
 Database Report 1: Total Searches, Result Clicks and Record Views by Month
and Database
 Database Report 2: Access Denied by Month, Database and Category
 Platform Report 1: Total Searches, Result Clicks and Record Views by Month and
Platform
 Book Report 1: Number of Successful Requests by Month and Title
 Book Report 2: Number of Successful Section Requests by Month and Title
 Book Report 3: Access Denied to Content Items by Month, Title and Category
 Book Report 4: Access Denied to Content Items by Month, Platform and Category
 Book Report 5: Total Searches by Month and Title
 Multimedia Report 1: Number of Successful Full Multimedia Content Units
Requests by Month and Collection

8. Release 4: Journal Report 5

9. Release 4: Database Report 1

10. Release 4: Multimedia Report 1

11. Release 4: recording and reporting
usage on mobile devices
 The following optional additional reports enable usage on mobile devices to be
reported separately:
 Journal Report 3 Mobile: Number of Successful Item Requests by Month, Journal
and Page Type for usage on a Mobile Device
 Title Report 1 Mobile: Number of Successful Requests for Journal Full-text Articles
and Book Sections by Month and Title ( formatted for normal browsers/delivered to
mobile devices AND formatted for mobile devices/delivered to mobile devices)
 Title Report 3 Mobile: Number of Successful Requests by Month, Title and Page
Type (formatted for normal browsers/delivered to mobile devices AND formatted
for mobile devices/delivered to mobile devices)
COUNTER will recognize as usage on a mobile device, which may be reported in the
above reports, any usage that meets one of the following criteria:
 useragents that are included in the WURFL list. WURFL is the Wireless
Universal Resource FiLe, a database containing the profile of mobile devices; this
database may be found at: http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/
 usage via a proprietary mobile App provided by the publisher/content provider

12. Release 4: timetable for
implementation
Deadline date for implementation of Release 4:
31 December 2013
-after this date only vendors compliant with Release
4 will be COUNTER compliant
Between now and 31 December 2013, Release 4 and the
existing Releases of the Codes of Practice are valid

13. Release 4: compliance
process
1.Agree Release 4 usage reports that are relevant to
publisher content
2.Review of reports by a COUNTER library test site
3.Vendor signs Declaration of COUNTER compliance
4.Vendor added to the Register of COUNTER-compliant
vendors
5.Independent audit must be carried out and passed within 6
months of being added to the Register

14. Release 4: independent
audit
Three aspects of the audit
 Check report formats
 Check data integrity
 Check delivery process
Three possible audit outcomes
A Pass, in which case no further action is required by the publisher as a result of the
audit. In some cases the auditor may add Observations to the audit report, which are
designed to help the vendor improve its COUNTER usage reports, but which are
outside the scope of the audit itself.
A Qualified Pass, in which the auditor deems the publisher to have passed the audit,
but where the auditor raises a Minor Issue requiring further action to maintain
COUNTER-compliant status. A Minor Issue does not affect the reported figures, but is
one which should be resolved within 3 months of the audit to maintain COUNTER-
compliant status. An example of a Minor Issue is where a report format does not
conform to the COUNTER specifications.
A Fail, where the auditor has identified an issue that must be resolved immediately
for the vendor to maintain COUNTER -compliant status

15. COUNTER Code of Practice
-Release 4
Full details of Release 4 will be found on the
COUNTER website at:
http://www.projectcounter.org/code_practice.html

16. Quality Content • Resource Management • Access • Integration • Consultation
Making Better Decisions with Usage Statistics
SUSHI: More relevant than ever
Oliver Pesch
Chief Strategist, E-Resource
Access and Management Services

17. Overview
• Why SUSHI
• COUNTER Release 4
• Changes to schemas
• Procedural changes
• Applying lessons learned
• Other tools and resources available

18. Why SUSHI…
• Librarians doing more with less rely on usage
statistics as one measure of value of their
purchases
• Usage consolidation applications and related
services rely on COUNTER
• To be valuable, usage collection needs to be
comprehensive
• Efficiency depends on automation
• SUSHI is a very scalable standard for
harvesting COUNTER reports!

19. COUNTER 4: Schema Changes…
SUSHI Schema (the actual SUSHI standard)

20. COUNTER 4: Schema Changes…
SUSHI Schema (the actual SUSHI standard)
No changes were required!

21. COUNTER 4: Schema Changes…
COUNTER XML Schema for reports:
changes were minor and geared towards better
compliance, including:
• ItemIdentifier, ItemPublisher elements now
optional
• PubYr attributes validate as year
• PubYrFrom, PubYrToattributes added to
support Journal Report 5

22. COUNTER 4: Schema Changes…
COUNTER Elements XML Schema: lists
valid values for certain data elements
• DataType: added Collection and Multimedia
options
• Categories: added Access_denied and
removed Turnaways.
• MetricType: added several new values to
support reports for mobile use, the new
database reports, multimedia reports and
revised access denied reports.

23. COUNTER 4: Procedural Changes related to SUSHI
• To be COUNTER compliant, a content provider
must provide a working SUSHI server
• Testing the SUSHI implementation will be part
of the audit

24. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
COUNTER…
• Offers the promise of consistency necessary
for consolidated reporting
• Combined with SUSHI is potentially a
significant time-saver
• Covers a broad range of reports providing
usage for journals, books, databases

25. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

26. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

27. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

28. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

29. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

30. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

31. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention

32. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention
• SUSHI implementations falling short

33. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
SUSHI Challenges
Challenges with COUNTER…
• Overly complex authentication methods
• • “Almost” understanding of market (most
Lack of compliant reports require manual
intervention
SUSHI clients are hosted -- one client
• SUSHI implementations falling short
will harvest usage for many customers)
• Support staff unfamiliar with set-up
needs or operational details

34. Lessons Learned:
Perspective as a Usage Consolidation Vendor
Challenges with COUNTER…
• “Almost” compliant reports require manual
intervention
• SUSHI implementations falling short
• Many content providers still not COUNTER
compliant

35. NISO SUSHI Standing Committee:
Release 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice
Applying the lessons learned…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Even more resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

36. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

37. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

38. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

39. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

40. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

41. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

42. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

43. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

44. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

45. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

46. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

47. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

48. NISO SUSHI Web Site:
Support for developers and librarians
Addressing the challenges…
• COUNTER schema stricter
• COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile
removes ambiguity
• Free web-based client available for testing or
basis for development
• Many resources available at the NISO
SUSHI web site.

49. Conclusion
• SUSHI is both relevant and necessary, but we
need…
• more compliant content providers
• with better interoperability
• COUNTER Release 4 more comprehensive
audit coupled with the COUNTER SUSHI
Implementation Profile are keys to progress

50. SUSHI: More relevant than ever
Thank You!
Visit the NISO SUSHI web site
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/sushi
Or email me at:
opesch@ebsco.com

51. Streamlining Stats:
Managing Usage Statistics Efficiently and Effectively
Amy Fry, Electronic Resources Coordinator, Bowling Green State University
images by Ken Fager, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfagerdotcom/

52. Usage statistics: what libraries are thinking
What do I get? How do I get it?
I need it now! How do I put it all together?

53. Stats work today is HYBRID:
part manual, part automated

54. Look familiar?

55. How about this?

56. Just a little manual labor…

57. Maybe we should just cancel everything.

58. BGSU’s three principles to
streamline stats
Data control Organization of work Distribution of labor
Everything in its (one Stats are integrated There are jobs for
and only) place, all into the resource’s librarians, staff and
linked together. lifecycle. students.

59. Data control
ONE place for logins and passwords:
our ERM.

60. Data control
ONE place for logins and passwords:
our ERM.

61. Data control
ONE place for logins and passwords:
our ERM.

62. Data control ONE place for downloading instructions:
our wikis

63. dbusestats.bgsu.wikispaces.net
ejusestats.bgsu.wikispaces.net

64. Data control
ONE place for the stats files:
our R drive.

65. Data control
ONE file for each report type

66. Organization of work
Stats are integrated into the lifecycle of each
resource.

67. Organization of work
Collecting stats has been simplified
• Reports are saved as downloaded (by calendar year)
• Stats are collected once a year

68. Distribution of labor
Everyone gets to help!
Librarian jobs:
• Manage logins and passwords
• Manage reporting
• Manage the SUSHI table in the ERM
• Manage stats through each resource’s lifecycle
Staff jobs:
• Write downloading instructions
• Make changes as needed in the wiki (adding, removing, and
changing resources)
• Convert files XML; upload XML files into the ERM
Student jobs:
• Collect and save stats according to wiki instructions
Other jobs:
• Serials, Acquisitions & IT staff work with order records,
do coverage load, and more.

69. Reporting
Our medium
– For databases: spreadsheets, for now
– For e-journals: our ERM
Our philosophy
– Focus on standard measures
– Try to paint a picture over time
– Accuracy isn’t everything

70. Database usage reporting:
Standard measurements

71. Database usage reporting:
Use over time

72. Database usage reporting:
Using estimates

73. The “EBSCO Bump”

74. E-journal usage reporting:
Millennium ERM JR1 Summary Report

75. E-journal reporting using the
Millennium ERM
– Create resource records for each journal package
– Relate order records with correct from/to dates for
each subscription
– Download COUNTER JR1 reports in CSV format
– Convert to XML using the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln script (http://statsconverter4erm.unl.edu/)
– Upload each XML file to the proper resource record

76. Detail 1 Report for ACS Journals

77. Resource-Level Statistics Export for ACS Journals

78. With a little editing…

79. Coming soon…
• Innovative is expanding the report types that
can be uploaded to its ERM in 2013!

80. Feel like outsourcing?
Scholarly Stats
– Basic stats collection service, pay per platform
– Basic collated reports
SwetsWise Selection Support
– Stats collection service (pay per
platform)
– Options to upload data manually
360 Counter (Serials Solutions)
– Unlimited platforms with annual
subscription
– Options to upload data manually

81. Open-source ERMs
• ERMes (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)
– Incorporates DB1 reports
• CORAL (Notre Dame)
– Incorporates JR1 reports
• E-Matrix (NCSU)
– Incorporates JR1 reports
• CUFTS (Simon Fraser)
– Incorporates JR1 reports;
uses SUSHI

82. Remember…
You’re never, ever going to
get out of collecting data
altogether unless you
decide to stop looking at
your stats.