360 Counter. Do you buy e-resources? Do they get used? How do you know? Serials Solutions. Serials Solutions 360 Counter

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1 Serials Solutions 360 Counter P o w e r f ul tools for a s s e s s i ng P r o j e c t C O U NTER data a nd ma k i ng b e t t e r d e cisio ns Do you buy e-resources? Do they get used? How do you know?

2 Contents Intro to 360 Counter 3 Benefits of 360 Counter 4 What is Assessment? 5 Trends in subscription costs and usage assessment 6 About Project COUNTER and 360 Counter 7 Project COUNTER 7 Serials Solutions 360 Counter Counter System Diagram 9 Sample Product Screens Counter Landing Page Counter Summary Page Counter Upload Page Counter Report Details Page Consolidated or Pending Counter Report Details Page Validation Error Counter Consolidated Report Counter Bar Chart Counter Pie Chart 17 APPENDIX A: COUNTER Compliance Information 18 APPENDIX B: Sample COUNTER-Compliant Spreadsheet 24 APPENDIX C: Sample COUNTER Usage Report Examples in CSV format 26

3 Intro to 360 Counter Despite the widespread availability of usage statistics from content vendors, it has been extremely challenging for libraries to aggregate, correct, and meaningfully analyze this data. Serials Solutions 360 Counter provides an easy way to make sense out of all this information and answer questions like these Which subscriptions should I protect? Which journals can be cancelled? Which databases provide the best return on investment? 360 Counter aggregates Project COUNTER vendor files, incorporates resource costs from Serials Solutions 360 Resource Manager, and takes advantage of the Serials Solutions knowledgebase to normalize titles for greater accuracy. 360 Counter reporting tools then enable you to custom-tailor cost and usage reports for in-depth analysis. Using 360 Counter, librarians are better able to Analyze usage statistics quickly and easily Make side-by-side comparisons of statistics from multiple content providers Associate subscription costs with actual usage Easily build reports to distribute to fund sources and decision-makers Support more informed collection development decisions Centralize storage and maintenance of logins, passwords, and notes regarding the data aggregation process Safely back-up archival reports and prevent loss or damage Page 3 of 30

4 Benefits of 360 Counter Decision-making Converts raw usage data into actionable information for making collection acquisition and development decisions Aggregation Facilitates aggregating, standardizing and comparing data from COUNTER compliant vendors Archives data for backup to help prevent loss Normalization Standardizes non uniform journal titles into one normalized list Equalizes title variations among vendors Recognizes that X number of searches on JAMA and Y number of searches on the Journal of the American Medical Association equal X + Y searches Assigns subjects to journal titles Analysis Provides comprehensive, authority based serials analysis, subject, and cross vendor comparisons Integrates with the Serials Solutions knowledgebase and 360 Resource Manager Cost and Collection Management features Enables you to analyze subscription costs and actual usage Enables you to determine cost per click across multiple vendors Archives data to provide an historical perspective Produces sophisticated graphs and charts to share with decision makers Page 4 of 30

5 What is Assessment? Assessment is a critical tool for understanding library customers and offering services, spaces, collections, and tools that best meet their needs. Without good assessment, libraries could lose touch with users desires and needs and even become irrelevant. Nardini, 2001 Librarians undertake assessment to understand user interaction with library resources and services. To capture data that informs the planning, management and implementation of library resources and services. The challenges of assessment are Bertot, 2004 Gathering meaningful data Acquiring methodological skills Managing assessment data Organizing assessment as a core activity Interpreting data within the context of user behaviors and constraints Covey, Page 5 of 30

6 Trends in subscription costs and usage assessment From 1986 to 2002, journal prices rose 215% and libraries spent 260% more on journals, despite collecting only 14% more journal titles (ARL, 2003). These rising costs meant that annual subscriptions to journals might cost thousands of dollars for a single title with some costing as much as $10,000. Costs have risen so much that some libraries have dedicated virtually all their collection budget to serials at the expense of other valuable materials. When library collections were print based, librarians were able to monitor the usage of resources based on the wear and tear of items, their physical placement in the building and actual circulation statistics. In the days before e- became a prefix to the word resources, librarians and their staff were responsible for the collection of resource usage statistics. Most serials in academic libraries do not circulate, so libraries historically had to identify other ways to determine usage outside of circulation statistics. With the introduction of e-resources, the task of tracking usage statistics shifted from libraries to the providers of the content. Of course, the publishers and vendors employed different methods for gathering, interpreting, and distributing the usage data. The result is that libraries now receive incompatible and inconsistent information from which to determine how their resources are being used Page 6 of 30

7 About Project COUNTER and 360 Counter Project COUNTER Both purchasers and producers of information widely agree that the use of e-resources should be measured in a consistent way. Librarians want to better understand how the resources they purchase are being used, and publishers want to know how the resources they disseminate are being accessed. Project COUNTER defines a standard for vendors to use for delivering usage reports to their client libraries. 360 Counter helps libraries aggregate, correct, normalize, report, and analyze COUNTER-compliant reports from multiple vendors. Project COUNTER s stated objective is to ensure that vendor online usage reports are credible, compatible and consistent. This is achieved by the publication of Codes of Practice that specify the content, format, delivery mechanisms and data processing rules for a set of core usage reports that are easily implemented by vendors and easily understood by librarians. The Code of Practice defines what vendors should count and how the data should be displayed in a spreadsheet. Designed for human consumption not computer ingestion the results were prone to formatting errors. This created difficulties for the librarians tasked with merging and making sense of these compliant but often disparate reports. You can view samples of Project COUNTER Release 2 reports at: Page 7 of 30

8 Serials Solutions 360 Counter 360 Counter is a tool that helps libraries to assess the value of their electronic resources. Librarians use the 360 Counter service to aggregate COUNTER reports from multiple vendors and display them in customizable report formats. Once reports are uploaded to the tool, the usage statistics are integrated with a resource s subscription costs. In this way librarians can calculate cost-per-click by title, database, and platform. Because 360 Counter is integrated with the Serials Solutions knowledgebase, the normalization process standardizes non-uniform titles into one consistent list. Therefore, if Vendor A claims JAMA is searched X number of times and Vendor B states that the Journal of the American Medical Association is searched Y number of times, normalization reveals that JAMA was used X+Y times. Titles that are found in the Serials Solutions knowledgebase are assigned one or more subjects. Librarians may also assign a weighting factor to journal titles. 360 Counter offers librarians the ability to filter the usage data in multiple ways and to create custom reports that are sophisticated and graphically enhanced. The initial version of 360 Counter uploads the following Project COUNTER Release 2 reports: JR1 - Journal Report 1: Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Month and Journal JR2 - Journal Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Journal DB1 - Database Report 1: Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Database DB2 - Database Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Database DB3 - Database Report 3: Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Service Page 8 of 30

9 360 Counter System Diagram Page 9 of 30

10 Sample Product Screens 360 Counter Landing Page The 360 Counter Landing Page is selected from the Client Center home page Page 10 of 30

11 360 Counter Summary Page The 360 Counter Summary Page identifies which COUNTER reports have been uploaded and which reports need to be retrieved from vendors Page 11 of 30

12 360 Counter Upload Page The 360 Counter Upload Page provides a drop-down list of all vendors from which a new COUNTER file can be uploaded to 360 Counter Page 12 of 30

360 Counter Report Details Page Consolidated or Pending The 360 Counter Report Details Page provides a status report on where a COUNTER file resides

13 360 Counter Report Details Page Consolidated or Pending The 360 Counter Report Details Page provides a status report on where a COUNTER file resides within the 360 Counter workflow. This sample document has been consolidated and is ready to be viewed as an aggregated report Page 13 of 30

14 360 Counter Report Details Page Validation Error The 360 Counter Report Details Page provides an alert when an upload error occurs. The user then can go to a page to receive a detailed explanation of why the upload failed Page 14 of 30

15 360 Counter Consolidated Report Page 15 of 30

16 360 Counter Bar Chart Page 16 of 30

17 360 Counter Pie Chart Page 17 of 30

18 APPENDIX A: COUNTER Compliance Information This information is maintained online at 1. Register of Vendors providing usage reports compliant with Release 2 of the Code of Practice for Journals and Databases Only Vendors and Usage Reports included in this list may be regarded as being COUNTER compliant July 2007 Last updated Vendor JR1 JR2 DB1 DB2 DB3 JR1a (Optional) JR3 (Optional) JR4 (Optional) Allen Press Inc. Yes Yes Yes No No No American Academy of Periodontology Yes Yes Yes No Yes American Anthropological Association Yes Yes Yes No Yes American Association for the Advancement of Science Yes Yes Yes Yes No American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Yes Yes Yes Yes No American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Yes Yes Yes No Yes American Veterinary Medical Association Yes Yes Yes No Yes ACM Inc Yes No Yes No ACS Publications Yes Yes Yes No Reports Available in XML? Page 18 of 30

19 Annual Reviews Yes Yes Yes No Yes Ashley Publications Yes Yes Yes No Yes Atypon Systems Yes Yes Yes No Yes Bentham Science Publishers Yes No No No Blackwell Publishing Yes Yes Yes No Yes Cambridge University Press Yes No No No CFA Institute Yes Yes Yes No Yes Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Yes Press Yes Yes No Yes CSA Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Coremetrics SurfAid Analytics Yes Yes Yes Yes CSIRO Publishing Yes No No No Duke University Press Yes Yes Yes No East View Information Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No EBSCO Publishing Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Elsevier Engineering Information Yes No No No Elsevier-Science Direct Yes Yes Yes No No No Elsevier-Scopus Yes No Emerald Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Future Drugs Yes Yes Yes No Yes Future Medicine Yes Yes Yes No Yes Greenwood Publishing Group Yes No No No HighWire Press Yes Yes Yes Yes Humana Press Yes Yes Yes No No No Informa Yes Yes No No No Informa Healthcare Yes Yes Yes No Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Yes Yes Yes Yes No Institute of Physics Publishing Yes Yes Yes No Japan Science & Technology Agency Yes No No No JSTOR Yes No No No Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Yes Yes Yes No Yes Mary Ann Liebert Yes Yes Yes No Yes MetaPress Yes No No No MIMAS Yes Yes No Page 19 of 30

20 MIT press Yes Yes Yes No Yes Micromedia ProQuest Yes Yes Yes No Monash University epress Yes Yes Yes No Yes Morgan & Claypool Publishers Yes Yes Yes No Yes MPS Technologies Yes Yes Yes Yes No Nature Publishing Group (includes Palgrave Journals) Yes Yes Yes No NISC Yes Yes Yes No NewsBank Inc. Yes Yes Yes No No No OCLC Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Optimal iq Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Oxford University Press Yes No No No Peeters Publishers Yes Yes No No No Portland Press Ltd Yes Yes No No Project MUSE Yes Yes Yes Yes No ProQuest Information and Learning Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Royal Society of Chemistry Yes Yes Yes No S Karger AG Yes No No No Scitation-AIP Publishing Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Springer Verlag Yes No No No Symposium Journals Yes No No Yes Thieme Publishing Group Yes Yes No No Thomson Gale Yes Yes Yes Yes No Thomson Scientific (ISI Web of Knowledge) Yes Yes Yes No University of California Press Yes Yes Yes No Yes HW Wilson Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Note: JR1 = Journal Report 1: Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Month and Journal JR2 = Journal Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Journal DB1 = Database Report 1: Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Database DB2 = Database Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Database Page 20 of 30

21 DB3 = Database Report 3: Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Service JR3 = Number of Successful Item Requests and Turnaways by Month, Journal and Page Type JR4 = Total Searches Run by Month and Service Full descriptions of the Usage Reports may be found, along with examples, in Section 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice. 2. Register of Vendors providing usage reports compliant with Release 1 of the Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works Only Vendors and Usage Reports included in this list may be regarded as being COUNTER compliant for Books and Reference Works Last updated May 2007 Vendor BR1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR5 BR6 Reports Available in XML? Blackwell Publishing Ltd Yes Yes Yes Yes Greenwood Publishing Group Yes Yes Yes No Informa Yes Yes Yes No MyiLibrary Yes Yes Yes No Thieme Medical Publishers Yes No Xrefer Yes Yes No Note: BR1 = Book Report 1: Number of Successful Title Requests by Month and Title BR2 = Book Report 2: Number of Successful Section Requests by Month and Title BR3 = Turnaways by Month and Title BR4 = Turnaways by Month and Service BR5 = Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Title BR6 = Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Service Full descriptions of the Usage Reports may be found, along with examples, in Section 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works Page 21 of 30

22 3. Protocols for Compliance with the COUNTER Code of Practice 3.1 Vendors and products The Register of COUNTER compliance shall list vendor products/services rather than vendors. In cases where a vendor entry in the Register is unqualified by a specific product or service, it should be assumed that all of that vendor's online products that fall within the scope of a particular COUNTER Usage Report comply with the Code of Practice. This is more likely to be the case for small vendors with a small product/service portfolio than for a larger vendor. 3.2 Compliance process Vendors shall make an application to the COUNTER Project Director, indicating which of their products/services they wish to submit for inclusion on the Register. Applications should be sent by to the Project Director ( pshepherd@projectcounter.org ). Applicants should specify the following in their application: The COUNTER Usage Reports that they wish to be designated COUNTER-compliant The products/services covered by these usage reports The URL on which the usage reports are available The date from which the usage reports will be available The project director shall require the vendor to make available to at least one of the COUNTER library test sites, for a period of up to three months, the usage reports relating to the product/service for which compliant status is being applied. The Project Director shall select the test site(s) from the list in Section 1.4 below. In the event that none of the test sites is a customer for the product concerned, the vendor may nominate a selection of library customers for the product/service, from which the Project Director shall designate one or more test site(s) to be used in that case. The test site(s) shall provide feedback direct to the vendor, copying the Project Director on all feedback. Only when the test site has informed the Project Director that the usage reports for the vendor product/service complies in every respect with the COUNTER Code of Practice shall the appropriate entry be made in the Register. In the event that the usage reports for the vendor product/service fail to meet the requirements of the Code of Practice after three months from the date on which they were first made available to the test site(s), the vendor shall have a further three months to comply. If, after this period, the usage reports still fail to comply with the Code of Practice, the vendor shall have to submit a new application in order to begin the process again. During the application process the vendor and its product/service shall be listed on the 'Current Applications for COUNTER Compliance' table, which shall be available on the COUNTER website. Successful applicants shall be moved to the Register Page 22 of 30

23 3.3 Auditing In order to maintain COUNTER compliant status from 2007 the vendor must agree to have its COUNTER usage reports audited according to the standards required by COUNTER. Such an audit is to be carried out within 18 months of the date of entry into the Registry, and annually thereafter. It shall be indicated in the Register which of the usage reports have been audited, and the date of the audit. A detailed description of the auditing process may be found in Appendix E of Release 2 of the Code of Practice for Journals and Databases and in Appendix D of Release 1 of the Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works. 3.4 Library test sites The COUNTER Library Test Sites are at: Cranfield University, UK GlaxoSmithKline, UK University of California, San Diego, USA University of Leicester, UK University of Liverpool, UK University of Wales at Bangor, UK Yale University, USA 4. Vendor statements on COUNTER compliance COUNTER compliant vendors should announce and promote their COUNTER compliance by using the simple term 'COUNTER Compliant', without reference to a specific Code of Practice or Release number. COUNTER compliant vendors are also encouraged to use the COUNTER compliant logo below, wherever possible. Artwork for this logo is provided in a range of sizes and formats in the links that follow: COUNTER compliant logo in various sizes and formats To download, right click with your mouse on the logo and then choose "Save Image As" or "Save Picture As" and choose a location to save the file Page 23 of 30

24 APPENDIX B: Sample COUNTER-Compliant Spreadsheet Journal Report 1 (R2) - Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Month and Journal Page 24 of 30

25 Page 25 of 30

26 APPENDIX C: Sample COUNTER Usage Report Examples in CSV format Provided below are examples of each of the Release 2 Usage Reports in CSV format. Journal Report 1: Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Month and Journal (Full journal name, print ISSN and online ISSN are listed.) Page 26 of 30

27 Journal Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Journal (Full journal name, print ISSN and online ISSN are listed.) Page 27 of 30

28 Database Report 1: Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Database Page 28 of 30

29 Database Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Database Page 29 of 30

30 Database Report 3: Total Searches and Sessions by Month and Service Page 30 of 30

Electronic Resources Usage Statistics

Electronic Resources Usage Statistics How Valuable Are Vendor-Supplied Data? Virginia R. Kinman, Electronic Resources Librarian, Longwood University Wendell A. Barbour, University Librarian, Longwood University