COUNTER: towards reliable online usage statistics

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COUNTER towards reliable online usage statistics

• Hazel Woodward
• COUNTER Executive Committee
• Presentation to E-ICOLC, 23 October 2003

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Background

• Goal credible, compatible, consistent
  publisher/vendor-generated statistics for the
  global information community
• Libraries and consortia need online usage
  statistics
• To assess the value of different online
  products/services
• To support collection development
• To plan infrastructure
• Publishers need online usage statistics
• To experiment with new pricing models
• To assess the relative importance of the
  different channels by which information reaches
  the market
• To provide editorial support
• To plan infrastructure

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Code of Practice, Release 1Main Features

• Definitions of terms used
• Specifications for Usage Reports
• Data processing guidelines
• Auditing
• Compliance
• Maintenance and development of the Code of
  Practice
• Governance of COUNTER

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Definitions of Terms

• Data elements to be collected
• Page views
• Bibliographic data
• Page type
• Source of page
• Authentication of user
• Access rights
• Session data
• Market elements

Every effort was made to incorporate or reconcile
the definitions with existing ones from other
groups, such as NISO and ICOLC.
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Specifications for Usage Reports

• Usage Reports Level 1
• Journal Report 1 of successful full-text
  article requests by month and journal
• Journal Report 2 Turnaways by month and journal
• Database Report 1 Total searches sessions by
  month database
• Database Report 2 turnaways by month database
• Database Report 3 Total searches sessions by
  month service
• Usage Reports Level 2
• Journal Report 3 of successful item requests
  and turnaways by month, journal page type
• Journal Report 4 total searches run, by month
  service
• Report format CSV file, as a Microsoft Excel file

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Journal Report 1 Successful Full-Text Article
Requests by Month and Journal

Example
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Journal Report 2 Turnaways by Month and Journal
Example
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Database Report 1 Total Searches and Sessions by
Month Database
Example
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Data processing guidelines

• Covers only intended usage
• Impractical to describe filters for all possible
  ways to generate usage records
• Code of Practice specifies the criteria to be met
  by the data used in building the Usage Reports
• Only successful requests will be counted
• Records generated by the server, together with
  the requested pages, should be ignored
• All users double clicks within 10 seconds on an
  http-link should be counted as only one request
  (30 seconds for PDF)

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Auditing

• A publisher or content provider will be able to
  state that it is Counter Compliant only if this
  can be certified through an independent audit
• Auditing will be required beginning in 2004
• Auditing processes are under development
• A list of COUNTER-approved auditors will be made
  available

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Compliance 1

• Requirement for 2003
• Level 1 basic set of journal and database
  reports
• Must be provided at no extra charge
• Licence Agreements
• Standard clause covering COUNTER compliance
• Declaration of COUNTER compliance
• For 2003
• Vendors sign declaration and demonstrate to
  COUNTER that they can provide at least Level 1
  Usage Reports
• Register of COUNTER-compliant vendors
• Available from May 2003 on the COUNTER website

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Compliance 2

• Vendors already COUNTER compliant
• Blackwell Publishing, Ingenta, ISI, OUP, Portland
  Press
• Vendors who have declared an intention to become
  COUNTER compliant during 2003
• American Institute of Physics, BMJ Publishing,
  CABI International, EBSCO, Elsevier, Extenza,
  HighWire Press, Institute of Physics Publishing,
  Nature Publishing Group, Wiley, Kluwer Academic
  Publishers, Annual Reviews, Atypon

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Maintenance and Development of the Code of
Practice

• Full text of the Code of Practice is freely
  available on the COUNTER website
• html and PDF formats
• Code of Practice will be systematically extended
• An Upgrade Log of proposed changes is maintained
• Release 2 to be announced in Jan 2004,
  implemented Jan 2005
• Feedback on Release 1 is actively sought
• Via test sites involving publishers and libraries
• Via feedback to COUNTER via the website,
  International Advisory Board, etc.

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COUNTER organizational structure

• A not-for-profit company in England
• Any surplus is retained by the project
• If wound up any funds are transferred to the
  organization that takes over COUNTERs mission
• Board structure
• Board of Directors
• Executive Committee
• International Advisory Board
• Specific, task-oriented teams
• Membership
• The members own the company

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Governance Executive Committee

• Consortia
• Arnold Hirshon NELINET USA
• Libraries
• Christine Fyfe University of Leicester UK
• David Goodman Princeton University USA
• Hazel Woodward Cranfield University UK
• Roger Brown Glaxo SmithKline UK
• Tony Kidd University of Glasgow UK
• Phil Davis Cornell University USA
• Publishers, Aggregators, etc.
• Richard Gedye Oxford University Press UK (Chair)
• Marthyn Borghuis Elsevier Science Netherlands
• Timo Hannay Nature Publishing Group UK
• Terry Hulbert Institute of Physics UK
• Eileen Shanbrom American Chemical Society USA
• Oliver Pesch  EBSCO USA
• Peter Shepherd  (Project Director) UK

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GovernanceInternational Advisory Board

• 37 members, representing the following major
  constituencies
• Publishers 9
• Intermediaries 4
• Industry organizations 6
• Libraries 8
• Consortia 4
• Other 4

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COUNTER Membership

• Member Categories and Annual Fees
• Publishers/intermediaries 500
• Library Consortia 335
• Libraries 250
• Industry organization 250
• Library affiliate 100 (non-voting member)
• Benefits of full membership
• Owner of COUNTER with voting rights at annual
  general meeting, etc.
• Regular bulletins on progress
• Opportunity to receive advice on implementation

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Future Developments2003 and beyond

• Objectives for 2003
• Promote and gain acceptance for the Code of
  Practice
• Obtain feedback on Release 1
• Develop Release 2
• Define audit process for 2004
• Define and set up a permanent administrative
  structure
• Promote membership of COUNTER
• Widespread implementation by vendors for 2004
  subscription year
• Beyond 2003
• Build membership of COUNTER
• Extend and deepen Code of Practice
• Cover e-books, etc
• Journal reporting at article level

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COUNTER Founding Sponsors

• AAP/PSP
• AIP
• ALPSP
• ARL
• ASA
• Atypon
• Blackwell Publishing
• BMJ Publishing Group
• EBSCO
• Elsevier Science
• ICSTI
• Ingenta
• IOPP
• ISI

• JSTOR
• Lippincott, Williams Wilkins
• Nature Publishing Group
• New England Journal of Medicine
• OCLC
• Oxford University Press
• The Publishers Association
• ProQuest
• Taylor Francis Group
• STM
• Swets Blackwell
• Thieme Publishing Group
• UKSG

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For more information.

• www.projectCounter.org
• Peter Shepherd (Project Director)
• pshepherd_at_projectCounter.org