1 / 18

COUNTER and the Development of Meaningful Measures

“I’d rather be a huge part of the problem than a tiny part of the solution.”. COUNTER and the Development of Meaningful Measures. “It’s my fervent hope that these are meaningless statistics.”. COUNTER Codes of Practice. Definitions of terms used Specifications for Usage Reports

lavinia-peterson
Download Presentation

COUNTER and the Development of Meaningful Measures

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. “I’d rather be a huge part of the problem than a tiny part of the solution.” COUNTER and the Development of Meaningful Measures “It’s my fervent hope that these are meaningless statistics.”

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

  3. COUNTER: Status • Journals and databases • Release 1 Code of Practice: January 2003 • Release 2 Code of Practice: April 2005 • 60%+ of Science Citation Index articles now covered • A widely adopted standard by publishers and librarians • Librarians use in collection development decisions • Publishers use in marketing to prove ‘value’ • Now being used to develop other metrics and monitor trends • Books and reference works • Draft Code of Practice: February 2005 • Relevant usage metrics less clear than for journals • Different issues than for journals • Direct comparisons between books less relevant • Understanding how different categories of book are used is more relevant

  4. Core COUNTER Metrics • Requests for specified content units • Journals: full-text articles • Article-level reporting? • Books: whole title; sections within title (Chapter, entry) • Searches • Sessions • Turnaways • Simultaneous user licences

  5. Release 2: Journals and Databases • Published April 2005 • Implemented 1 January 2006 • Features • Improved usability of the reports • More detailed specifications, including display rules • Journal Report 1 extended • ‘Publisher’ and ‘Platform’ columns • Html and PDF totals reported separately • Level 2 reports now optional extras • Too detailed • Too much data • Specifications for consortium-level reports

  6. Consortium Reporting Requirements • Only two reports apply • Journal Report 1: Number of successful full text article requests by month and journal • Database Report 1: Total searches and sessions by month and database • Vendor must provide (in separate files) • Aggregated reports for entire consortium • Individual reports for each member institute • Aggregated reports include totals for the whole consortium

  7. Audit • Required within 18 months of compliance with Release 2; annually thereafter • Independent auditor • Online audit • Audit will check each report for • Layout (correct rows, columns, headings) • Format (CSV or Excel) • Delivery (E-mail alert, access on password-controlled website) • Accuracy (Tolerance is -8% to +2%)

  8. Draft Code of Practice for E-Books • Covers online books, encyclopaedias, reference works • Developed by a task force of publishers and librarians with expertise in online books • Comments on draft will be accepted through December 2005 • Final version will be published in early 2006

  9. Draft Code of Practice for E-Books • 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 • Turnaways by month and title • Book Report 4 • Total searches and sessions by month and title • Book Report 5 • Total searches and sessions by month and service

  10. Draft Code of Practice for E-books • Unit of access may include • Entire book • Chapter, entry (‘Section’) • Page • Paragraph • Access depends on interface and organization of content • Entire book may be one PDF • Each chapter may have own PDF • Reference works may be organized by topic or section

  11. Looking Ahead: Other Important Metrics • Link activity • Where users come from and go to • Target and type of target • Year of publication • Use and value of backfiles • Type of material • Journal article, book, chapter, video, soundtrack…… • Article level data? • Volume versus value; applications of the data • COUNTER is moving towards E-resource Codes of Practice

  12. E-journals: Release 2 • There will be a three month phase out of Release 1 and start of Release 2 • R1 compliant vendor list will be maintained until 31 March 2006 • Publishers that seek to be R2-compliant must submit proposals by 31 October

  13. E-Books: Release 1 • Will be focus groups at Charleston Conference in November • Comments thus far • Include an additional column to identify the type of book or book series • Include ISSNs and ISBNs for book series • Site searches should be done by product type if the customer requests it • Recognize several categories of chapters within books (paid, free access, etc.) • Next Executive Committee meeting: 30 November

  14. The Next Horizon: E-interface Effects on Counter Usage Stats • Two experiments being conducted • #1: effect on OUP data of changing the protocol where users had PDF access • All journals tend to have peak downloads when journal issue is new • Given variations in frequency, not all months are comparable • #2: JISC considering proposal • JISC decided on funding 26 September • Counter considering seeking funding to support research that directly improves the Codes of Practice or help train librarians in the use of Counter reports

  15. JISC Project • COUNTER data was analysed in relation to: • usage range • Price band • Subject category • Metrics derived from this analysis • Trend in number of full-text article requests • Full text article requests per title • Full text article requests per publisher package • Full text article requests per FTE user • Most requested titles • Usage of subscribed vs.. unsubscribed titles • Cost per full-text article request • Cost per FTE user • Summary report available at: www.ebase.uce.ac.uk/projects/NESLi2.htm

  16. Conclusions • Usage statistics are one indicator of usage, success and value, provided that…. • They are reliable • Universal standards are adopted • Online products are structured to allow reporting of usage statistics at different levels • But… • They should not be over-complicated or over-interpreted • They should be used in context with market research • Both publishers and librarians are going to have to organize themselves to generate and handle usage statistics

  17. COUNTER Membership • Member Categories and Annual Fees (2005) • Publishers/intermediaries: $750 • Library Consortia: $500 • Libraries: $375 • Industry organization: $375 • Library affiliate: $150 (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

  18. For more information………. http://www.projectcounter.org Peter Shepherd (Project Director) pshepherd@projectCounter.org “I can explain everything.”

More Related