NISO Standards and Best Practices: Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI)

1. NISO Standards and Best Practices:Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative(SUSHI) Oliver Pesch Chief Strategist, e-Resources EBSCO Information Services opesch@ebsco.com April 4, 2012

2. Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) • One of the first standards initiatives to use NISO’s more agile standards development process • Focus on solving the core problem • Allow the standard to evolve through ongoing maintenance

3. The problem… • It’s 2005… • ERM systems are new and • COUNTER allows for standard usage reports • Very promising for managing usage of “e”! • But… • Excel-based reports were not really standard • Downloading dozens/hundreds of usage reports not really scalable

4. What happened next… • Tim Jewell, Adam Chandler, Ted Fons and Oliver Pesch met at ALA in the summer of 2005 • The vision was to create an automated mechanism for retrieving reports • Success of this initiative hinged on having the support of a larger organization

5. Why take the problem to NISO… • NISO is about information standards • Synergy with the ERMI/DLF work of which this problem was an off-shoot • NISO offered the processes, the infrastructure and the support • NISO offered the neutral ground where interested parties could work collaboratively

6. What was achieved through NISO… • Committee formed in late 2005 • Work began in early 2006 • Draft standard published in 2007 • Final standard approved in 2008

7. The result… • A request/response protocol that allows automated retrieval of COUNTER reports • SUSHI has been a success • It’s central to virtually all usage consolidation applications • Adopted by approximately 40 content providers • SUSHI support is now a requirement for COUNTER compliance

8. Why it worked… • NISO offered a neutral forum for collaboration and exchange of ideas

9. Why it worked… • SUSHI was established as a continual maintenance standard • A standing committee was formed and meets monthly • Respond to feedback from the community • If necessary, adjustments can be made to the standard

10. Why it worked… • NISO SUSHI Standing Committee serves as maintenance agency for COUNTER XML Schema • COUNTER XML is integral to SUSHI • COUNTER recognized the need for formal and controlled maintenance of their schema • COUNTER sees NISO as a trusted partner

11. Why it worked… • NISO provided the infrastructure and support for ongoing maintenance and advocacy • NISO SUSHI website • SUSHI developers listserv • Hosting site for official schemas • Communication channels through NISO Newsline and ISQ

12. And the work continues… • Promoting interoperability • Providing developer tools and FAQs through the NISO web site • Published the SUSHI Server Test Mode recommended practice • Working on a SUSHI Server Status Report

13. And the work continues… • Preparing for Release 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice • Adjusting the COUNTER Schemas to support new reports and metric types • Updating support material on the SUSHI web site (report registries, controlled vocabularies, “what’s new” documents, FAQs, etc) • Publishing the COUNTER SUSHI Implementation Profile

14. Conclusion… • SUSHI has been a success but needs ongoing support, maintenance and advocacy • NISO provides the credibility, processes and infrastructure necessary for standards like SUSHI to succeed

15. Thank You! opesch@ebsco.com