Seriously? A Series of Tips on Setting Up a Research Library (Part 9)

“Pushing any truth out very far, you are met by a counter-truth.” -- Henry Ward Beecher (Liberal US Congregational minister, 1813-1887)

MONITORING DATBASE USE
Promoting use of your subscribed databases, the topic of our previous post, demands creativity and continuing commitment.  But how can you tell if your efforts are producing results?  The answer is usage statistics, provided by your vendor(s).

By monitoring usage statistics, you can determine (a) the effectiveness of your promotion efforts, and (b) whether or not to continue to subscribe to any given database.

Ask your vendor about how you can access usage statistics.  Better yet, before signing a contract, be sure to add the following clause to the contract:

The licensor confirms to the licensee that usage statistics covering the online usage of the products covered by this licence will be provided. The licensor further confirms that such usage statistics will adhere to the specifications of the COUNTER Code of Practice, including data elements collected and their definitions; data processing guidelines; usage report content, format, frequency and delivery method.
Source: Release 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for e-Resources (Published April 2012) (http://www.projectcounter.org/)

COUNTER stands for Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources. According to the COUNTER Web site, it “is an international initiative serving librarians, publishers and intermediaries by setting standards that facilitate the recording and reporting of online usage statistics in a consistent, credible and compatible way.”

COUNTER standards also are sensitive to privacy issues, as delimited below …

7.4.1 Privacy and user confidentiality
Statistical reports or data that reveal information about individual users will not be released or sold by vendors without the permission of that individual user, the consortium, and its member institutions (ICOLC Guidelines, October 2006)
7.4.2 Institutional or Consortia Confidentiality
Vendors do not have the right to release or sell statistical usage information about specific institutions or the consortium without permission, except to the consortium administrators and other member libraries, and to the original publisher and copyright holder of the content. Use of institutional or consortium data as part of an aggregate grouping of similar institutions for purposes of comparison does not require prior permission as long as specific institutions or consortia are not identifiable. When required by contractual agreements, vendors may furnish institutional use data to the content providers. (Based on ICOLC Guidelines, October 2006).

The COUNTER Web site includes examples of each report specified in the standards. 

It also provides a Register of Vendors providing usage reports compliant with Release 4 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for e-Resources (http://www.projectcounter.org/compliantvendors.html)

Visit the site (http://www.projectcounter.org/) for details.

Visit www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com for more tips and tricks.