| |
Release 1: December 2002
Abstract
COUNTER has been developed to provide a single, international,
extendible Code of Practice that allows the usage of online
information products and services to be measured in a credible,
consistent and compatible way using vendor-generated data. The
COUNTER Code of Practice specifies: the data elements to be measured
definitions of these data elements; usage report content, format,
frequency and methods of delivery; protocols for combining usage
reports from direct use and from use via intermediaries. The Code
of Practice also provides guidelines for data processing by vendors
and auditing protocols. In response to librarian demand, Release 1
of the COUNTER Code of Practice focuses on the usage of journals and
databases, the products that account for the largest share of most
libraries' materials budgets. Future releases of the Code of Practice
will extend the scope of COUNTER, not only to other content types, but
also to more detailed levels of reporting for each content type.
Copyright: Project COUNTER
All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. For
non-commercial purposes only this publication may be reproduced and
transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from
COUNTER. All queries regarding commercial reproduction or distribution
should be addressed to the Project Director, Dr Peter T Shepherd
(pshepherd@projectCounter.org)
COUNTER Code of Practice
Release 1 (December 2002)
CONTENTS
- Foreword
- General information
- Definitions of terms used
- Usage reports
- Data processing
- Auditing
- Compliance
- References to other standards, protocols and codes of practice
- Governance of COUNTER
- Maintenance and development of the COUNTER Code of Practice
Appendices
Note: Sections 3, 4
and 5 contain the core information required
for implementation of the COUNTER Code of Practice.
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1. Foreword
COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources)
was formally established in March 2002. Release 1 of the COUNTER
Code of Practice was launched in December 2002. COUNTER serves
librarians, vendors and intermediaries by facilitating the recording
and exchange of online usage statistics. The COUNTER Code of Practice
provides guidance on data elements to be measured, definitions of these
data elements, output report content and format, as well as on data
processing and auditing. To have their usage statistics and reports
designated 'COUNTER-compliant' vendors must provide usage statistics
that conform to the Code of Practice.
COUNTER is widely supported by the international community of
librarians, publishers and intermediaries, as well as by their
professional bodies. This Code of Practice has been developed
with the active participation of representatives of all these
groups, who are represented on the Executive Committee as well
as on the International Advisory Board of COUNTER (See Appendix B).
The following organizations support COUNTER:
- AAP, Association of American Publishers
- ALPSP, The Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers
- ARL, Association of Research Libraries
- ASA, Association of Subscription Agents and Intermediaries
- BIC/EDItEUR
- JISC, Joint Information Systems Committee
- NCLIS, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
- NISO, National Information Standards Organization
- PA, The Publishers Association
- STM, International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers
- UKSG, United Kingdom Serials Group
COUNTER is deeply grateful to its Founding Sponsors, listed below,
whose generous financial contributions have enabled this project to
commence its work. We salute their vision, commitment and support.
- AAP/PSP, Association of American Publishers, Professional and Society Publishing Division
- ALPSP, The Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers
- ARL, Association of Research Libraries
- ASA, Association of Subscription Agents and Intermediaries
- Blackwell Publishing
- EBSCO
- Elsevier Science
- Ingenta
- Institute of Physics Publishing
- JISC, Joint Information Systems Committee
- Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
- Nature Publishing Group
- Oxford University Press
- PA, The Publishers Association
- ProQuest
- STM, International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers
- Taylor & Francis Group
- UKSG, United Kingdom Serials Group
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2. General information
2.1 Purpose
The purpose of the COUNTER Code of Practice is to facilitate the
recording, exchange and interpretation of online usage data by
establishing open, international standards and protocols for the
provision of vendor-generated usage statistics that are consistent,
credible and compatible. COUNTER builds on a number of important
ongoing initiatives, standards and protocols, See Section 8 below.
2.2 Scope
The COUNTER Code of Practice provides a framework for the recording
and exchange of online usage statistics at an international level.
In doing so, it covers the following areas: data elements to be
measured; definitions of these data elements; content and format
of usage reports; requirements for data processing; requirements
for auditing; guidelines to avoid duplicate counting when
intermediary gateways and aggregators are used. In response
to librarian feedback, Release 1 of the Code of Practice
focuses on journals and databases, as there is more general
agreement on the data elements to be measured and on their
definitions than for other content types. Journals and databases
also represent the largest components of most library materials
budgets. A wider range of content types and more detailed levels
of reporting will be covered as the Code of Practice is upgraded
and extended in subsequent releases.
2.3 Application
COUNTER is designed for librarians, vendors and intermediaries.
The guidelines provided in the Code of Practice enable librarians
to compare statistics from different vendors, to make better-informed
purchasing decisions, and to plan infrastructure more effectively.
COUNTER also provides vendors/intermediaries with the detailed
specifications they need to generate data in a format useful to
customers, to compare the relative usage of different delivery
channels, and to learn more about online usage patterns. COUNTER
also provides guidance to others interested in information about
online usage statistics.
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2.4 Strategy
COUNTER is an open Code of Practice that will evolve in response to
the demands of the international librarian, publishing and
intermediary communities. A conscious decision has been taken to
limit Release 1 to providing a set of relatively simple, reliable
usage reports for journals and databases, as these are currently
the most significant online purchases by libraries. Future releases
will be extended horizontally, to cover e-books and other content
types, and vertically, to provide more detailed levels of reporting.
It is intended that librarians, vendors and other parties should work
towards full implementation of Release 1 from the beginning of the
2004 subscription year, giving them one year to adapt their systems
and processes. The Code of Practice is kept continually under review
and feedback on its scope and application are actively sought from
all interested parties. See Section 10 below.
2.5 Governance
COUNTER is governed by an Executive Committee, chaired
by Richard Gedye of Oxford University Press. The
day-to-day management of COUNTER is the responsibility of
the Project Director, Peter Shepherd
(pshepherd@projectCounter.org).
See Section 9 below.
2.6 Definitions
Release 1 of the Code of Practice defines those data elements and
other terms that are relevant, not only to the usage reports
specified in Release 1, but also to other reports that vendors
may wish to generate. The list of definitions will expand as the
scope of the Code of Practice expands. Every effort has been made
to use existing ISO, NISO, etc. definitions where appropriate, and
the source is cited. See Section 3 below.
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2.7 Versions
There will be only one valid version of the COUNTER Code
of Practice at any given time, but different levels of
compliance are envisaged (see 2.8 below). The Code of
Practice will be upgraded and extended on a regular basis.
Each new version will be made available as a numbered Release on the
COUNTER website; users will be alerted to its availability. It is
planned that there will be no more than one new Release of the Code
of Practice in any given calendar year.
2.8 Auditing and COUNTER compliance
From 2004, auditing will be required of each vendor's reports and
processes to certify that they are COUNTER compliant. The auditing
process will be designed to be simple, straightforward and not to
be unduly burdensome or costly to the vendor.
To have their usage reports and data designated
'Release 1 COUNTER-compliant' a vendor must be able to deliver,
as a minimum, “the Usage Reports defined as ‘level 1’ in
Section 4, using the definitions defined in Section 3..” Vendors
are, however, encouraged to comply with Level 2 standards in Sections
3 and 4 where possible, as these will allow the vendor to deliver more
usable data to customers, and will obtain, for the vendor, a higher
level of COUNTER-compliance.
2.9 Relationship to other standards, protocols and codes
The COUNTER Code of Practice builds on a number of existing industry
initiatives and standards that address vendor-based network performance
measures. (See Section 8 below). Where appropriate, definitions of
data elements and other terms from these sources have been used in
this Code of Practice, and are identified as such in Section 3 below.
2.10 Making comments on the Code of Practice
The COUNTER Executive Committee welcomes comments on the Code of
Practice. See Section 10 below.
Comments will be accepted for a period of 12 months,
January-December 2003, and will be taken into account in the
development of subsequent releases of the Code of Practice.
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3. Definitions of terms used
Table 1 below lists the terms used in this Code of Practice, and
provides a definition
of each term, along with examples where appropriate. In order
to be designated compliant with Release 1 of the COUNTER Code
of Practice, vendors must adhere to the definitions provided
in Table 1. The terms listed in Table 1 are divided into the
following broad categories: Page views, session data and market
elements.
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TABLE 1: Definitions of terms used in the COUNTER Code
of Practice
| # |
Term |
Examples/formats |
Definition |
| 3.1 |
Page views |
|
|
| 3.1.1 |
Bibliographic data |
|
|
| 3.1.1.1 |
Service |
Science Direct, Academic Universe, Wiley Interscience |
A branded group of online information products
from one or more vendors that can be subscribed to/licensed and
searched as a complete collection, or at a lower level. |
| 3.1.1.2 |
Publisher |
Wiley, Springer |
An organization whose function is to
commission, create, collect, validate, host and distribute
information online and/or in printed form |
| 3.1.1.3 |
Imprint |
Pergamon |
A publisher brand or division,
usually dedicated to publishing material within particular
specialities and/or in specific formats (e.g. database,
journal, etc.) |
| 3.1.1.4 |
Serial |
|
A publication in any medium issued
in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations
and intended to be continued indefinitely. This definition includes
periodicals, newspapers, and annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the
journals, memoirs, proceeding, transactions, etc. of societies; and
numbered monographic series (NISO) |
| 3.1.1.5 |
Journal |
Tetrahedron Letters |
A serial that is a branded and
continually growing collection of original articles within
a particular discipline |
| 3.1.1.6 |
Issue |
|
A collection of journal articles
associated with each other via allocation of a specific issue number and
presented as an identifiable unit online
and/or as a physically bound and covered
set of numbered pages in print. |
| 3.1.1.7 |
Host |
Ingenta, HighWire |
An intermediary online service
which stores items that can be downloaded by the user |
| 3.1.1.8 |
Gateway |
SWETSwise, OCLC ECO |
An intermediary online service which
does not store the items requested by the user, and which either a)
refers these requests to a host or vendor site or service from which
the items can be downloaded by the user, or b) requests items from
the vendor site or service and delivers them to the user within the
gateway environment. |
| 3.1.1.9 |
Vendor |
Wiley, Oxford University Press |
A publisher or other online information
provider who delivers its own licensed content to the customer and
with whom the customer has a contractual relationship |
| 3.1.1.10 |
Aggregator |
ProQuest, Gale, Lexis Nexis |
A type of vendor that hosts content
from multiple publishers, delivers content direct to customers
and is paid for this service by customers |
| 3.1.1.11 |
Database |
Social Science Abstracts |
A collection of electronically stored
data or unit records (facts, bibliographic data, texts) with a common
user interface and software for the retrieval and manipulation of
data (NISO) |
| 3.1.1.12 |
Print ISSN |
Free text format
(up to 13 characters in future) |
Unique International Standard Serial
Number assigned to the print version of a journal by the national
ISSN agency of the country from which the journal is published |
| 3.1.1.13 |
Online ISSN |
Free text format (up to 13 characters in future) |
Unique International Standard Serial
Number assigned to the online version of a journal by the national
ISSN agency of the country from which the journal is published. |
| 3.1.1.14 |
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) |
|
The Digital Object Identifier is a means of
persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property (a creation)
on a digital network, irrespective of its current location (www.doi.org) |
| 3.1.1.15 |
Volume |
Alpha-numeric, no leading zeros |
Numbered collection of a minimum of
one journal issue; in printed form, volumes of more than one issue
are not normally bound together by the publisher, but are frequently
bound together in hardback by the purchasing library to aid preservation
of the printed product. |
| 3.1.1.16 |
Year |
|
Year in which an article, item,
issue or volume is first published in any medium |
| 3.1.1.17 |
Issue date |
dd-mm-yyyy;dd=1, if monthly or less frequent |
The date of release by the publisher to
customers of a journal issue |
| 3.1.2 |
Page type |
|
|
| 3.1.2.1 |
Item |
Full text article, TOC, Abstract,
Database record |
A uniquely identifiable piece of
published work that may be original or a digest or a review of
other published work. PDF, Postscript and HTML formats of the
same full text article (for example), will be counted as separate
items. |
| 3.1.2.2 |
Article |
|
An item of original written work
published in a journal or other serial publication. An article
is complete in itself, but usually cites other relevant
published works in its list of references |
| 3.1.2.3 |
TOC (Table of Contents) |
|
A list of all articles published
in a journal issue |
| 3.1.2.4 |
Abstract |
|
A short summary of the content of an
article, always including its conclusions |
| 3.1.2.5 |
Article header |
|
That subsection of an article which includes the following
information: publisher; journal title, volume, issue and page
numbers; copyright information; list of names and affiliations
of the authors; author organization addresses; title and abstract
(where present) of the article; keywords (where present) |
| 3.1.2.6 |
Full-text article |
|
The complete text, including all
references, figures and tables, of an article, plus links to any
supplementary material published with it. |
| 3.1.2.6.1 |
HTML |
|
Article formatted in HTML so as
to be readable by a web browser |
| 3.1.2.6.2 |
PDF |
|
Article formatted in portable document
format so as to be readable via the Adobe Acrobat reader;
tends to replicate online the appearance of an article
as it would appear in printed page form |
| 3.1.2.6.3 |
Postscript |
|
Article formatted in Postscript for faithful output
via printer |
| 3.1.2.6.4 |
References |
|
A list of works referred to in an article,
giving sufficient detail to enable the identification and location
of each work |
| 3.1.2.7 |
Database record |
|
An individual record in a standard
format, the collection of which in a form that can be processed
by a computer constitutes a database. |
| 3.1.2.8 |
Search |
|
A specific intellectual query,
typically equated to submitting the search form of the online
service to the server. |
| 3.1.2.9 |
Item requests |
|
Number of items requested by users.
User requests include viewing,
downloading, emailing and printing of items, where this
activity can be recorded and controlled by the server
rather than the browser. Turnaways will also be counted.
(See 3.1.5.4) |
| 3.1.2.10 |
Successful request |
|
For web-server logs successful
requests are those with specific return codes, as defined
by NCSA. |
| 3.1.3 |
Source of page |
|
|
| 3.1.3.1 |
Direct from vendor's server |
|
Delivery of content to the user is from
the vendor's own service/site, to which the user has direct access. |
| 3.1.3.2 |
Direct from an aggregator |
|
Delivery of content to the user is from an
intermediary (a gateway that is also a host), using its own store of
publishers' content. Gateway is responsible for recording and
supplying usage statistics for full-text requests direct to the
customer and also, where contractually permitted to do so, to
the vendor. (In this case the vendor may not add the 'gateway'
usage figures to those recording usage of content delivered by
the vendor direct to the customer) |
| 3.1.3.3 |
Referral from an aggregator or gateway |
|
Delivery involves the gateway sending
the end user from the gateway's site to the vendor's site for the
requested content. Vendor is responsible for recording and
supplying full-text usage statistics to the customer. Gateway
may also supply usage statistics to the customer, but must
report them separately from those covering its delivery of
full-text direct to the customer |
| 3.1.3.4 |
Via a gateway |
|
Delivery of content is via a gateway,
which requests the content from the publisher and delivers it to the
user in the context of the gateway service. Responsibility for
collecting and supplying usage statistics to the customer is the
same as in 3.1.3.2 above. |
| 3.1.3.5 |
Referral to an aggregator or gateway |
|
In this case an index or abstract service
refers the customer to the gateway for full-text. In this case the
full-text is delivered according to one of scenarios 3.1.3.2, 3.1.3.3
or 3.1.3.4 above, and the recording and supplying of usage statistics
to the customer is as specified in each of these cases. |
| 3.1.4 |
How user is authenticated |
|
|
| 3.1.4.1 |
Username and password |
|
No definition required |
| 3.1.4.2 |
IP address |
The IP address seen by the primary
service-this may be the real end-user's IP or a proxy IP. This is
always recorded, even if the authentication is not via IP address. |
IP address of the computer on which the session is conducted |
| 3.1.4.3 |
Customer-authenticated user |
Referring URL, Athens |
User authentication is provided by a
referring service that has an agreement with the online resource
that allows the referring services own users access to the online
resource. |
| 3.1.5 |
Access rights |
|
Rights for using a vendor's online
collection or database defined by law, license, or other contractual
and/or co-operative agreement. (NISO) |
| 3.1.5.1 |
Access granted |
Yes/no |
User is granted access to the
online collection or database, or subsets thereof, subject to the
access rights specified in the agreement with the vendor. |
| 3.1.5.2 |
Session |
|
A successful request of an online service.
It is one cycle of user activities that typically starts when a user
connects to the service or database and ends by terminating activity
that is either explicit (by leaving the service through exit or logout)
or implicit (timeout due to user inactivity) (NISO). |
| 3.1.5.3 |
Timeout |
|
Automatic termination of a session due
to a period of user inactivity. The average timeout setting would be
30 minutes. If another timeout period is used this should be reported.
(NISO) |
| 3.1.5.4 |
Turnaway (Rejected session) |
|
A turnaway (rejected session) is defined
as an unsuccessful log-in to an electronic service by exceeding the
simultaneous user limit. |
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| 3.2 |
Session data |
|
|
| 3.2.1 |
Start time |
Yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mn-ss |
Records the time a user's session
begins (first login or IP authentication), to the nearest second,
using UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time, formerly GMT). |
| 3.2.2 |
End time |
Yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mn-ss |
Records the time a user's session
ends or timeouts, to the nearest second, using UTC (Co-ordinated
Universal Time, formerly GMT). |
| 3.2.3 |
Duration |
|
Records the time a user's session lasts,
to the nearest second. |
| 3.2.4 |
Total activity |
|
Total number of views or downloads
of items per session. |
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| 3.3 |
Market elements |
|
|
| 3.3.1 |
Subscriber |
|
An individual or organization that
pays a vendor in advance for access to a specified range of the
vendor's services and/or content for a pre-determined period of
time and subject to terms and conditions agreed with the vendor. |
| 3.3.2 |
Licensee |
|
= Subscriber (see 3.3.1 above) |
| 3.3.3 |
Consortium |
Ohiolink |
The consortium through which the
institution or user obtained online access. A consortium is
defined by a range of IP addresses that may be
in specific groupings (e.g. institutes). |
| 3.3.4 |
Consortium member |
Ohio State University |
A university, hospital or other
institute that has obtained access for its users to online
information resources as part of a consortium. A consortium
member is defined by a subset of the Consortium's range of
IP addresses. |
| 3.3.5 |
IP address |
|
See 3.1.4.2 above |
| 3.3.6 |
User |
|
An individual with the right to access
the online resource, usually provided by their institution,
and conduct a session. |
| 3.3.7 |
Onsite usage |
|
Computer being used to access the
online resource is within a building or on the campus of an
institution (EBSCO). |
| 3.3.8 |
Remote usage |
|
Computer being used is off-campus,
or away from the Institution's property, e.g. access by a user
from home. |
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4. Usage Reports
This section lists the COUNTER Usage Reports and specifies
the content, format and delivery specifications that these
reports must meet to be designated 'COUNTER-Compliant'.
Note:
- Terms for which there are definitions in Section 3
above are highlighted below. Click on the
highlighted term to view the definition.
- Level 1 is the minimum level of reporting
that vendors must supply in order for their usage
reports to designated 'COUNTER-Compliant (Level 1)'
- Level 2 is a more detailed level of COUNTER-compliant
reporting that provides more information for customers.
If vendors can supply these usage reports to customers now,
they are encouraged to do so and will be designated
'COUNTER-Compliant (Level 2)'.
4.1 Usage Reports: Level 1
4.1.1 Examples are provided below of the five Usage
Reports that vendors must supply for Level 1 COUNTER Compliance.
Journal Report 1: Number of Successful Full-Text Article
Requests by
Month and Journal
(Full journal name, print ISSN
and online ISSN are listed.)
| |
Print ISSN |
Online ISSN |
Jan - 01 |
Feb - 01 |
Mar - 01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Total for all journals |
|
|
6637 |
8732 |
7550 |
45897 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
456 |
521 |
665 |
4532 |
| Journal of BB |
9821-3361 |
2312-8751 |
203 |
251 |
275 |
3465 |
| Journal of CC |
2464-2121 |
0154-1521 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Journal of DD |
5355-5444 |
0165-5542 |
203 |
251 |
275 |
2978 |
Note:
- The 'Total for all journals' line is provided at the
top of the Table to allow it to be stripped out without
disrupting the rest of the Table, as the number of journals
included may vary from one month to another.
- Journals for which the number of full-text article
requests is zero in every month should be included in
Journal Report 1
The above report complies with the COUNTER Code of
Practice for collection and reporting of usage data. For
definitions of the terms used, See Section 3.
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Journal Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Journal
(Full journal name, print ISSN and online ISSN are listed.)
-this report is applicable only where the user access model is
based on a maximum number of concurrent users
| |
Print ISSN |
Online ISSN |
Page Type |
Jan - 01 |
Feb - 01 |
Mar - 01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Total Full-text Turnaways for all Journals |
|
|
|
453 |
233 |
318 |
4765 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full text Turnaways |
23 |
40 |
12 |
342 |
| Journal of BB |
9821-3361 |
2312-8751 |
Full text Turnaways |
18 |
20 |
16 |
287 |
The above report complies with the COUNTER Code of
Practice for collection and reporting of usage data.
For definitions of the above terms, see Section 3.
Database Report 1: Total Searches and
Sessions
by Month and Database
| |
|
Jan - 01 |
Feb - 01 |
Mar - 01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Database AA |
Searches Run |
2322 |
2520 |
2742 |
29878 |
| Database AA |
Sessions |
1821 |
1929 |
2211 |
27654 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Database BB |
Searches Run |
3466 |
3210 |
4459 |
36543 |
| Database BB |
Sessions |
1987 |
2200 |
2544 |
24209 |
The above report complies with the COUNTER Code of
Practice for collection and reporting of usage data.
For definitions of the above terms used, see Section 3.
Database Report 2: Turnaways by Month and Database
-this report is applicable only where the user access model
is based on a maximum number of concurrent users.
| |
|
Jan - 01 |
Feb - 01 |
Mar - 01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Total Database Record Turnaways for all Databases |
Database Record Turnaways |
453 |
233 |
318 |
2435 |
| Database AA |
Database Record Turnaways |
23 |
40 |
12 |
60 |
| Database BB |
Database Record Turnaways |
18 |
20 |
16 |
82 |
The above report complies with the COUNTER Code of
Practice for collection and reporting of usage data.
For definitions of the terms used, see Section 3.
Database Report 3: Total Searches and Sessions
by Month and Service
| |
|
Jan - 01 |
Feb - 01 |
Mar - 01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Total for Service |
Searches Run |
16567 |
18643 |
20987 |
80654 |
| Total for Service |
Sessions |
12007 |
12677 |
13003 |
65487 |
4.2 Customer categories for Usage Reports:
Customer accounts, access and entitlements to vendor sites are
organized in a number of different ways, but most commonly by IP
addresses or by username/password.
The vendor should provide the functionality to create
usage reports on different levels for the customer customer
at the Consortium, Consortium Member, Institute or Department level.
Note: it is not always possible to require usage reports
for a specific IP address (unless it is a proxy server), as
this may violate privacy laws. The exception to this is in
the case of misuse (such as usage by a crawler or spider,
which can be attributed to a single IP address) where the
vendor may provide a report for an individual IP, to allow
the customer to deal with the misuse.
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4.3 Report delivery
Report delivery must conform to the following standards for Release 1:
- Reports must be provided either as a CSV file, as a
Microsoft Excel file, or as a file that can be easily exported
to Microsoft Excel.
- Reports should be made available on a password-controlled
website (accompanied by an e-mail alert when data is updated).
- Reports must be provided at least monthly.
- Data must be updated within two weeks of the end of the
reporting period.
- All of last calendar year's data and this calendar year's
to date must be supplied.
4.4 Types of report: Level 2
Below are listed examples of two reports that are not
mandatory for compliance with COUNTER Release 1, but
which will be required for subsequent releases, and
which vendors are encouraged to provide if they are
in a position to do so.
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Journal Report 3: Number of Successful Item
Requests and Turnaways
by Month, Journal and Page-Type
(Full Journal name, print ISSN and Online ISSN are listed)
| Journal Name |
Print ISSN |
Online ISSN |
Page Type |
Jan-01 |
Feb-01 |
Mar-01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Table of Contents |
732 |
806 |
676 |
3543 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Abstracts |
1032 |
1140 |
1020 |
6896 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
References |
543 |
322 |
567 |
4002 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full-text Postscript Requests |
444 |
365 |
432 |
3987 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full-text PDF Requests |
621 |
670 |
598 |
4657 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full-text HTML Requests |
322 |
420 |
543 |
4433 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full-text Total Requests |
943 |
1090 |
888 |
5021 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full-text PDF Turnaways |
23 |
40 |
32 |
186 |
| Journal of AA |
1212-3131 |
3225-3123 |
Full-text HTML Turnaways |
10 |
21 |
18 |
102 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Journal of BB |
9821-3361 |
0154-1521 |
Table of Contents |
220 |
300 |
346 |
1809 |
| Journal of BB |
9821-3361 |
0154-1521 |
Abstracts |
180 |
202 |
154 |
990 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Table of Contents |
66322 |
70312 |
81554 |
400980 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Abstracts |
54126 |
46005 |
55265 |
267980 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
References |
4532 |
3987 |
5473 |
34876 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Full-text Postscript Requests |
11345 |
10947 |
12534 |
66007 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Full-text PDF Requests |
32112 |
34554 |
38221 |
224623 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Full-text HTML Requests |
22500 |
24000 |
19500 |
107841 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Full-text Total Requests |
54612 |
58554 |
57721 |
394532 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Full-text PDF Turnaways |
3221 |
4112 |
2113 |
8765 |
| Total for all Journals |
|
|
Full-text HTML Turnaways |
1123 |
1321 |
1511 |
6453 |
This report complies with the COUNTER Code of Practice
for collection and reporting of usage data. For definitions
of the terms used, see Section 3 above.
Top
Journal Report 4: Total Searches
Run by Month and Service
(This report includes saved searches, modified searches, and
searches with zero results)
| |
|
Jan - 01 |
Feb - 01 |
Mar - 01 |
Calendar YTD |
| Total for all Collections |
Searches Run |
22430 |
18769 |
17998 |
98045 |
| Collection AA |
Searches Run |
2322 |
2520 |
2742 |
8006 |
| Collection BB |
Searches Run |
1588 |
1322 |
1643 |
6998 |
4.5 Report delivery:
As for Level 1 (Section 4.3 above), except that all
of the last two calendar years' data and this calendar
year's to date must be supplied.
5. Data Processing
Usage data collected by vendors/intermediaries for the usage
reports to be sent to customers should meet the basic requirement
that only intended usage is recorded and that all requests that are
not intended by the user are removed.
Because the way usage records are generated can differ across
platforms, it is impractical to describe all the possible filters
used to clean up the data. This Code of Practice, therefore,
specifies only the requirements to be met by the data to be used
for building the reports. Usage data can be generated by the
web-server holding the content (logfiles) or by storing the
usage information in so-called 'key-events' at content holding
databases.
Requirements
- Only succesful and valid requests should be counted. For webserver-logs
sucessful requests are those with a specific return code. The standards for return codes are
defined and maintained by NCSA (http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/edu/trg/webstats/ ). In case key
events are used their definition should match the NCSA standards.
- Records generated by the server together with the requested
page (e.g. images, gif's , style sheets (.css) should be ignored.
- Internal usage should be filtered out.
- All users' double-clicks on an http-link should be counted as
only 1 request.
The time window for occurrence of a double-click should be set
at 10 seconds between the first and the second mouse-click. There are
a number of options to make sure that a double click comes from one
and the same user:
- Where only the IP address of a user is logged that IP should
be taken as the field to trace double-clicks
- When a session-cookie is implemented and logged,
the session-cookie should be used to trace the double-clicks.
- When user-cookies are available and logged, the user-cookie
should be used to trace double-clicks.
- When the username of a registered user is logged,
this username should be used to trace double-clicks.
The options 1 to 4 above have an increasing level of reliability
for filtering out double-clicks: option 1 has the lowest level
of precision (and may lead to underreporting from the vendor perspective)
while with option 4 the result will be optimal.
- The rendering of a PDF takes longer than the rendering of an
HTML page. Therefore requests by one and the same
IP/username/session- or user cookie for one and the same pdf
should be counted as a single request if these multiple requests
occur within a 30 seconds time window. These multiple requests
may also be triggered by pressing a refresh or back button on
the desktop by the user.
Top
6. Auditing
Auditing will be required to validate the usage reports and
processes described in Sections 4 and 5 above and will be an
integral part of the COUNTER Code of Practice. At the time of
publication of Release 1 of the Code of Practice (December 2002),
detailed auditing requirements are in the process of being developed,
and it is planned to incorporate these into the Code of Practice by
December 2003. Meanwhile, those vendors wishing to be designated
COUNTER-compliant during 2003 will be required to give the COUNTER
office access to a set of their usage reports and to sign a
declaration stating that the reports and data supplied conform
to the specifications of the COUNTER Code of Practice. See Section 7
below.
Top
7. Compliance
7.1 Timetable and procedure
From January 2004 COUNTER-compliant vendors will be required to have
their usage reports, as well as the internal processes that generate
the data included in them, audited by an independent, COUNTER-approved
auditor. Vendors who are in a position to adopt the Code of Practice
earlier are encouraged to do so.
A Register of Vendors Providing COUNTER-compliant Usage Reports
will be maintained by the COUNTER office and posted on the COUNTER
website. In 2003, vendors may apply for inclusion on the Register
of COUNTER-compliant vendors by submitting to the COUNTER office a
Declaration of COUNTER-compliance (Appendix A), signed by the vendor,
which states that the usage reports and other usage data provided to
customers by the vendor are COUNTER-compliant. To maintain
COUNTER-compliant status from January 2004, this Declaration will
have to be accompanied by a report from an independent,
COUNTER-approved auditor confirming that the usage reports and data
are indeed COUNTER-compliant. A list of COUNTER-approved auditors
will be posted on the COUNTER website.
The signed declarations should be sent to the COUNTER office.
7.2 Licence agreements
To encourage widespread implementation of the COUNTER
Code of Practice, customers are urged to include the
following clause in their licence agreements with vendors,
from December 2003:
'The licensor confirms to the licensee that usage statistics
covering the online usage of the journals and databases included
in 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.'
Top
7.3 Aggregators, gateways and hosts
Many, perhaps the majority, of online searches, are conducted using
gateways or aggregators, rather than on the site of the original
vendor of the item being sought. This presents special challenges
for the collection of meaningful usage statistics. Section 3 of the
Code of Practice specifies where responsibility lies for the recording
and supplying of usage statistics when an intermediary aggregator or
gateway is involved (see Section 3, Table 1, Terms 3.1.3.1, 3.1.3.2,
3.1.3.3, 3.1.3.4 and 3.1.3.5). The five scenarios defined therein
describe protocols for delivery of the requested page to the customer:
- Direct from the vendor's server
- Direct from an aggregator
- Referred from an aggregator or gateway
- Via a gateway
- Referred to an aggregator or gateway
7.4 Customer confidentiality
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,
December 2001).
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. 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.
(ICOLC Guidelines, December 2001).
Top
8 . References to other standards, protocols and
codes of practice
COUNTER has built on the work of a number of other existing
initiatives and standards relevant to usage statistics. Most
relevant among these are:
- ARL New Measures Initiative.
This has been set up in response to
two needs: increasing demand for libraries to demonstrate
outcomes/impacts in areas important to the institution, and
increasing pressure to maximise resources. Of particular interest
is the work associated with the E-metrics portion of this initiative,
which is an effort to explore the feasibility of defining and
collecting data on the use and value of electronic resources.
This sets a useful context for COUNTER. Further information on the
ARL E-metrics project can be found at www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/newmeas.html
- ICOLC Guidelines for Statistical Measures of usage of Web-based
Information Resources.
The International Coalition of Library
Consortia (ICOLC) has developed a set of guidelines, revised in
2001, which specify a set of minimum requirements for usage data,
and also provide guidance on privacy, confidentiality, access,
delivery and report format. The ICOLC Guidelines are particularly
relevant to COUNTER. Additional information may be found at
www.library.yale.edu/consortia/2001webstats.html
- NISO Forum on Performance Measures and Statistics for Libraries
and NISO Standard Z39.7.
Aspects of a number of NISO standards are
relevant to COUNTER. For further information, see www.niso.org
Top
9 . Governance of COUNTER
COUNTER is incorporated as a public limited company in the
United Kingdom. Legal responsibility lies with its Board of
Directors, while an Executive Committee, supported by an
International Advisory Board is responsible for the overall
management and direction of the project. Specific responsibilities
are delegated by the Executive Committee to the Project Director,
who is responsible for the day-to-day management of COUNTER.
(See Appendix B).
Top
10 . Maintenance and development of the COUNTER Code of Practice
The Executive Committee of COUNTER has overall responsibility for the
development and maintenance of the Code of Practice. New releases,
which will extend the Code of Practice to a cover a wider range of
content types, will be made no more than once per annum.
The COUNTER Executive Committee welcomes comments on the Code
of Practice and these may be forwarded, by e-mail, to the Project
Director at www.projectCounter.org. Comments on Release 1 of the
Code of Practice will be accepted for a period of 1 year,
January-December 2003.
When providing your comments you are requested to
adhere to the following guidelines:
- Please be as specific as possible, making sure to note
the relevant section and subsection of the Code of Practice.
- Where you are proposing an addition to the Code of Practice,
please indicate the preferred section within the current version.
Appendices
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