Consulting about conference proceedings

We would like to consult with librarians about improving the reporting of Conference Proceedings. Currently, it can be challenging to identify this publication type in COUNTER Reports.

How conference proceedings are reported now

Usage of conference proceedings are reported in the Release 5 Title Master Reports.

Most conference proceedings are published serially with an ISSN, in which case they have the Data_Type ‘Journal’.  Sometimes Conference Proceedings are published as a one-off with an ISBN, in which case they have the Data_Type ‘Book’.

Some publishers obtain both ISSNs and ISBNs for their proceedings, in which case the current COUNTER practice is to let the publisher/provider decide which data type to use.

Those with the Data_Type ‘Journal’ appear in the TR_JI, TR_J2, TR_J3 and TR_J4 Standard Views.

Those with the Data_Type ‘Book’ appear in the TR_BI, TR_B2, TR_B3 Standard Views.

Planning for change

We would like to know if we could provide libraries with greater clarity and would be grateful if you could let us have your feedback via this survey.

The survey questions

So that you can discuss this with your colleagues before providing your feedback online, our survey questions are below.

Q1. Which of the following would you prefer? (pick one):

1. All proceedings should be treated as data type books regardless of whether the publisher assigns an ISBN and/or ISSN – this would mean the usage data normally would be included in the TR_B* standard views
   B. All proceedings should be treated as data type journals regardless of whether the publisher assigns and ISBN and/or ISSN – this would mean the usage data normally would be included in the TR_J* standard views
   C. Publishers should continue to decide for themselves on a title-by-title basis which data type to use, as per the explanation of current practice above.

Q2. Do you agree with this statement, yes/no:
A. All proceedings assigned an ISBN should be data type book regardless of whether they also have an ISSN, and be included in the TR_B* standard views [Yes/No]

Q3. Do you agree with this statement, yes/no:
B. All proceedings assigned an ISSN should be data type journal regardless of whether they also have an ISBN and be included in the TR_J* standard views [Yes/No]

Q4. I would like COUNTER to require all publishers to use the same data type for conference proceedings regardless of their use of ISSN and/or ISBN.

Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree.

Q5: I would like to be able to filter COUNTER Master Reports, so that I can identify conference proceedings.

Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree.

Q6 :I would like to be able to do cost per use analysis on conference proceedings and journal content from the same provider separately.

Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree.

Q7: I would like to see a separate Standard View report for conference proceedings.

Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree.

Q8: Please let us know if you have any other comments or suggestions about the reporting of conference proceedings.

Free text

The survey is at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FLKCDWX and closes on 21 June 2021.