Vision: Consistent, credible, and comparable usage data

Mission: COUNTER exists to develop and maintain the standard for counting and reporting the use of electronic resources. It will ensure that content providers can implement the code of practice efficiently and that their library customers and users will receive relevant usage reports in the format they need.

Core Values:

• Collaboration and dialogue:

  • We bring libraries, publishers, and vendors together to collaborate in the development and implementation of the COUNTER Code of Practice

• Customer service

  • We provide libraries and content providers with advice and support in the implementation of the COUNTER Code of Practice

• Openness

  • We provide the COUNTER Code of Practice as an open standard
  • We are transparent about how COUNTER is run and how decisions are made

• Consistency

  • We ensure that publishers and vendors consistently implement the Code of Practice and strive to be precise and consistent in the standards we develop

• Inclusivity

  • The COUNTER Code of Practice and COUNTER membership is open to all libraries, institutional repositories, publishers, and vendors across the world

Strategic Themes

Understanding our audiences

• work to understand our audiences to meet the needs of our stakeholders
• consult with all our stakeholders, through online surveys, face-to-face meetings, and by developing an open dialogue

Facilitating the exchange of ideas on the development of usage metrics and open standards for harvesting usage statistics

• make the best use of the commitment, expertise, and input from members of our working groups and committees

• collaborate with other organizations working to improve standards for the information environment
• develop our international committees to ensure that our discussions have as great a global reach as possible

Facilitating community support and the sharing of best practice

• support a user forum for the exchange of ideas and the sharing of best practice
• support versions of our publications in other major languages
• share case studies and provide guides and training materials suitable for users at all levels of technical expertise

The Code of Practice

• inform the development of the Code of Practice through community consultation and testing
• strive to increase the utility of the Code of Practice
• improve the precision of the Code of Practice by working with the auditors, ensure that publishers and vendors implement it in a consistent way
• provide guides and video tutorials, suitable for stakeholders at various levels of technical ability
• ensure that our website is comprehensive in providing the guidance required to implement the COUNTER Code of Practice and SUSHI
• offer new publishers pre-audit tests and documentation for self-testing
• campaign for all providers of electronic information resources to become COUNTER-compliant and provide consistent, credible, and comparable usage data to their library customers
• ensure fast resolution of usage report issues

Sustainability

• maintain membership by clearly describing the benefits of COUNTER and how it supports the work of libraries, institutional repositories, publishers, and vendors
• seek partnership for events and publications and innovative projects

Innovation and development

• Resources and capacity are focused on our core mission, but we are mindful of and respond to the developments in the information environment and seize opportunities to innovate and improve