consistency, clarity,

simplification and

continuous maintenance

Why COUNTER?

Provides a standard for how online usage

statistics are recorded and reported

Lays the groundwork for a shared

conversation

A living standard that continues to evolve

How is COUNTER used?

Provides quantitative data for how much

resources are used

Illuminates the relative value of resources

Plays a role in the renewal process

Objective

Release 5 seeks the balance between

addressing changing needs and reducing

the complexity of the Code of Practice to

ensure that all publishers and content

providers are able to achieve compliance

COUNTER Release 5A PREVIEW OF THE CURRENT DRAFT OF THE CODE OF PRACTICE

Seeking Balance

Consistency

Simplicity

Flexibility

Clarity

Consistency

Seek consistency in...

report layout,

between formats, and

in vocabulary

Simplicity

Simplify the CoP with....

fewer standard reports, and

fewer metric types that are

combined with

additional item & usage attributes.

Flexibility

Introduce flexibility...

through filters and reporting options

that address specialized reporting

needs

without creating one-off “optional”

COUNTER reports.

Clarity

Clearly define...

metric types and qualifying actions,

processing rules, and

formatting expectations.

The ReportsFEWER REPORTS BUT MORE FLEXIBILITY

COUNTER Release 5: List of Reports

(Standard)Platform Report 1 Usage by Month and Platform

Database Report 1 Usage by Month and Database/Collection

Database Report 2 Access Denied by Month and Database/Collection

Journal Title Report 1 Usage by Month and Journal Title

Journal Title Report 2 Access Denied by Month and Journal Title

Book Report 1 Usage by Month and Book Title

Book Report 2 Access Denied by Month and Book Title

Article Report 1 Usage by Month and Article

Multimedia Item

Report 1

Usage by Month and Multimedia Item

Item Report 1 Usage by Month and Item

Item Component

Report 1

Usage by Month and Repository Item with

Components

PLATFORM

DATABASE/

COLLECTION

TITLE

ITEM

COUNTER Release 5: List of Reports

(Expanded)

Expanded Platform

Report

Activity by Month and Platform

Expanded

Database Report

Activity by Month and Database/Collection

Expanded Title

Report

Activity by Month and Title

Expanded Item

Report

Activity by Month and Item

reports in R4 reduced to reports in R5.

Optional reports eliminated!

Metric Types & Related AttributesSIMPLICITY AND CLARITY

A “Transaction” related to a

content item

Click

ITEM

Intent

Item IDs

Data_Type

Is_Archive

YOP

Metric Type

Item Name

items_Investigated; items_requested,

unique_item_investigated,

unique_items_requested

Title

ISSN, ISBN, DOI, etc.

Journal, Book

Chapter, Article, etc.

Y, N

yyyy (year of publication)

Section_Type

COUNTER Release 5: Metric TypesRelease 4• Abstract

• audio

• data_set

• ft_epub

• ft_html

• ft_html_mobile

• ft_pdf

• ft_pdf_mobile

• ft_ps

• ft_ps_mobile

• ft_total

• image

• multimedia

• no_license

• other

• podcast

• record_view

• reference

• result_click

• search_fed

• search_reg

• sectioned_html

• toc

• turnaway

• video

Release 5

• items_investigated

• items_requested

• unique_items_investigated

• unique_items_requested

• searches_regular

• searches_federated

• searches_automated

• searches_platform

• no_license

• user_limit_exceeded

metric types in R4 reduced to

in R5.

Format-specific metrics

eliminated!

COUNTER Release 5: Metric Types

items_investigated & unique_items_investigated:

provides a means of showing value or interest in a book

or journal (or cumulatively in a database even when full

text may not be available). Replaces result_clicks,

record_views and various other specialized metrics.

items_requested & unique_items_requestedreduces the effect of the user interface on counts.

Replaces format-specific metrics like “ft_html”, “ft_pdf”,

etc.

COUNTER Release 5: Metric Types

searches_regularSearches conducted by users where the user selected the database. Attributed at the database/collection level only.

searches_federatedSearches conducted by a federated search engine where the user in interacting with a user interface operating on a different host. Typically, each search is conducted against multiple databases.

searches_automatedSearches conducted by a discovery service or other automated search agent where the user hasn’t chosen the databases to search.

searches_platformSearches conducted by a user on the host platform without regard for the number of databases or collections being searched. Attributed only at the platform level.

COUNTER Release 5: Additional

Attributes

Data_TypeDescribes the level of reporting and/or nature of material, e.g. book, journal, database, platform, etc. Contributes to assessment of books vs journals vs multimedia etc.

Access_TypeIndicates if the item the activity applies to was free-to-read or access controlled by a license. Options: Controlled; OA_Gold; OA+Green and Other_Free-to-Read. Contributes to assessment of current subscriptions.

Is_ArchiveIndicates if the item the activity applies to included in a separately licensed archive (e.g. backfile). Contributes to assessment of archives and current subscriptions.

YOPYear of publication. Contributes to assessment of archives and current subscriptions.

Report FormatsCONSISTENCY BETWEEN REPORTS

COUNTER Release 4: Report

Formats

Database Report breaks out

usage by metric type.

Journal (and book) reports

don’t.

Excel version of Journal Report

1 has totals for PDF and HTML,

XML version breaks them out

my month

COUNTER Release 5: Report

Formats

COUNTER Release 5: Report

Formats

COUNTER Release 5: Report

Formats

COUNTER Release 5: Report

Formats

Report Name: Expanded Title Report (R5)

Report Description: Activity by Month and Title

Institution Name: Sample University

Institution ID: proprietary:SampU

Metric Types: Items_Investigated; Items_Requested; Unique_Items_Investigated; Unique_Items_Requested

Report Filters: Data_Type=Journal

Report Attributes: Show=Access_Type; Is_Archive; YOP

Exceptions:

Period covered by Report: 2016-01-01 to 2016-05-31

Date run: 10/7/2016

Title Publisher Publisher ID Platform Data_Type DOI

Proprietary

ID Print ISSN Online ISSN Access_Type Is_Archive YOP Metric Type

Reporting

Period

Total Jan-2015 Feb-2015 Mar-2015

COUNTER Release 5: Flexibility through

Expanded Reports

Sample Use CasesCOUNTER R5 REPORTS IN ACTION

Cost-per-use for Current

Subscriptions

Filter Journal Title Report 1 to include only

Data_Type = Journal

Access_Type = Controlled

Is_Archive = N

Metric Type = “unique_items_requested”

Statistics represent usage of content available

through current subscriptions that are not

otherwise available as free-to-read.

Identify new journals to license

Use Title Report 1

Include YOP and all title-level metrics

Titles with high counts of no_license and

unique_items_investigated are being looked at

by your patrons. Use the YOP to see if they are

looking at current materials vs older content.

The Access_Type also tells you if they are looking

at content that requires a license or content that

is free-to-read.

Community EffortCOLLABORATIVE DESIGN, COMMUNITY INPUT

Project timeline

Support

Guide

Encourage

…Dec 18

Post

Publish

Connect

July 17

ReviewRevise

Improve

April -

June

ConsultCheckDiscuss

Jan- Mar

ConceiveDesign

Develop

Sep - Dec