Item‐level usage statistics: A review of current practices and recommendations for normalization and exchange

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present how the JISC Usage Statistics Review Project aims to formulate a fundamental scheme for recording usage data and to propose a standard for its aggregation to provide meaningful and comparable item‐level usage statistics for electronic documents such as, for example, research papers and scientific resources.

Design/methodology/approach

A core element of the project has been a stakeholder workshop. This workshop was held in Berlin, 7/8 July 2008. Representatives of key stakeholder groups (repositories, libraries, COUNTER, IRStats, JISC, LogEc, MESUR, OA‐Statistics and other Open Access projects) were invited. During the workshop a fundamental scheme for the recording and the exchange of log files was discussed as well as the normalization of data collected.

Findings

The following mandatory elements describing usage events were agreed during the stakeholder workshop: Who – identification of user/session, What – item identification and type of request performed (e.g. full‐text, front‐page, including failed/partially fulfilled requests), When – date and time, usage event ID. The following elements were regarded as optional: From where – referrer/the referring entity and identity of the service. Usage events should be exchanged in the form of OpenURL Context Objects using OAI. Automated access (e.g. robots) should be tagged. The definition of automated access has to be straightforward with an option of gradual refinement. Users have to be identified unambiguously, but without recording personal data to avoid conflicts with privacy laws. Policies on statistics should be formulated for the repository community as well as the publishing community. Information about statistics policies should be available on services like OpenDOAR and RoMEO.

Originality/value

The paper is based on the detailed project report to the JISC, available at http://ie‐repository.jisc.ac.uk/250/

Citation

Merk, C., Scholze, F. and Windisch, N. (2009), "Item‐level usage statistics: A review of current practices and recommendations for normalization and exchange", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 151-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830910942991