This session details five years of gathering and analyzing e-resource usage statistics for Appalachian State University and Western Carolina University. Presented with the challenge of gathering and analyzing e-resource usage statistics, something akin to a jigsaw puzzle that required assembling numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking, and tessellating pieces that rarely fit together, the first challenge was methodology. Excel spreadsheets were employed to manage the discovery and compilation of hundreds of URL’s, logins and passwords.
Plunging into this brave new world of standards and protocols required understanding how each vendor reported their usage statistics. Some offered COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) reports while others had their own system of reporting.
When the initial puzzle was complete, the fun was over and gathering stats manually became tedious and monotonous. Looking for a way to automate the process we were thrilled to learn of SUSHI (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative), a new initiative for harvesting the data automatically, and began to explore how to implement this new protocol. Soon it was apparent we did not have the technical support or server capability to proceed with the project on our own.
Both universities now have Ebsco’s Usage Consolidation product. ASU is just beginning but WCU now has 6 months of experience with the product. Kristin will share details of WCU’s implementation.
We intend for this case study to stimulate further discussion and research on alternative options and extensions of a collaborative model for gathering and analyzing usage statistics in other institutions or contexts.