DRAA e-resources usage statistics services in China: research and practice
| Pages | 1043-1061 |
| Published date | 10 December 2018 |
| Date | 10 December 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-01-2018-0002 |
| Author | Lan Ye,Wei Yang,Weiming Lin |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
DRAA e-resources usage
statistics services in China:
research and practice
Lan Ye,Wei Yang and Weiming Lin
Shenzhen University Library, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to share some experiences and practical activities related to the use and
management of usage data in the Digital Resource Acquisition Alliance of Chinese Academic Libraries
(DRAA) as a reference for library consortia engagedin providing usage statistics services of e-resources to
member libraries.
Design/methodology/approach –A literature review and online survey are used to analyze the
research and practice of e-resources usage statistics conducted internationally. The case of DRAA is
introduced to present how DRAA developsusage statistics services and promotes the implementation of the
Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) todeliver usage statistics to member libraries.
Future developmentsand enhancements are also described.
Findings –The main actions taken by DRAA to develop usage statistics services are as follows:
development of the DRAA Usage StatisticsPortal to provide a single point of access to usage statistics from
participating publishers on behalf of member libraries; development of a SUSHI client, taking the lead in
promoting SUSHI implementation to automatically obtain usage statistics in Chinese academic libraries;
establishment of a working group on usage statistics and the China Academic Library and Information
System/DRAAStandards and Recommended Practices Research Task Groupto form a long-term mechanism
for monitoring and gathering usage statistics; and strengthening of the understanding and application of
standardsand best practices for libraries and vendorsin China. Scheduled enhancements in thefuture include
a deep analysis and utilization of usage statistics, the promotion of Counting Online Usage of NeTworked
Electronic Resources and SUSHI to Chinese academic resource publishers and raising awareness about
normalizingusage statistics.
Originality/value –This paper has pertinence and wider implications for library consortia engaged in
providinge-resources usage statistics services to member libraries.
Keywords China, Electronic resources, Usage statistics, COUNTER, DRAA, SUSHI
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Acquiring electronic resources(e-resources) through consortia at highly discounted ratesof
subscription has becomeone of the most popular models for collection building at university
libraries today. Usage statistics, as a direct reflection of the needs and behaviors of users,
have become an important indicator in the acquisitionand evaluation of e-resources and are
often considered as an important basis for pricing and renewal negotiations. Therefore,
library consortia pay great attention to the deep analysis of usage statistics when making
acquisition decisions. However, the time spent on analyzing usage statistics is tremendous
because most of the work is done manually.With the increasing number of online databases
The authors wish to acknowledge Shuyong Jiang of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Library who provided support with language and grammar in this paper.
DRAA
e-resources
usage
1043
Received5 January 2018
Revised26 February 2018
Accepted10 April 2018
TheElectronic Library
Vol.36 No. 6, 2018
pp. 1043-1061
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-01-2018-0002
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
and member libraries, library consortia have to cope with rapidly accumulated usage data.
How to standardize the collection, consolidation, analysis and management of usage data
has become a great challenge for many library consortia. The authorssurveyed 194 library
consortia listed on the website of the International Coalition of Library Consortia
[International Coalitionof Library Consortia (ICOLC), 2017], and found that 171 of them had
the function of managing consortium subscriptions. Of the 171 e-resources acquisition
alliances, only 19 provided e-resources usage statistics services for member libraries. Most
of them have not yet provided in-depth analysis and management of usage data, being
limited to providing links to content providers’websites to view or download usage data.
Only the JISC Collections in the UK, UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium in India,
KESLI in South Korea and COUPERIN in Francehave developed their own usage statistics
portal to facilitate the collection, management and utilization of usage data [Journal Usage
Statistics Portal (JUSP), 2017;UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium in India
(INFISTAT), 2017;Jung et al., 2013;COUPERIN in France (MESURE), 2017). Under these
circumstances, there is a need to explore the cases and experiences of providing usage
statistics services for library consortia. Therefore, the practices and exploration of usage
statistics services in the Digital Resource Acquisition Alliance of Chinese Academic
Libraries (DRAA) are introducedto provide a reference for other library consortia.
Literature review
Many studies on the usage statistics of e-resources have been conducted internationally.
Tripathi and Jeevan (2013) provided a comprehensive review of research on e-resources
usage statistics at academic libraries, covering standardization aspects, techniques for
quantifying usage, importanceof usage statistics, problems associated with usage statistics,
age- and position-related use, usage across disciplines, usage across institutions,
information-seekingstrategies and search characteristics. Based on Tripathi’s study and the
current research in China, the chief areas of research on the usage of e-resources are listed
below.
Standardization of usage statistics
Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) and the
Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) are currently the most
influential and widely used standards for e-resources usage statistics. As of April 7, 2017,
there were 99 COUNTER4-compliant publishers and vendors and 32 SUSHI-compliant
vendors (accessed at April 18, 2017) [Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic
Resources (COUNTER), 2017;National Information Standards Organization (NISO), 2017].
Since its launch in 2003, COUNTER has been upgraded four times, and Release 5 is
currently being released. The changes in each version reflect new breakthroughs and
improvements. For example, Release 4 is an integrated Code of Practice covering journals,
databases, books, reference works and multimediacontent. It replaces both Release 3 of the
Code of Practice for Journals and Databasesand Release 1 of the Code of Practice for Books
and Reference Works, and contains many new features in document organization, terms,
metric types, data elements, usage reports and audits. Release5 focuses on the consistency
and clarity of metric types, reports and report formats by reducing the number of reports
and metric types while making the Code of Practice more adaptable for future changes to
requirements. Two revisions of the SUSHI protocol were issued in 2013 and 2014 after the
protocol was released as a NationalInformation Standards Organization (NISO) standardin
2007. Following the introduction of alternative metrics, the development of the COUNTER
Journal Usage Factor and the rise of institutional repositories and the need to measure their
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