Industry Update: Project COUNTER releases Code of Practice - January 14, 2003
Project COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) is an international initiative set up to provide guidelines for the supply of usage statistics from vendors and information providers. Its aim is to promote the supply of “consistent, comparable and credible” usage statistics, so that librarians can compare reports from different vendors on a “like for like” basis.Project COUNTER is governed by a Steering Group of representatives from publishers, libraries and intermediaries. This group has drafted a Code of Practice, detailing definitions of the various data elements involved in the supply of usage statistics, and recommending reports that vendors should be supplying. Release 1 of this Code will be available on the COUNTER website on January 14th 2003, after which date the group will be promoting the Code and seeking compliance from information providers. Vendors will be able to submit their usage reports to COUNTER for auditing, and these reports will be given COUNTER-compliant status if they meet the requirements of the Code.
Ingenta has participated on the steering group of COUNTER since its inception, and fully intends that its usage statistics, due for release later this spring, will be COUNTER-compliant by the end of 2003.
If you would like additional information about Project COUNTER, please visit www.projectCounter.org.
If you are a librarian interested in participating in the beta testing of the Ingenta usage statistics package, please email betatesters@ingenta.com for additional information. We look forward to hearing from you.