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BPA Worldwide: COUNTER-compliant
BPA Worldwide now offers COUNTER-compliant audits.
View the August 2010 Press Release identifying BPA as a COUNTER-approved auditor
As information resources move into an ever-more digital environment, it is critical for libraries and publishers alike to prove how the data is accessed and by whom.
Librarians want to understand better how the information resources—usually purchased from a variety of sources—are being used; publishers want to know how the information products they disseminate are being accessed. An essential requirement to meet these objectives is an international set of standards and protocols governing the recording and exchange of online usage data as established by the COUNTER Codes of Practice.
Drawing upon a single set of standards on a worldwide scale, BPA's COUNTER audits meet those strict quality guidelines for CREDIBILITY, CONSISTENCY, and COMPATIBILITY.
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Why are savvy publishers choosing a BPA COUNTER Audit?
A BPA COUNTER Audit allows publishers to provide:
- Credibility: By performing actual resource requests on the publisher's system, recording all of these requests and then comparing the recorded requests with the resultant COUNTER reports, BPA verifies that the data represented in the report accurately match the activity that was performed. This process ensures that libraries can trust the reliability of the media owner's activity claims.
- Consistency: COUNTER Code of Practice standards include specific rules regarding formatting and content of all reports. BPA's COUNTER Audit independently verifies that the media owner's reports follow these rules. This assures libraries, which may receive activity reports from many different sources, that all data can be analyzed consistently and on a comparable basis.
- Compatibility: BPA's COUNTER Audit provides assurance that the publisher adheres to the COUNTER Code of Practice requiring data be made available in either CSV or Excel format for maximum compatibility with all library database platforms. In addition, release 3 requirements add that data must be available in XML format for automated retrieval purposes by August 2009.
Sample COUNTER Reports
To view sample COUNTER reports, refer to the COUNTER Code of Practice, Appendix F on the COUNTER web site.
COUNTER Audit Rates
| Annual Membership: |
$258 |
| Journal Report 1: |
$1,700 |
| Journal Report 1a: |
$1,700 |
| Journal Report 2: |
$850 |
| Journal Report 3 (optional): |
$1,270 |
| Journal Report 4 (optional): |
$850 |
| Journal Report 5: |
$1,700 |
| Consortium Report 1: |
$420 |
| Consortium Report 2: |
$420 |
| Database Report 2: |
$850 |
| Database Report 3: |
$420 |
| Book Report 1: |
$1,700 |
| Book Report 2: |
$1,700 |
| Book Report 3: |
$850 |
| Book Report 4: |
$850 |
| Book Report 5: |
$1,060 ($1,545 for multiple-database systems) |
| Book Report 6: |
$1,060 ($1,545 for multiple-database systems) |
What to expect in a BPA COUNTER audit
PURPOSE
The COUNTER audit establishes that a vendor's usage reports (referred to as COUNTER reports) meet the COUNTER quality standards in terms of credibility, consistency, and compatibility, as found on their website at http://www.projectcounter.org/r3/Release3D9.pdf.
Reports to be tested will include the following for vendors who provide journal articles:
- Journal Report 1: A report of the number of successful requests for full-text articles for each journal by month.
- Journal Report 1a: A report of the number of successful requests for full-text articles from an archive for each journal by month.
- Journal Report 2: A report of the number of times a visitor was turned away from a journal article or login request because the library had reached its limit of concurrent users.
- Journal Report 5: A report of the number of requests for full-text articles for each journal by year of publication.
- Consortium Report (if applicable): A report of the number of successful requests for full-text articles or book chapter requests by month, reported collectively for a consortium of accounts.
(Note: Journal Reports 3 and 4 are optional, and are excluded from the COUNTER auditing requirements. Journal Reports 1a and 5 can both be used, but only one of them is required for any given system)
Reports to be tested will include the following for vendors who provide searchable databases:
- Database Report 1: A report of the number of searches performed on each database by month, and the number of login sessions involving database searches.
- Database Report 2: A report of the number of times a visitor was turned away from performing a database search or login because the library had reached its limit of concurrent users.
- Database Report 3: A report of the number of searches (including regular and federated/automated searches) performed on all databases by service or product and by month, and the number of login sessions.
AUDIT OBJECTIVES
The auditor's goal is to certify that the usage reports that the vendor provides measure up to COUNTER's documented standards of credibility, consistency and compatibility.
AUDIT SET-UP
The auditor will perform the following steps in preparation for the audit:
- Determine which COUNTER reports are being used by the vendor.
- Request a try-out account from the vendor with access to all databases and journals as applicable.
- If Journal reports are included in the audit, find out the following information:
- What format(s) are full-text articles available in (HTML/PDF)?
- How does a user access a full-text article in each available format?
- How, and where, does the system block users if turned away from a journal for reaching the concurrent user limit?
- Does the vendor provide archived journals beyond the current publication year?
- If Database reports are included in the audit, find out the following information:
- How many databases are available to clients?
- How does the vendor define a 'search' (this can vary when vendors use advanced query building applications)?
- Identify the processes for performing a search on each of the databases (some vendors may have different procedures for different databases).
- How, and where, does the system block users if turned away from a database for reaching the concurrent user limit (some vendors block access at the database level, while others block it at login)?
- Based on which COUNTER reports are being audited, request accounts which will be used for the auditing process. A separate account should be used for each report (except DB3, which shares an account with DB1). JR1, JR1a, JR5, and DB1 each need two accounts for their testing. Each account should be set up with access to all available databases, with a concurrent user limit of 2.
TEST EXECUTION (SEEDING)
For each test being performed, the auditor will log into the corresponding account and follow the prescribed testing procedures outlined by the COUNTER organization. These tests will involve repeating a sequence of document and/or search requests against the system. The information for each request will be recorded in a COUNTER test report, and this will be completed for all tests. As COUNTER reports are computed on a monthly basis, every attempt will be made to complete all required tests within a single calendar month.
REPORT REVIEW
When the reports being audited become available for review, the auditor will request them through the website in order to compare the results against the data in the COUNTER test report. Each report will be extracted as a CSV or Excel report, and compiled together into a results spreadsheet. In addition, the auditor will confirm whether or not the data is available as an XML file for either manual download or transfer through the Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) protocol (See Release 3 of the Code of Practice for more information on this protocol, which became a requirement as of August 2009).
The formatting and structure of each report will be compared against the requirements in the COUNTER Code of Practice, and the auditor will confirm that they meet the necessary specifications.
The extracted reports will then be compared against the data in the COUNTER test report, and all counts and totals will be confirmed. The auditor will report any variances to the vendor, and work along with the vendor to resolve any issues, performing retests if necessary.
TEST CONCLUSION
Once all of the report tests have been passed successfully the auditor will put together a findings report, outlining which COUNTER reports have been tested and passed or failed. Any warning-level concerns which arise but do not result in test failure will be included as recommendations.
The findings report will be provided to the vendor along with a management and opinion letter, and BPA will send a letter to COUNTER indicating the vendor's compliance and that they are qualified to be recorded on the website.
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