1. What is ScholarlyStats? ScholarlyStats is a usage statistics management portal from MPS Technologies that provides library administrators with a single point of access to all of their vendor usage stats.
2. Why was ScholarlyStats developed?As library budgets are under ever-increasing pressure, the need for an organized system to monitor, maintain and support the analysis of usage statistics is apparent. ScholarlyStats was developed to provide information professionals with the tools to analyze usage of their online content.
3. How does ScholarlyStats work?ScholarlyStats enables libraries to outsource the administration of their usage statistics to MPS Technologies. Usage statistics reports are collected and processed monthly by MPS and are accessible to library staff through the user-friendly ScholarlyStats Usage Statistics Portal.
Note: ScholarlyStats is a statistics gathering tool and not a usage consolidation application. Many usage consolidation applications load usage stats to a library’s electronic management system and run consolidated reports, but the library is still saddled with the arduous task of gathering the statistics, which is what ScholarlyStats provides.
4. What reports does ScholarlyStats provide? ScholarlyStats provides the library with a suite of monthly usage reports. These reports are based on the standards of the COUNTER Code of Practice. These include four main Consolidated Reports showing a centralized view of use across vendors:
ScholarlyStats also delivers a suite of Dashboard Reports to analyze use trends within the library.
5. What do these reports measure?Collectively, the reports measure not only the activity of library resources, but also research trends, including the total number of journals accessed, total use by platform, average use by platform, most- and least-used journals and more.
6. What value does ScholarlyStats add to the raw data it collects?Much of the processing ScholarlyStats carries out during each monthly cycle is to standardize the formats of the report. They collect reports in many different file formats from .csv to .xls to .txt to .html. Then, within these files, even COUNTER-compliant reports vary: some have additional rows at the top of the reports, some have additional columns, a number have quotes or apostrophes with ISSNs, various title formats, inconsistent separators applied to usage stats and missing publisher names in aggregator reports. These idiosyncrasies often vary month-to-month from a single publisher or vendor.
Across platforms, ScholarlyStats standardizes these reports to provide a single format that can then be consolidated to allow users to study usage across platforms. MPS has developed processes that are unique for each platform they handle to ensure ScholarlyStats provides customers with clean, valuable reports. In addition to providing consolidated views of customers’ usage data, ScholarlyStats generates a suite of Dashboard Reports to provide quick summary reports, including Top Use by Platform, Total Use by Platform and Zero Use Journals.
7. What is the pricing model for ScholarlyStats? ScholarlyStats is available as an annual subscription service. Pricing is based on the number of platforms for which usage stats are collected, and there are three pricing bands.
8. Can I speak to anyone who currently uses ScholarlyStats about the service? Yes – please contact your local EBSCO sales representative for references.
9. Can I have a free trial? EBSCO can work with ScholarlyStats to provide you with access to the ScholarlyStats demo account.
10. How long does access to the demo account last? Demo access is generally available for two months. If you need an extension, contact your local EBSCO representative.
11. How do libraries know which publishers are covered by which platform in ScholarlyStats? Your EBSCO sales representative can provide you with a list of all the publishers covered by each platform.
12. When can my library begin to receive our first ScholarlyStats reports?Once we have a completed order form and license, your EBSCO representative can work with ScholarlyStats to get your account set up within 24 hours.
13. When are monthly statistics available? Usage statistics are available on the Web site by the 15th of each month. There is a month and a half wait as COUNTER-compliant platforms present their reports by the end of the following month. ScholarlyStats then allows 20 days to collect, consolidate and deliver your reports. For example, in January 2007, ScholarlyStats would be reporting statistics from January-November 2006.
14. What if the information is delayed by the platform provider? If there is a delay in reports from a particular publisher platform or if their site is down, ScholarlyStats is unable to deliver those reports for that month. ScholarlyStats will include any data the following month, if it is reported by then.
15. I have usage reports from platforms that do not appear on your documentation – how can I have these included in ScholarlyStats? Every couple of months, MPS will be adding new vendors to the list of platforms that they collect and process reports from. If there are additional platforms that you don’t see on the list, ScholarlyStats would like to know so that they can begin developing their systems to incorporate these reports.
16. Does ScholarlyStats collect a back file of usage reports? ScholarlyStats does not collect back files of reports, as there is wide variation across platforms as to the extent of the back file that is provided. Some platforms hold multiple years’ worth of usage reports, some only the last year, some only the last month and some none at all. However, ScholarlyStats does provide customers with an archive of all the reports that have been collected and processed for them during their subscription to this service.
17. How will SUSHI work with ScholarlyStats?Project COUNTER has achieved a great deal of success over the last few years, arriving at a commonly accepted set of term definitions, data processing rules and reporting formats for usage reports from vendors. SUSHI extends the usefulness of the work COUNTER has done by allowing COUNTER reports to be delivered through an automated process, and ScholarlyStats welcomes the initiative. Once SUSHI has become widely adopted, MPS intends to use it to further automate its processes and pass the associated cost savings onto customers.
It will probably take time for the SUSHI standard to be agreed upon and ratified by NISO, and then the key question is whether publishers and information providers will be willing and able to provide reports using SUSHI. The uptake speed will become clearer over time, but to be useful, it needs to reach critical mass.
18. Does ScholarlyStats collect from platforms that aren’t COUNTER-compliant? Yes, as long as their reports are presented by usage and month.
19. Can customers manually enter usage data for vendor databases who provide COUNTER-compliant information only on request? Unfortunately, ScholarlyStats currently can’t collect reports from platforms that only send usage data on request. ScholarlyStats is working on a system that allows customers to manually input data.
20. I am a member of a consortium – can my library get a discount?ScholarlyStats offers discounts to consortia based upon the number of libraries who would like to subscribe together with the number of platforms that each library requires.
21. I am a consortia central administrator; can I view reports of usage across my consortia? MPS is currently developing ScholarlyStats Consortia to provide library administrators with this overview of usage across libraries. Of course, they will only be able to consolidate usage from individual libraries for the central view with the consent of each of those libraries. In addition to a central administrator view of usage, this will also provide individual libraries with reports to help them benchmark their usage against that of other libraries within their consortia.
22. What can I do with the consolidated usage reports?The ScholarlyStats reports are provided in an Excel-compatible format so that you can easily sort and filter on parameters across the reports using familiar tools. Upon delivery, consolidated reports are ordered by platform. Many libraries are eager to sort the journal report by journal title or ISSN to pull out journals that appear over a number of different platforms. Sorting by YTD usage on the journal and database reports is also a useful tool to pull out the most-used journals and databases. If you have a journal or database on free trial, it is easy to pull out usage on this by filtering on the title.
23. Are the statistics available on Scholarly Stats for calendar year only? Is it possible to change the parameters as to how the information can be presented? ScholarlyStats provides information by calendar year. However, if you have had an account with Scholarly Status for a year, you can arrange your statistics by school year (September to September, etc.) or whatever you prefer. Customers who have used the service for multiple years can compare usage year by year, as well as month by month.
24. Does ScholarlyStats collect usage stats from any EBSCO platforms? Yes, usage stats for EBSCOhost® Research Databases are available from ScholarlyStats.