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Metrics for Liaisons FAQs
This page has been developed to answer questions that liaisons may have about the types of statistics that are available to them, how they can be used and any possible limitations or issues. Access to most of these metrics are via x.500 logins.
Overview of E-Resource Statistics
Journals
How do I determine .......
Answer:SFX Statistics or Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics
The SFX Statistics page has links to web-based spreadsheets that are updated monthly and archived yearly. The "Most Popular Journals" can be sorted like any spreadsheet, though the most efficient way to look up journals is to use your browser's "Find and Replace" function.
In the SFX Statistics report, you will see two columns, one labeled "requests" the other "clickthroughs." The requests happen whenever someone clicks on a 
FindIt link and comes to the 
FindIt menu. Clickthroughs happen when the person then clicks on the full-text link to go on to the article.
The Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
Answer: Cost Per Use Tables
Answer:Big Deal Journal Cancellation Restrictions.
Cancellation restrictions for Springer and Wiley
Answer: ARC Reporting Center
The ARC Reporting Center has a suite of customized reports. Once logged in (see your Collections Coordinator for user name and password), click on "Customized Reports" and then "UMN Collection Management."
here you will find the Serials & Standing Orders: Cost Changes (last 2 years) report.
This report allows you to select which fund codes and acquisition methods (easiest if you "select all") that you want to see
The resulting report can be viewed online (which includes hyperlinks) or downloaded (or pushed) into an Excel spread sheet for manipulation.
Answer: Affinity Strings
On the Affinity Strings web-page, scroll down to "Possible Search Queries" and select "search by database and e-journal usage."
For the top 500 journals, change the drop down at the top of the page to 500 and then hit submit
Answer: ISI Local Journal Use Reports, that provides data from 1981 through 2008. These series of reports were purchased by Collection Development.
Those sources (journal titles) in which U of MN faculty published (count: 7834).
Answer:ISI Local Journal Use Reports,with data from 1981 through 2008. These series of reports were purchased by Collection Development. We cited other works in those 7834 titles. We count them here in terms of the year of the SOURCE citing them. Journals cited by U of M faculty
Answer: Journal Citation Reports: JCR
Answer: Perpetual Access Rights wiki page.
Where do I find ...
Answer:SFX Statistics or Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics
The SFX Statistics page has links to web-based spreadsheets that are updated monthly and archived yearly. The "Most Popular Journals" can be sorted like any spreadsheet, though the most efficient way to look up journals is to use your browser's "Find and Replace" function.
In the SFX Statistics report, you will see two columns, one labeled "requests" the other "clickthroughs." The requests happen whenever someone clicks on a FindIt link and comes to the FindIt menu. Clickthroughs happen when the person then clicks on the full-text link to go on to the article.
The Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to the your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
Answer: Cost Per Use Tables
Answer: Affinity Strings
From the Affinity Strings home-page, scroll down to the bottom and use the "General Search"
Type in the name of your journal
View the result
Answer: Affinity Strings
On the Affinity Strings web-page, scroll down to "Possible Search Queries" and select "search by database and e-journal usage."
For the top 500 journals, change the drop down at the top of the page to 500 and then hit submit
Answer: ARC Reporting Center
The ARC Reporting Center has a suite of customized reports. Once logged in (see your Collections Coordinator for user name and password), click on "Customized Reports" and then "UMN Collection Management."
here you will find the Serials & Standing Orders: Cost Changes (last 2 years) report.
This report allows you to select which fund codes and acquisition methods (easiest if you "select all") that you want to see
The resulting report can be viewed online (which includes hyperlinks) or downloaded (or pushed) into an Excel spread sheet for manipulation.
Answer: ISI Local Journal Use Reports, current as of summer 2009. These series of reports were purchased by Collection Development. (1) Those sources (journal titles) in which U of MN faculty published (count: 7834).
We cited other works in those 7834 titles. We count them here in terms of the year of the SOURCE citing them. (2) Journals cited by U of M faculty
We (our SOURCE articles/Journals) were cited by others: We list those counts here in terms of the year of the citing article/Journal that is citing us. (3) Journals that cite U of M publications
Answer: Journal Citation Reports: JCR
Journal Citation Reports (JCR) allows journal comparison using citation data drawn from over 6,100 leading international science journals. It is the most complete source of citation data on journals, and includes many areas of science and technology. One of its drawbacks is that it is based entirely on only journals indexed by the Web of Science.
Handout on the basics of JCR
Databases
How do I determine ...
Answer: Local Counter or Vendor COUNTER Data or SFX Statistics
Local counters count the number of hits that databases receive from library website links. They can be useful to compare vendors, as it captures use from vendors who are not OpenURL or COUNTER complaint. The statistics are available back to 2004. The problem with the local counter is the inconsistent inclusion from library proxies and when a user bypasses the libraries webpages and goes directly to the vendor site within the approved IP range. From the database statistics page, choose a date range, such as a fiscal year, or you can opt to see the statistics back to 2002.
This will give you the statistics for all of the databases, sorted from most used to least used. This list, unfortunately, cannot be sorted or exported into Excel. To find the stats for your databases, you will either have to scroll or use the "find" function in your browser.
You can also look up individual databases as well.
And then view the results.
Vendor COUNTER statistics are more inclusive than SFX -- captures use for times when the user bypasses the libraries webpages and goes directly to the vendor site. Unfortunately not all vendors are COUNTER-complaint, and frequently vendors supply many different counts, so it can be hard to determine which one to use. The Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to the your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
And view the results.
The SFX Statistics page has links to spreadsheets that are updated monthly and archived yearly. The "Most Popular Source Databases" downloads as an Excel spread sheet in alphabetical order. The "R" stands for requests and "C" for clickthroughs.
If you sort the list by clickthroughs, you can see which databases are the more highly used source databases.
Answer: ARC Report: Open Serial Orders By Budget
The ARC Reporting Center has a suite of customized reports. Once logged in (see your Collections Coordinator for user name and password), click on "Customized Reports" and then "UMN Collection Management."
here you will find the Open Serial Orders by Budget report.
This report allows you to select which fund codes and acquisition methods (easiest if you "select all") that you want to see
The resulting report can be viewed online (which includes hyperlinks) or downloaded (or pushed) into an Excel spread sheet for manipulation.
Answer: The CUFTS Resource Comparison
With this tool, you choose which databases you want to compare.
And then view the results. The tool highlights what the journal titles the databases have in common and what titles are unique to each database.
This tool also includes embargo periods as well.
Answer: Affinity Strings At the Affinity Strings homepage, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Search by Database and E-Journal Usage."
Use the drop down box to change the number of databases listed.
Find your database and click on it to discover which affinities are using it.
Answer: From Google Scholar help: Content Coverage
Where do I find.....
Answer: Local Counter or Vendor COUNTER Data or SFX Statistics
Local counters count the number of hits that databases receive from library website links. They can be useful to compare vendors, as it captures use from vendors who are not OpenURL or COUNTER complaint. The statistics are available back to 2004. The problem with the local counter is the inconsistent inclusion from library proxies and when a user bypasses the libraries webpages and goes directly to the vendor site within the approved IP range. From the database statistics page, choose a date range, such as a fiscal year, or you can opt to see the statistics back to 2002.
This will give you the statistics for all of the databases, sorted from most used to least used. This list, unfortunately, cannot be sorted or exported into Excel. To find the stats for your databases, you will either have to scroll or use the "find" function in your browser.
You can also look up individual databases as well.
And then view the results.
Vendor COUNTER statistics are more inclusive than SFX -- captures use for times when the user bypasses the libraries webpages and goes directly to the vendor site. Unfortunately not all vendors are COUNTER-complaint, and frequently vendors supply many different counts, so it can be hard to determine which one to use. The Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to the your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
And view the results.
The SFX Statistics page has links to spreadsheets that are updated monthly and archived yearly. The "Most Popular Source Databases" downloads as an Excel spread sheet in alphabetical order. The "R" stands for requests and "C" for clickthroughs.
If you sort the list by clickthroughs, you can see which databases are the more highly used source databases.
Answer: Affinity Strings At the Affinity Strings homepage, scroll down to the bottom and click on "General Search" and then type in the name of your database.
Click on it to discover which affinities are using it.
Answer: Affinity Strings At the Affinity Strings homepage, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Search by Database and E-Journal Usage."
Use the drop down box to change the number of databases listed.
Click on a databases to discover which affinities are using it
E-Book Packages
How do I determine .....
Answer: Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics.
Most e-book package statistics can be found using the Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics page. The statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
Answer: ARC Report: Open Serial Orders By Budget
The ARC Reporting Center has a suite of customized reports. Once logged in (see your Collections Coordinator for user name and password), click on "Customized Reports" and then "UMN Collection Management."
here you will find the Open Serial Orders by Budget report.
This report allows you to select which fund codes and acquisition methods (easiest if you "select all") that you want to see. Choose the fund codes that you use for your e-book packages
The resulting report can be viewed online (which includes hyperlinks) or downloaded (or pushed) into an Excel spread sheet for manipulation.
Answer: Affinity Strings
At the Affinity Strings homepage, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Search by Database and E-Journal Usage." E-book packages are listed with the databases
Use the drop down box to change the number of databases/e-book packages listed.
Click on an e-book package to discover which affinities are using it
Where do I find .....
Answer: Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics.
Most e-book package statistics can be found using the Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics page. The statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
Answer: Affinity Strings At the Affinity Strings homepage, scroll down to the bottom and click on "General Search" and then type in the name of your e-book package.
Click on it to discover which affinities are using it.
Answer: Vendor-Supplied E-Resource Usage Statistics.
Most e-book packages will list statistics for the individual titles. The statistics are accessed via your x.500 login and password.
Scroll down to your vendor and make note of the id/password, login and any other instructions for accessing the usage reports.
Once on the vendor's site, follow any instructions for generating the reports. Some reports are already available and just need to be downloaded, others allow for some customization.
Monograph Print Books (approval and/or firm orders from YBP)
How do I determine .....
Answer: Circulation Data for Material Acquired Through YBP (Approval Plans and Firm Orders)
'+The spreadsheet includes:
- Order number (YBP, LIND, LIND/AP, YBP/AP) from FY07, 08, and 09
- Vender code
- Budget
- Encumbered sum
- Sublibrary code
- Collection code
- Admin record number
- Title
- Imprint
- Publisher
- Sortable call number *
- Call number
- Barcode
- Item open date
- Last loan date**
- Number of loans
- Number of renewals
- Number of inhouse uses
- Total 'loans'
- Betsy also included status other than cataloged, thinking it might be worth pursuing some of these, such as the ones that have been on order for more than a year
- ARC does not include last date returned, so we used last loan date. Use of this field means that we are recording 'in transit' loans (those books that get a courtesy discharge to go to Walter, Magrath, etc.). You can identify an 'in transit' loan by the presence of a date in the last loan date column and the ABSENCE of a number in the loans/renewals columns.+'
Answer: On the 
/YBP homepage, click on the "reports" tab and then choose expenditure reports
On the create report page, choose the report date range, and then which sub-account you are using -- St. Paul, Sci/Eng, Forestry, Business, Art, etc., and give the report a name.
Scroll down and then choose the publisher tab
You can refine the publisher report by either retrieving all publishers, or limiting the report to either University Presses, trade or just selected publishers
Retrieve the report from the report queue
And view the results
Answer: On the /YBP homepage, click on the "reports" tab and then choose expenditure reports
On the create report page, choose the report date range, and then which sub-account you are using -- St. Paul, Sci/Eng, Forestry, Business, Art, etc., and give the report a name.
Scroll down and then choose the classification tab
Retrieve the report from the report queue
And view the results
Where do I find .....
Answer: On the /YBP homepage, click on the "reports" tab and then choose expenditure reports
On the create report page, choose the report date range, and then which sub-account you are using -- St. Paul, Sci/Eng, Forestry, Business, Art, etc., and give the report a name.
Scroll down and then choose the classification tab
Retrieve the report from the report queue
And view the results
Answer: For firm orders, follow the steps above, except when choosing the sub-account, make sure it is a "shelf-ready" or SR account
Answer: For approval plans, follow the steps above, except when choosing the sub-account, make sure it is a APBK or Approval account
Articles of Interest on Collection Statistics
- Chrzastowski, Tina E., Norman, Michael, Miller, Sarah Elizabeth. "SFX Statistical Reports: A Primer for Collection Assessment Librarians." Collection Management v.34 no.4 (2009):286-303.
- Hanson, Cody, Nackerud, Shane, and Jensen, Kristi. "Affinity Strings: Enterprise Data for Resource Recommendations." The Code4Lib Journal Issue 5 (2008). Retrieved 12/31/2010.
- Thohira, Mariyam, Chambers, Mary Beth, and Sprague, Nancy. "Full-Text Databases: A Case Study Revisited a Decade Later." Serials Review v.36 no. 3 (2010):152-160.