Black = Questions Asked; Blue = Answers to Questions; Green = Answers that changed after further updated from Ex Libris
Red = Questions still outstanding; Orange = Question deferred to "Ask an Expert"
General Situation:
Response (3/28/16) via Brandon: Ex Libris and ProQuest are currently reviewing their 3 statistical packages (UStat, Alma Analytics and Intota) and determining what they want to do with them in a merged Ex Libris/ProQuest environment.
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Detailed response to some specific questions: PDF distributed by Patrick (6/29/16)
Initial questionsMigration/COUNTER Support Questions
- Whether/how to migrate current and historical usage data stored in USTAT into ALMA Analytics
Response (3/28/16) via Brandon: Any usage data or SUSHI configurations setup in the test instance will be overwritten during the final load in Spring 2017. Ex LIbris is currently planning to merge/bring UStat into ALMA, but has not yet addressed what that means for data currently hosted within UStat.
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Response (9/23/16): You will manually define SUSHI accounts per vendor. When you go live, a weekly job will be scheduled to harvest the files via SUSHI. Only new files received after the SUSHI account is added to the vendor account in Alma and the scheduled job is running will be uploaded. Any older files you wish to make available in Alma will need to be uploaded manually.
- Migrating/re-establishing SUSHI configurations (e.g. from current USTAT instances to ALMA)
Ex Libris Response (3/28/16): Any SUSHI configurations setup in the test instance will be Response (9/26): SUHSI configurations will be retained at cutover
Response (10/14): Campuses using USTAT will have their COUNTER data migrated between October 10 and 22; Campuses who did not use USTAT will only have data received after a new SUSHI account is added to the vendor account in Alma. Any non-USTAT older files will need to be uploaded manually.
- Migrating/re-establishing SUSHI configurations (e.g. from current USTAT instances to ALMA)
Ex Libris Response (3/28/16): Any SUSHI configurations setup in the test instance will be overwritten during the final load in Spring 2017
Follow-up (9/14/16): Any progress on whether current SUSHI configurations (e.g. from USTAT) can/will be loaded into ALMA automatically, or will we need to re-enter each account manually?
Response (9/23/16): You will manually define SUSHI accounts SUSHI accounts will need to be added manually, and defined per vendor.
- Availability of usage statistics during Test Phase (June 2016 - May 2017)
They will be retained at the cutover (10/14).
- Availability of COUNTER usage statistics via Alma
Response (3/30/16) via Brandon: I will ask ExL to update us on their plans in as much detail as they can currently provide as well as address what functionality will be present in our test instances.
Response (9/23/16): CSU CSU can access COUNTER report service on ALMA starting in October 2016
- USTAT Availability From 2016 Q3 to Go Live Date
Response (3/2016 (Email on 10/4 indicated functionality was activated on that date; Email of 10/14 indicated de-activation to load data from USTAT for 10/14 to 10/22)
Response (ExL HQ email to Brandon, 10/14):
- Alma Analytics COUNTER functionality should be active starting October 23 (and COUNTER data will be retained at cutover)
- Alma Analytics COUNTER functionality should be active starting October 23 (and COUNTER data will be retained at cutover)
- USTAT to Alma Analytics Cutover for COUNTER Data - now set for October 23
Response (3/28/16) via Brandon: Ex Libris announced in Feb 2016 that the ALMA roadmap for 2016 Q3 includes uploading and SUSHI retrieval of COUNTER usage data moving from UStat to ALMA. As part of this transition, UStat will no longer be available to ALMA customers.
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Response (9/23/16): The Calstate institutions should have access to COUNTER report management in Alma in October (initially the 4th, updated to the 23rd to accommodate USTAT data migration).
Follow-up (JB/ND 9/26/16): I'm still unsure if the COUNTER data loaded from October 2016 through May 2017 will be deleted or not during the final load. We've been told all SUSHI data would be wiped clean on final load, but we've also been told we can start using ALMA COUNTER in October 2016.
Response (9/26/16): SUSHI Configurations will be retained from testload to "Go Live," but and COUNTER data will not be retained.Follow will be retained at cutover (ExL HQ email to Brandon, 10/14)
Follow-up (9/26/14): Since all COUNTER all COUNTER data loaded during testload testload (October 2016 and Summer 2017) will not be retained, will we continue have access to USTAT through summer 2017?
- ALMA support for COUNTER reports
Response (3/28/16): Ex Libris is contractually obligated to support all COUNTER reports by June 2017, and Brandon and David will get Follow-up (ExL HQ email to Brandon, 10/14):
- COUNTER Data availability via Alma Analytics should be live on October 23
- Existing COUNTER data will be migrated from USTAT (October 10-22)
- COUNTER data on Alma Analytics will be retained at cutover
- Migration of USTAT Data - COUNTER Data
Response (10/18): ALL COUNTER Data existing on USTAT (as of 10/10) should be migrated to Alma (by 10/23)
- Migration of USTAT Data - SUSHI Accounts
Response (10/18): SUSHI account information from USTAT is not migrated. Please do not create SUSHI accounts in Alma until after the UStat data has been migrated.
- Migration of USTAT Data - matching with vendor records in Alma
To which vendor record in Alma will SUSHI accounts migrated from USTAT be attached?
Response (10/18): Incoming USTAT data is not matched on a vendor record. Incoming data Ustat will be retrievable/reportable in Alma Analytics.
Will we need to create vendor records for publishers who supply us with usage data but otherwise we have no direct relationship with?
Response (10/18): There is no specific “vendor” from the COUNTER report so it does not matter at all whether or not it appears in Alma. If you look at the usage data subject area of Alma you will see that there is no “vendor”. There is a “platform” and “publisher” but no “vendor”. The COUNTER report can be uploaded as “associated” with any vendor, and this is irrelevant as far as how it is filtered and displayed in Alma Analytics.
- Migration of USTAT Data - Cost Information
Response (10/18): Cost information added to UStat is not migrated.
- ALMA Analytics support for COUNTER reports
Response (3/28/16): Ex Libris is contractually obligated to support all COUNTER reports by June 2017, and Brandon and David will get a development update from Ex Libris soon. Currently, UStat supports COUNTER reports JR1 (with manual or SUSHI upload) and DB1 (manual upload only.) Ex Libris announced in Feb 2016 that the ALMA roadmap for 2016 Q3 includes uploading and SUSHI retrieval of COUNTER usage data moving from UStat to ALMA.
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Follow-up (9/14/16): Can we get a list of ALL the reports in the COUNTER Code of Practice, both mandatory and optional, with the development status for each (i.e. implemented, expected Q_, on the roadmap). Specifically would like to get a sense of when the very valuable JR5 reports will be included.
Response (9/23/16):
Already available in ALMA as of August 2, 2016: DB1, BR1, BR2, JR1, JR1a, PR1
Planned (Stage 1 - "coming months"): JR2, JR5, DB2, BR3, MR1,
Planned (Stage 2 - 2017): JR1 GOA, BR4, BR5
Details found in Acquisitions/COUNTER powerpoint (August 2, 2016), Slides 7 and 99
- Alma Analytics COUNTER/SUSHI have a similar "missing data" indicator as USTAT?
Yes
- Support for loading non-COUNTER compliant usage data
Response (6/28/16) via Patrick: The library loads the COUNTER report data.
Follow-up (9/14/16): Does this mean there will be no support for non-COUNTER data
Response (9/23/16): Forwarded to Ask an Expert (Webinar at 7 AM on October 10).
Response (Ask an Expert): No support for home-made data, sticking only with COUNTER standard
Data-Loading Service Possibilities
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- "Out-of-the-box" reports corresponding to all collections questions for the major surveys
- Most of them are now available, but a few of the trickier ones like title count are not
Response: Alma analytics has a very vast, well used and proven set of OOB reports.
Comment - NDM: The OOB reports are good (and they are), but the specifically referenced report, Title Count, is not among them, and I don't see one posted by the Community, either. That said, we are capable of coming up with some of our own, to share among the CSU as well as other Alma customers.
- Most of them are now available, but a few of the trickier ones like title count are not
- Automated collection analyses to aid in decision making, including benchmarking. May be part of ExL’s KPI work.
Response: Overlap analysis (portfolios in collections) and duplicate titles (physical and electronic) we have. Benchmarking and KPIs are on the roadmap - Clearly identify BR2 (e-book usage) report "Section Type" (e.g. chapter, section, page, etc.)
Response: A report of display titles for BR2 with the “Book Success Section Requests” is available in the PDF
Comment - JB: This appears they cannot identify the specific type of section being reported, but lump them all into the generic "section requests" category.
Comment - NDM: Looks like Analytics treats all BR2 data as generic "section requests."
This answers the question of how Analytics treats the data, but not our request to handle different section types differently or at least have a column that identifies section type and allows for filtering.
Follow-up (9/14/16): The COUNTER BR 2 reports seem to simply lump all types of sections into one field. Does Alma currently (or are there any plans in the future) to identify different types of sections reported in the BR2 counter reports, e.g., with filtering?
Response (9/23/16): Submitted to the Ask an Expert (Webinar at 7 AM on October 10). - User-configurable adjuster for estimated average chapter length to allow better comparison between e-book platforms that report BR2 usage by page vs by chapter
- This would allow for more realistic "top performers" or cost-per-use reports across the collection
- As it currently stands, the usage stats from aggregators like PQ and EBSCO, as well as encyclopedias and similar reference titles, overwhelm and hide the usage from PDF-chapter-oriented platforms (JSTOR, MUSE, most publisher sites)
- Development plans include creating a place to store, manage and use data from non-bibliographic services (study room usage, lib instruction sessions, etc.) in various analyses.
Response: It is not possible to upload data directly to Alma analytics. The data comes to Alma Analytics via Alma. In the case of the usage data: COUNTER reports are loaded to Alma, then from Alma there is a daily ETL to Alma analytics.
Comment NDM: what we would like to know is whether it might be possible to manage non-bibliographic metrics through Alma. This seems like a complex idea, so I think we should clarify it for ourselves before asking again. For example, are we thinking this is something we'd want to manage through Booking? Perhaps some of these metrics would be better managed elsewhere; though I can see advantages to having consistency across campuses, Alma may not be the answer to everything.
Ask the Expert: Managing COUNTER Usage Reports in Alma -
Monday, October 10, 2016, 10:00 am | Eastern Daylight Time
Please submit your questions in advance to the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KLGS7MW
Use this link to add the meeting to your calendar: https://proquestmeetings.webex.com/proquestmeetings/j.php?MTID=mce201bc325ce0938b3ce525e878cd5d2
You can use this link to join the meeting: https://proquestmeetings.webex.com/proquestmeetings/j.php?MTID=mb11d9753a38699343e5b034a12ee3da2
Meeting number (access code): 718 390 313
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- though I can see advantages to having consistency across campuses, Alma may not be the answer to everything.
Ask the Expert: Managing COUNTER Usage Reports in Alma -
Recording of October 6 "Ask the Expert" Session: http://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Training/Ask_the_Alma_Expert/COUNTER_Report_Harvesting_in_Alma