COUNTER Schema Data Element Values
Code of Practice Release 3
The COUNTER 3.0 schema is purposely built to be flexible to allow growth and extension without the need for re-releasing of the overall schema. The flexibility of the schema is achieved through the use of several self-defining elements. Rather then enumerate the allowed values within the schema itself, these values are defined outside of the schema to allow new reports and metrics to be added without needing to update the schema each time. The COUNTER data elements and attributes can be derived from a series of registries and tables as noted below.
|
COUNTER Element |
Registry to use |
|
Report (name, title, & version attributes) |
|
|
Customer / InstitutionalIdentifer / Type |
|
|
ReportItems / ItemIdentifier / Type |
|
|
ReportItems / ItemDataType |
|
|
Report Items / ItemPerformance / Category |
|
|
ReportItems / ItemPerformance / Instance / MetricType |
A graphical representation of the COUNTER Schema has been provided to help put these elements and attributes in context.
Report
The report(s) are defined through the main 'Report' element. Refer to the Reports Registry for the list of allowed report values.
IdentifierType
The values in this table are used to define the Type of identifier being used to identify institutions (InstitutionalIdentifier) and items (ItemIdentifier). Approved values for the Type elements are:
|
Type |
For use with |
Description |
|
Online_ISSN |
ItemIdentifier |
ISSN of the online version |
|
Print_ISSN |
ItemIdentifier |
ISSN of the print edition |
|
Online_ISBN |
ItemIdentifier |
ISBN of the online version |
|
Print_ISBN |
ItemIdentifier |
ISBN of the print version |
|
DOI |
ItemIdentifier |
Digital Object Identifier |
|
Proprietary |
ItemIdentifier |
For publisher or vendor specific identifiers |
DataType
The ItemDataType element under ReportItems defines the nature of the item the metrics are being gathered for. Approved values are:
|
ItemDataType |
Description |
|
Journal |
Used for journal and consortium reports. |
|
Database |
Used for database and consortium reports. |
|
Platform |
Defines the 'service' for book reports 4 & 6 and journal report 3. |
|
Book |
Used for and books and reference works that may be included in the books reports and consortium reports. |
Category
The Category element under ReportItems / ItemPerformance element defines the nature of the usage data being gathered. Valid categories are listed in the first column. The second column lists which data type(s) (see table above) a given Category would apply to.
|
Category |
Applicable DataTypes |
|
Requests |
Journal, Book |
|
Searches |
Database, Platform |
|
Sessions |
Database, Platform |
|
Turnaways |
Journal, Book, Database |
MetricType
In the COUNTER XML, one or more metrics can be reported for a given ItemPerformance element. Metrics are contained within an Instance element and each is defined by a MetricType element. Valid MetricType values and the Categories they apply to are:
|
MetricType |
Description |
Applicable Categories |
|
ft_ps |
Postscript file full text requests |
Requests |
|
ft_pdf |
PDF file full text requests |
Requests |
|
ft_html |
HTML full text requests |
Requests |
|
ft_total |
Total full text requests |
Requests |
|
Toc |
Table of Content Requests |
Requests |
|
abstract |
Request for abstract view of article (detailed article metadata without full text) |
Requests |
|
reference |
Number of views to bibliographic references pages associated with an article |
Requests |
|
data_set |
Requests for supplementary data sets referenced in an article |
Requests |
|
audio |
Requests for audio clips referenced in an article |
Requests |
|
video |
Requests for video clips referenced in an article |
Requests |
|
image |
Requests for images referenced in an article |
Requests |
|
podcast |
Request for podcasts referenced in an article |
Requests |
|
search_reg |
Regular searches as conducted by users (excludes searches attributed to automated search processes and federated searches) |
Searches |
|
search_fed |
Searches conducted by federated search or automated search processes |
Searches |
|
session_reg |
Count of normal sessions as conducted by users (excludes sessions attributed to automated search processes and federated search engines) |
Sessions |
|
session_fed |
Count of sessions conducted by federated search or automated search processes |
Sessions |
|
count |
Simple count of usage (no breakdown) for the Category |
Searches, Sessions, Turnaways |
|
other |
The 'other' category was provided for within the original COUNTER schema |