[Eril-l] Usage Statistics: Possible Software Solution

Tue Jun 8 09:48:45 PDT 2021

We implemented Alma and Primo VE as part of the CARLI consortium about a year ago, and only recently have I delved into loading usage statistics data into Alma. I realize “just migrate to Alma” is not necessarily an option for everyone, but given other responses, I thought it might help to talk about how Alma functions in this area since Alma is so heavily used in the library market and I haven’t seen anyone else talk mention it yet.

My findings:

  *   Alma is leaps and bounds easier and better to work with for SUSHI harvesting than anything I’ve used previously.
  *   SUSHI vendor coverage is extensive.
  *   Uploading usage statistics manually is also leaps and bounds better.
  *   Integration with other key data points including cost is absolutely critical in my view, an integration we never had before, in terms of making centrally loaded usage stats data truly useful. I still haven’t worked out various kinks in terms of how to use that cost data effectively, but that’s more about my learning curve than about anything deficient with Alma’s functionality.
  *   Alma Analytics is a game changer as far as I’m concerned, in that I have a very powerful and fairly easy to use, integrated, statistical reporting tool for the first time, that can present sophisticated reports, graphs, charts, pretty easily. Also not to be overlooked is the fact that just about any report I can think of (IPEDS, ACRL, etc.) has already been done by someone else in the Alma community, and I can easily find and make use of others’ work, not just what comes out of the box, and I can also easily customize them to my institutional needs. I have yet to see a need to define a report from scratch.

So, bottom line is a thumbs up so far for Alma, fwiw.

Steve

Steve Oberg
Assistant Professor and Group Leader for Resource Description and Digital Initiatives
Buswell Library | Wheaton College (IL) | +1 (630) 752-5852

________________________________
From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> on behalf of A. David Hill <HillA at newschool.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 8, 2021 11:20:05 AM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] Usage Statistics: Possible Software Solution

Hi everybody,

I would like to echo Rachel's CELUS recommendation. We've only been up and running for a couple of months now but I've frankly been amazed at the simplicity of the implementation and how user friendly the interface is in terms of taxonomy and navigation. Granted I've been working with SUSHI for many years, but I didn't need any training to get started with this product. CELUS is a small company but very responsive to both questions and suggestions. It currently supports both COUNTER R4 and R5 data but we're also in discussion with them about the aggregation of non-COUNTER compliant statistics including Google analytics. Nothing promised but they feel like a very forward looking company.

We are just a single campus so our needs aren't too sophisticated. We're currently using the cloud based version of CELUS and have yet to encounter a reason to consider hosting CELUS locally. And, yes, the pricing is agreeable.

Best,
David

On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 11:47 AM Rachel Erb <Rerb at flvc.org<mailto:Rerb at flvc.org>> wrote:

Hi All,

We implemented CELUS last year and have been overall very pleased with its performance. While we are a library consortium, single institutions can also use CELUS for usage stats harvesting. Until recently, we had a locally developed system that only supported CO4 usage statistics and there were even some problems with harvesting this usage. We needed a comprehensive tool that would support all CO4, CO5, and non-COUNTER usage reports, and CELUS fit the bill. We spent the past two years investigating other options, but it wasn’t until fellow colleagues discovered CELUS that we had a pathway forward.

CELUS is cloud based software and we subscribe as SaS. We are pleased with the cost, and I would imagine the cost would be lower at a single institution.  There is an open-source version, but it would require the support of developers at your institution. We have developers in-house and we still chose to go the SaS route. We were very pleased with the support we received for implementation and the ongoing technical support when we run into issues.

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time if you have any questions about CELUS.

Best,

Rachel

***PLEASE NOTE THAT FALSC AND FLVC STAFF WILL BE WORKING REMOTELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.  All FALSC and FLVC operations will continue as usual.

While I am working remotely, I may send emails outside of traditional business hours. Please respond when it is convenient for you. Feel free to send me emails as you see fit, but I may not be able to answer right away. Thank you for your patience.

For fastest response time, contact the FLVC Help Desk at Help at flvc.org<mailto:Help at flvc.org>.  ***

Rachel A. Erb

Director of E-Resources

[cid:179ec5792616917eb1]

A unit of FLVC

1753 West Paul Dirac Drive

Tallahassee, Florida

P: (850) 922-3224

W: libraries.flvc.org<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://libraries.flvc.org/__;!!LEf3jpjHhfEyFKU!KmAyzgX2yR5r8ObCw0SbxreQiuVAZKOlsOp6QLboDedb27RzHFcdydg9k20RzbzQB4mp3g$>

_______________________________________________
Eril-l mailing list
Eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:Eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
http://lists.eril-l.org/listinfo.cgi/eril-l-eril-l.org<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.eril-l.org/listinfo.cgi/eril-l-eril-l.org__;!!LEf3jpjHhfEyFKU!KmAyzgX2yR5r8ObCw0SbxreQiuVAZKOlsOp6QLboDedb27RzHFcdydg9k20RzbxDmERyqw$>

--
A. David Hill
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newschool.edu/directory/directoryDetail.aspx?id=4e44-6731-4d6a-4179&LastnameFilter=hill&PageIndex=0__;!!LEf3jpjHhfEyFKU!KmAyzgX2yR5r8ObCw0SbxreQiuVAZKOlsOp6QLboDedb27RzHFcdydg9k20RzbwAM1G1lg$>       Assistant Director for Acquisitions
Libraries, Collections & Academic Services
The New School
66 W. 12th St., Room 511
New York, NY 10011-8603

Phone: 212-229-5309 x4662
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.eril-l.org/pipermail/eril-l-eril-l.org/attachments/20210608/c6a5eca8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 6276 bytes
Desc: image003.jpg
URL: <http://lists.eril-l.org/pipermail/eril-l-eril-l.org/attachments/20210608/c6a5eca8/attachment.jpg>