[Eril-l] [EXTERNAL] Re: Counter Searches vs. Unique Item Investigations

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Thank you for checking in on this, Erika.

It is quite possible that I misheard or misunderstood what was said. I will
contact the presenters and see if I can get some more information.

Chris
_______________________
Christine W. Blackman (Chris)
Head of Collections and Systems
Williams Libraries <https://library.williams.edu/>
(413) 597-4403
pronouns: she/her



On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 1:59 PM Electronic Resources in Libraries
discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Chris — just out of curiosity how the unique item request inaccuracies
> were discovered? I've never heard of that and I don't think I've seen the
> COUNTER folks share anything about it, and I didn't know if they've
> addressed this directly themselves and I've just missed it, haha.
>
> Thanks!
> Erika
>
> On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 12:03 PM Electronic Resources in Libraries
> discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org> wrote:
>
>> [*Caution*: Email from External Sender. Do not click or open links or
>> attachments unless you know this sender.]
>>
>> I just learned from a presentation at the Acquisitions Institute
>> <https://acquisitionsinstitute.org/> this past week that Counter 5.1
>> apparently reports unique title requests accurately, but not unique item
>> requests. Unique Item requests count all items of a title as used even if
>> only one was used (i.e. all book chapters record usage when only one book
>> chapter was actually accessed). Perhaps that is what is happening.
>>
>> I do not yet know specifics for all of the reports, but had planned to
>> explore it.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> _______________________
>> Christine W. Blackman (Chris)
>> Head of Collections and Systems
>> Williams Libraries <https://library.williams.edu/>
>> (413) 597-4403
>> pronouns: she/her
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 9:41 AM Electronic Resources in Libraries
>> discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I understand the distinctions between searches, total item requests, and
>>> unique item investigations.  What I’m wondering about is why a database
>>> would have a large number of searches (over 1,000) yet only have small,
>>> double digit unique item investigations and/or total item requests.  Is
>>> there some explanation for this significant variance?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> —
>>>
>>> Mark Gooch
>>>
>>> Collection Management Librarian
>>>
>>> The College of Wooster Libraries
>>>
>>> 1140 Beall Ave.
>>>
>>> Wooster, Ohio 44691
>>>
>>> Phone: 330-263-2522
>>>
>>> FAX: 330-263-2253
>>>
>>> mgooch at wooster.edu
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