About the Journal Usage Statistics Portal

The JUSP development partnership includes JISC Collections, Mimas at The University of Manchester, Evidence Base at Birmingham City University and Cranfield University.

A successful portal prototype was originally developed in 2009, taking in usage data (COUNTER JR1, JR1a and JR5 reports) from five libraries in respect of three NESLi2 publisher agreements. The prototype demonstrated that the portal can provide a basic "one-stop shop" where libraries could go to view and download their own usage reports from NESLi2 publishers, a move welcomed by libraries that currently have to go into each publisher's password protected administration sites separately.

In addition, aggregated publishers' usage statistics with those from gateway or host intermediary sites, provide a truer picture of overall usage statistics.

The number of participants has expanded since the outset of the project. Organisations currently participating in JUSP can be viewed here.

Key activities for 2013

Publishers

Following a concerted effort, the number of publishers participating in JUSP increased significantly in 2012 and this will continue into 2013. This responds to user requirements for a wider range of small, medium and large publishers in JUSP. Publishers currently participating in JUSP can be viewed here.

Interoperability

A SUSHI server to enable participating institutions to download JR1 and JR1a reports from JUSP is now being used by many institutions in conjunction with UStat, Innovative Interface's ERM product or through their LMS.

Ensuring that JUSP is interoperable with other products and services will be a key activity in 2013. A JUSP API is available and will be used to support integration with wider services such as KB+ and Raptor.

Members of the JUSP team are involved in RAPTOR-JUse, which aims to provide interoperability between JUSP and RAPTOR. This project will conclude in May 2013.

COUNTER Release 4

Accommodating COUNTER Release 4 will be an ongoing activity during 2013. Work will involve developing the SUSHI server and accommodating revisions to ingest and expose data in an appropriate format.

Community Advisory Group (CAG)

A JUSP Community Advisory Group (CAG) involving 12 representatives was formed in late 2012. The CAG will provide independent, external advice to the JUSP Consortium to help inform service development.

Webinars, workshops and support

The 'Making the Most of JUSP' events in 2012 highlighted a significant demand for training, advice and support. A series of webinars has been scheduled throughout 2013 to help libraries make more effective use of the portal.

Pilot trials

A number of pilot trials will be initiated in 2013 using feedback from the Community Advisory Group to inform development. These include a small pilot to assess the possible issues and necessary resource involved in providing ebook and database usage statistics. Another pilot will investigate usage profiling as a feature within JUSP by offering individual libraries the chance to compare their own usage with that of other institutions of a similar size or type.

JUSP software development process

The JUSP project is employing 'agile' software development processes, built on the foundation of iterative and incremental development. We aim to deliver customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software. If you have suggestions for improvements or requirements that aren't currently being met then please email our helpdesk. All suggestions and requests will be logged and considered by the management team in the context of ongoing developments.