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Database Committee: Platform Investigations, Requests, and Searches

Investigations and Requests - Definitions

There are several different types of usage metric in Counter 5, which break down into investigations and requests. An investigation is tracked when a user performs any action in relation to a content item or title, while a request is specifically related to viewing or downloading the full content item.

Investigations -

  • Total_Item_Investigations - the total number of times a content item or information related to a content item was accessed.
  • Unique_Item_Investigations - the number of unique content items (e.g. chapters) investigated by a user.
  • Unique_Title_Investigations - the number of unique titles (e.g. books) investigated by a user.

Requests -

  • Total_Item_Requests - the total number of times the full text of a content item was downloaded or viewed.
  • Unique_Item_Requests - the number of unique content items (e.g. chapters) requested by a user.
  • Unique_Title_Requests - the number of unique titles (e.g. books) requested by a user.
     

Platform Investigations

Platform Requests

Investigation and Request Scenarios

Scenarios - Investigations & Requests

Susan is researching the history of antibiotics on Publisher Platform Alpha. From a list of search results, she opens three article abstracts and a video record. All four records are different, but two of the articles are from the same journal. The counts are -

  • total_item_investigations: 4
  • unique_item_investigations: 4
  • unique_title_investigations: 3

After reading the abstracts, Susan downloads the PDFs for two of the articles, both from the same journal. The counts change to:

  • total_item_investigations: 6
  • unique_item_investigations: 4
  • unique_title_investigations: 3
  • total_item_requests: 2
  • unique_item_requests: 2
  • unique_title_requests: 1

The Four Types of Searches

There are four different types of searches in Counter 5:

  • Regular Searches - the number of times a user searches a database, when they have actively chosen that database from a list of options OR there is only one database available to search.
  • Automated Searches - the number of times a user searches a database, when they have not actively chosen that database from a list of options. That is, Searches_Automated is recorded when the platform offers a search across multiple databases by default, and the user has not elected to limit their search to a subset of those databases. Included are searches conducted on a host site or discovery service where multiple databases are searched simultaneously with a single query and the end user does not have the option of selecting the databases being searched.
  • Federated Searches - the number of times a search is run remotely by a computer.
  • Platform Searches - the number of times a user searches a database, regardless of the number of databases involved in the search.

Platform Searches

Search Scenarios

Scenarios - Searches

Susan is researching the history of antibiotics on Publisher Platform Alpha. She runs a search for “history AND antibiotics”. The counts are: 

  • Searches_Regular:  1
  • Searches_Automated: 0
  • Searches_Platform:  1
  • Searches_Federated: 0

For a database like this, the cost per use calculation may be related to searches rather than to full-text downloads; this varies according to individual library practice.

Susan is researching the history of antibiotics on Publisher Platform Alpha, which includes multiple databases. She runs a search for “history AND antibiotics”. The counts are:

  • Searches_Regular:  0
  • Searches_Automated: 1
  • Searches_Platform:  1
  • Searches_Federated: 0

Susan then selects the ‘History of Medicine’ database and reruns her search. The counts are:

  • Searches_Regular:  1
  • Searches_Automated: 1
  • Searches_Platform:  2
  • Searches_Federated: 0

In a separate session, Susan uses an API to search Publisher Platform Alpha. The count for that activity is:

  • Searches_Regular:  0
  • Searches_Automated: 0
  • Searches_Platform:  0
  • Searches_Federated: 1

Coverage Notes

Coverage is from 09/01/2019 - 08/31/2024

The above Investigation and Request data comes from the Platform Master Report. 

All Search types except for Platform Searches are found in the Database Reports. The Platform Search totals are found in the Platform Report.

NOTE - some Ebsco data from 8/2022 is missing, per report from Ebsco

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