XML DTD now available for COUNTER usage reports

["Gillingham Emily" <Emily.Gillingham@oxon.blackwellpublishing.com>]

--News Release: XML DTD now available for COUNTER usage reports--

An XML DTD has been developed for the Usage Reports contained in Release 1
of the COUNTER Code of Practice. This will enable vendors to make their
COUNTER compliant usage reports available as XML documents, which will in
turn make it easier for customers to manipulate and merge the usage
reports from different vendors. Moreover, the COUNTER XML DTD has been
developed with versatility in mind. It is designed to be applicable to
future Releases of the COUNTER Code of Practice and may be of use in
encoding reports other than those specified by COUNTER.

We anticipate that subscription agents and library systems vendors will
particularly welcome the opportunity to combine COUNTER reports in XML
format with their in-house technical skills to develop toolkits which will
simplify and automate the collection, processing, delivery and display of
online usage reports for their clients.

At this stage no vendor is obliged to provide COUNTER reports in XML
format, but we encourage those who can offer this option to do so, as this
will allow both vendors and customers to assess the benefits of this
format. (Note that COUNTER compliant vendors must continue to provide
COUNTER compliant usage reports in Excel, or in a format that can be
exported into Excel.)

The DTD itself, along with documentation and sample XML instances may be
obtained on the COUNTER website at http://www.projectCounter.org


--About COUNTER--

COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) is a
multi-agency initiative whose objective is to develop a single,
internationally accepted, extendible Code of Practice that will allow the
usage of online information products and services to be measured more
consistently.  COUNTER is actively supported by the international
community of librarians and publishers, and by their professional
organisations.


For more information, please contact:

Peter Shepherd
Project Director - COUNTER 
mailto:pshepherd@projectCounter.org