Electronic research databases provider EBSCO publishing (EBSCO), a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., US, has released a SUSHI server making it the first full text database vendor to support the Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI). SUSHI facilitates automated retrieval of usage data from EBSCOhost databases in compliance with the COUNTER Code of Practice.
The SUSHI standard allows librarians to bypass time-consuming manual data aggregation of usage statistics. Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) assists librarians, publishers, intermediaries, and industry organisations by facilitating the recording and exchange of online usage statistics. SUSHI builds on the work of COUNTER by allowing completely automated request and delivery of COUNTER compliant usage reports. EBSCO Publishing is reportedly in strict compliance with release 2 of the COUNTER code of practice.
SUSHI is an enabling technology that allows report harvesting and loading to be completely automated. It was developed to address the problem of retrieving and loading usage reports into ERMs and Usage Consolidation modules which has become a complex and time consuming effort.
