As a provider of analytics systems for libraries and publishers, RedLink has watched with interest the development of plans for distributed usage logging (DUL). This is a way for secondary platforms like Mendeley, ReadCube, and others to provide COUNTER-compliant usage data to publishers and libraries, supplementing data from the hosting platforms publishers use.
There are analogous cases of data like DUL, especially in the library market, where we see what we call “overlapping subscriptions” — basically, subscriptions to the same publication via aggregation platforms. We provide libraries with convenient ways to visualize and compare usage from these overlapping subscriptions already, so adding DUL statistics for publishers and their customers is in some ways familiar, yet remains unique in important ways.
With the development of DUL, we are working to accommodate these new data flows so that publishers and libraries will be able to visualize, slice, and dice these data as they see fit. We’re working closely with COUNTER and the initial platform participating in this initiative, Atypon, to move forward quickly.
Please watch for announcements and updates as things continue to evolve on this front. We’re excited by the potential to help our customers gain a more holistic view of usage across the various outlets and tools their users work with.