ScholarlyStats and Thomson Scientific announce successful SUSHI test

MPS Technologies and Thomson Scientific have successfully completed the transfer of data between their two systems, using the SUSHI (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative) protocol. This joint initiative came in response to the growing demand for more in-depth usage analysis, as well as the continuing need to ease the time-consuming process of managing vendor usage statistics.

The recent test successfully provided the University of Melbourne with usage data for 21 vendors, automatically transferred by MPS Technologies into Thomson Scientific’s Journal Use Reports system using the XML SUSHI protocol. SUSHI allows completely automated request and delivery of usage reports, saving time and resources for the library.

The University of Melbourne library already uses ScholarlyStats for its monthly collection of journal and database usage reports, and has been working with Thomson Scientific to develop the new Journal Use Reports. Shirley Sullivan, electronic information coordinator, said 'Analysing and understanding usage statistics is key to decision-making within our library. With the integration of these two systems we have the benefits of the ScholarlyStats dashboard reports, and the integration of the valuable Impact Factor and publication information from Journal Use Reports. This will help us make the decisions that count.’