Looking to increase the understanding of information usage, the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) announces its "Guidelines for Statistical Measures of Usage of Web-Based Indexed, Abstracted, and Full Text Resources". This is the se cond statement issued by the ICOLC to provide an international perspective on preferred practices in the licensing and purchasing of electronic information. This ICOLC document is based on the work of the JSTOR Web Statistics Task Force but expands on tha t work in order to reflect the diversity of resources licensed by the many ICOLC members.

The Guidelines for Statistical Measures of Usage of Web-based Indexed, Abstracted, and Full Text Resources describes the types of use data and measurement that the ICOLC members expect from vendors of web-based indexed, abstracted, and full-text resour ces. The ICOLC requires statistical use information for their member libraries, "To ensure that the value of licensed electronic resources is fully understood in the consortium setting," according to Sue Phillips, University of Texas System Digital Libra ry director and ICOLC representative. "Adequate delivery of usage information is an integral and required part of any electronic product licensed by a consortium," she said.

Usage data gathered in the ICOLC-recommended categories will enable consortia and vendors to analyze use and frequency of use without violating the individual's privacy. The guidelines define information elements the ICOLC considers vital, as well as the variety of reports necessary for accurately analyzing use data within a consortium membership.

Elements covered by the guidelines include queries (searches), menu selections, sessions or logins, turnaways due to simultaneous user limits, and items examined. Other information-specific requirements include user, institutional, and consortium conf identiality; comparative statistics; and secure access to statistical reports via the WWW.

The ICOLC first met in 1996 as the Consortium of Consortia (COC). The Coalition is an informal, international group that currently comprises over 90 library consortia in North America, Europe, Australia, Israel, China, and South Africa. The coali tion membership primarily serves higher education institutions by facilitating discussion among consortia on issues of common interest. The ICOLC conducts meetings through out the year dedicated to keeping its members informed about new electronic inform ation resources, pricing practices of electronic providers and vendors, and other issues of importance to consortia directors and governing boards. The Coalition also meets with the information provider community, creating a forum for discussion about pro duct offerings and issues of mutual concern.

This statement was adopted in principle by member representatives of the "International Coalition of Library Consortia" (ICOLC) whose institutions are listed below. This statement does not necessarily represent the of ficial views of each consortium listed. All consortia listed are in the United States unless otherwise noted.

ALICE (the Appalachian Library Information Cooperative)
AMIGOS Bibliographic Council, Inc.
Arizona Universities Library Consortium (AULC)
BCR
BIBSAM Sweden
Big 12 Plus
Boston Library Consortium
British Columbia Electronic Library Network (Canada)
California Digital Library (CDL)
The California State University.
Colorado Alliance
Committee for Institutional Cooperation (CIC)
CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians)
Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) (Canada)
CURL (United Kingdom)
Florida Center for Library Automation
GALILEO
Illinois Cooperative Collection Management Program (ICCMP)
Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization (ILCSO)
INCOLSA
Israel Center for Digital Information Services
Louisiana Library Network
MERLIN
Michigan Library Consortium
MINITEX Library Information Network
MIRACL
MOREnet
NERL
Netherlands Association of University Libraries, Royal Library, and Library of the Royal Academy of Sciences (Dutch acronym: UKB)
Network of Alabama Academic Libraries
New England Law Library Consortium (NELLCO)
Novanet (Canada)
OhioLINK
PALINET
Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI)
Pioneer, Utah's Online Library
PORTALS
SCELC - Southern California Electronic Library Consortium
SCONUL (Ireland and United Kingdom)
Solinet
Southeastern Wisconsin Information Technology Exchange (SWITCH)
Sub-Committee on Libraries of the Conference of Rectors and Principals of Universities of Quebec (CREPUQ).
TexShare
TriUniversity Group of Libraries (TUG) (Canada)
The Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN)
UNILINC (Australia)
University of Texas System Digital Library
Utah Academic Library Consortium
VIVA (The Virtual Library of Virginia)
Washington Research Library Consortium
Wisconsin InterLibrary Services (WILS)