NFAIS workshop on Usage Statistics planned

["Seiler, Bernie" <bseiler@hwwilson.com>]

NFAIS Workshop: Usage Statistics: New Developments and Practical 
Applications
Planned for October 21st, in New York City

You and your colleagues might be interested in an upcoming NFAIS 
one-day workshop: Usage Statistics:  New Developments and 
Practical Applications. NFAIS' Best Practices/Usage Statistics 
Committee is organizing the meeting.  This meeting, scheduled for 
October 21, 2008 at the Graduate Center of the City University of 
New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY from 9:00am to 4:30pm, 
will take a look at some of the new developments in usage 
statistics that have recently emerged, as well as the current 
practical applications of usage statistics.

The meeting will open with an update on the progress made by the 
two key standards for the creation and harvesting of usage 
statistics - Project COUNTER and SUSHI.  Publishers and 
librarians will present case studies on how they currently 
gather, analyze and make informed decisions based upon the data 
that usage statistics provide.  Of equal importance, they will 
highlight the pitfalls that must be avoided throughout the 
process so that the statistics are not unintentionally misused.

The implications of three new related projects will also be 
discussed:  NISO's development of identifiers that will allow for 
the precise recognition of an institution and its relationships 
with its various libraries, departments, offices, etc., and two 
initiatives that are attempting to provide usage-based metrics 
for the scholarly evaluation of articles and journals (Project 
MESUR and Usage Factor).  The meeting will close with a visionary 
discussion on how usage statistics can be improved and used in 
the future to help institutions make informed decisions.

For more information about the meeting and the roster of professionals 
scheduled to present at this important workshop, please visit the 
following: http://www.nfais.org/events/event_details.cfm?id=3D53

Regards,
Bernie Seiler
Product Manager, WilsonWeb
bseiler@hwwilson.com