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Alma Analytics – Discovering why the usage may have decimal points in the cost per use

Avatarby Yoel Kortick Ex Libris March 8, 2019 (Updated: August 15, 2019)
ALMA ANALYTICS COST-PER-USE

This relates to the “Usage” which appears in the “Cost Usage” folder of the Alma Analytics E-Inventory subject area.
Default reports and dashboard are in folder “/shared/Alma/Cost per use via COUNTER reports e-inventory and acquisitions data”

There are cases where the usage may appear with decimal values.  This depends on how the report is made, and reflects a proportion of the usage based on price.

Here we will look at an example to see how and why this happens.

In the sample below we that for title “Hypatia : a journal of feminist philosophy.” the “Usage JR1” column has 322.00 for FY-2018 and costs a total of 459.49 for that fiscal year:

This journal, is in three different electronic collections:

  1. JSTOR Arts and Sciences V
  2. Project Muse Standard Collection
  3. Wiley Online Library Database Model 2017

Here in the repository search we can see the three different electronic collections:

Now if we add the Electronic Collection Public Name (and optionally the portfolio ID) to the analytics report we see that for “JSTOR Arts and Sciences V” the “Usage JR1” column is 14.20, and for “Project Muse Standard Collection” the “Usage JR1” column is 38.65 and for “Wiley Online Library Database Model 2017” the “Usage JR1” column is 269.14.  So the total “Usage JR1” is still 322.00, but it is split into three collections. (By the way the usage below adds up to 321.99 and not 320 because we are displaying only two decimal places which are rounded)

Why was it split?  And how was split into these numbers?  The usage (in this case the “Usage JR1” column) is proportionally split according to the price of the resource in each electronic collection. Let’s add the cost and see.  The prices for the portfolio in electronic collection “Wiley Online Library Database Model 2017” is much more than the price for the other two collections.  It has the highest cost and thus when dividing the usage it has the highest usage. The total cost, as we saw above, is 459.49, but it is not 1/3 of that price in each collection.

We can see the exact percentage of the total cost for each electronic collection if we add the analytics field “percent MMS Cost”

So…

  1. The resource in electronic collection “JSTOR Arts and Sciences V” has a price which is 4.4 % of the total price.  It therefore has the “Usage JR1” column which is “14.20” which is 4.4 % of the total usage of 322. 
  2. The resource in electronic collection  “Project Muse Standard Collection” has a price which is 12 % of the total price. It therefore has the “Usage JR1” column which is “38.65” which is 12 % of the total usage of 322.  
  3. The resource in electronic collection “Wiley Online Library Database Model 2017” has a price which is 83.6 % of the total price. It therefore has the “Usage JR1” column which is “269.14” which is 83.6 % of the total usage of 322.  

Note: All numbers below are not exact to the decimal because we are displaying two decimal places.  if we display more we get more of an exact number, but for our purposes two decimal places suffices.

6 Replies to “Alma Analytics – Discovering why the usage may have decimal points in the cost per use”

  1. Thank you for writing such a detailed explanation for a situation complicated yet perhaps common. However, I find it difficult to understand. There is confusion between “usage” and “cost usage” throughout. . In the title, “Discovering why the USAGE may have decimal points in the cost per use” was not explained. “Discovering why the COST USAGE may have decimal points in the cost per use” may have been explained, but without providing significant data for understanding, for example, the cost of each collection, the total usage for all the journals in each collection, etc. Finally, the cost per use for this journal is not calculated and shown at the end.

    — Pauline

  2. Hello Pauline: Thanks for your comments. I have edited the blog and in doing so clarified the terminology.
    1. The “Usage” may have decimal points, for example the “Usage JR1” column of the Alma Analytics report
    2. “In the cost per use”: In the “Cost Usage” folder of the Alma Analytics E-Inventory subject area.
    3. Regarding the calculation: The blog has a paragraph beginning “Why was it split? And how was split into these numbers?” and then follows with screenshots and a detailed explanation.
    Thanks.

  3. Hi Yoel:

    So if a journal is in three different electronic collections (each of which we collect usage data in Alma), the usage for the journal from each collection (the portfolio) is estimated based on the proportional cost for the portfolio in the collection?

    This will not show us the exact usage reported in the COUNTER reports for the journals in each electronic collection/platform?

  4. Hi Roger
    1. This depends on the report will be made.
    2. If the column with the portfolio ID were removed from the above sample reports in the screen captures then you would see the entire exact usage of the portfolio (by title).
    3. Note also that you can limit an electronic resource to use only one platform for the cost per use. This can be done using the “COUNTER Platform” field in the electronic resource. See blog titled “Alma Analytics – How the cost per use is calculated when the COUNTER platform field is filled in – example using journal Public Culture ISSN 1527-8018”

  5. You say, “It has the highest cost and thus when dividing the usage it has the highest usage. The total cost, as we saw above, is 459.49, but it is not 1/3 of that price in each collection.”

    But this is not how usage works. I pay Jstor, Project Muse, and Wiley separate amounts, on separate invoices. Then the usage is reported on separate COUNTER reports. I want to match the usage for Wiley with the cost for Wiley, etc

  6. Hello Emily:
    For the cost: Alma takes the total cost (total amount of transactions of type expenditure) for the electronic resource for the fiscal period which overlaps with the usage date(s) of the electronic resource.
    The usage may come from multiple COUNTER reports from multiple platforms if the institution has loaded multiple COUNTER reports from multiple platforms, all of which include the specific electronic resource.
    1. If you wish to use transactions from only a specific fun of fund(s) then in your report you can include and filter by the field “Fund Code” or “Fund Name” in the E-Inventory subject area folder “Cost Usage > Funds”
    2. If you wish to take the usage from one specific platform (when there are many in the COUNTER usage) then you can specify the platform in the field “COUNTER Platform” in the “General” tab of the electronic collection editor or electronic portfolio editor. For more on this “COUNTER Platform” field see
    A. https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/Electronic_Resource_Management/030_Working_with_Local_Electronic_Resources/015Managing_Electronic_Resources
    B. blog “Alma Analytics – How the cost per use is calculated when the COUNTER platform field is filled in – example using journal Public Culture ISSN 1527-8018”
    Thank you
    Yoel

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