Usage statistics and scholarly communications

Abstract

High quality, comparable usage statistics are either available, or just around the corner, thanks to COUNTER and SUSHI. Librarians are very aware of the need for, and benefits of, usage statistics. This article will touch on the benefits of usage statistics, but focus primarily on some serious potential dangers to scholarship if these statistics are used as a basis for economic decisions. The most serious danger arises from usage-based pricing, which inevitably discourages use. Basing purchasing and canceling decisions on usage statistics can have enormous implications for scholarship; for example, there are important areas of research, such as endangered species and rare diseases, where the number of potential readers may be small.