Make the most out of our reporting functionality
-
Identify which reports will be of use
We recommend spending some time looking through and planning what reports will be of most use to your organization. For example, reports can be generated showing hot zones – times when more people are likely to be accessing content and this can help influence staffing decisions within libraries to ensure you have enough people resource in place.
-
Make sure your account sinclude the necessary information
To make the most of the library reporting options, your accounts should include all the relevant information you want to report on – there are several options, see: Making the most of the reporting functions.
-
Check out our reporting resources
Everything you need to know is covered in our reporting documentation. We also have an educational reporting playlist on YouTube.
Reporting functionality
Custom solutions for libraries as unique as yours
Map any attribute
OpenAthens Compass can recognize and map any attribute when user accounts are created by connecting to an external directory like ADFS or Azure AD. If you want to expand your reporting capability you will need to specify your requirements with your IT teams as they will probably need to do some work on their end. We are happy to help with the set up that’s required on the OpenAthens admin side.
Customize as you need
Attributes such as Job role, Cost center, Department, Major etc. are customizable depending on your specific needs and technical capabilities. This is configurable via the administration area using the schema editor and marking attributes as ‘reportable’.
Reporting and privacy
You can also report on the activity of individual users, but before you do that please consider the privacy of your patrons. Our Reporting and Privacy documentation will help you get going.
Vilsualize the data
We know how important reporting is to libraries in order to track usage and monitor access. The reports are available with enhanced visual graphics rather than being purely text-based, making them easier to understand by a range of internal audiences.
There are two key report types:
Account reports
These cover account types, authentication totals, account locations and any custom elements you wish to track.
Resource access reports
These look at what resources authenticated users are accessing and can be broken down into any attributes you wish to track such as departmental usage so you can identify where further help or guidance may be required to encourage greater access.
The report interface, the Data Explorer, enables you to define what reports you want and which attributes you’d like to be included within these reports such as timescale, measurement units, groupings and more.
The granularity you need to guide your journey
Our Reporting API add-on is a time-saving tool created with librarians at heart. It offers data granularity to suit your needs, helping you understand users, improve retention and manage your budget.
A tailored solution for every library, every step of the way
Library reporting tool demo
To make the most of the reporting options available, you must customize your reports to suit your needs. This means you must ensure that your user accounts include all the relevant information that you wish to track or measure against in your reports.
