Free to read?
04 October 2024We’ve had a couple of messages asking about one particular change in Release 5.1. This change is the inclusion of the new Free_To_Read Access Type alongside Controlled and Open. We have written this blog post to clean up some misconceptions!
Myth busting one: Release 5.1 does count usage of free-to-read content
There’s a myth that R5.1 excludes usage metrics for free-to-read materials like archives that are available for a fixed period of time. Myth busted: R5.1 absolutely still counts usage of free-to-read materials. That usage shows up in the Platform, Database, Title and Item Reports just as it always did.
R5 and older Codes bundled free-to-read content in with Controlled content. In R5.1, report providers are asked to separate the two, with free content reported against the Access Type attribute Free_To_Read. The only place that free-to-read content won’t show up is in the standard views that are specifically filtered to show only Controlled content (TR_B1, TR_J1 and TR_J4).
We always recommend using the Reports rather than the standard views. This is precisely because standard views all leave out a huge amount of valuable information, and Free_To_Read is just one more missing piece of the puzzle. Come to one of our Introduction To COUNTER Reports webinars for more about why Tasha doesn’t recommend standard views. There’s one on 28 November and it’s free for COUNTER members!
Myth busting two: publishers will not have to close their archives to maintain subscription value
A second myth is that before the introduction of Free_To_Read, libraries couldn’t separate out usage of free archive content from front-list subscription content. Myth busted: Libraries have always been able to distinguish free-to-read archives from usage of front list matter by using the year of publication (YOP) attribute.
There are many reasons that publishers might want to start closing their archives. However, the implementation of Free_To_Read isn’t one of them. Adding the Free_To_Read attribute simply means that librarians looking at a Title Report will have an alternative to filtering out free archival content based on year of publication. This, in turn, means publishers can properly highlight the usage of open access content (Access Type Open) in their archives as well as in current content.