COUNTER newsletter, January 2026

It feels like no time since our last newsletter, but somehow we’re already at the end of January 2026, which means Tasha’s on the road again. She’s at Charleston Asia this week, and will be at NISO Plus, ALPSP’s UP Redux, and UKSG over the next few weeks. Please say hi if you see her!

In the meantime, there are plenty of other ways to get involved with COUNTER:

• Send us feedback for the three open best practice consultations. Pathways and Multi-ID are open until 9 Feb, and AI until 23 Feb.
• Join the Board.
• Sign up for the all-new COUNTER listserv (coming soon).
• Take part in – or sponsor – the COUNTER Academy.

Open consultations

• Pathways to compliance – For small, non-profit publishers, the jump from no COUNTER reporting to full compliance may be too much to tackle. We’re asking about the proposed step-by-step approach to make it viable for small publishers to begin their COUNTER journey, with each step also adding value to the libraries who depend on those usage reports.
• Reporting to multiple identities – Publisher platforms often offer multiple authentication methods to end users, whether that’s IP recognition, GetFTR, Shibboleth, or username-and-password. This is great in terms of allowing a user to access content, but creates an issue when a single user can be connected to more than one institution during their session. What we want to know is how you would like this situation to be handled in reporting usage.
• Generative and agentic AI – The introduction of generative and agentic technologies on publisher platforms is throwing up all sorts of questions about what can be counted, when, and why. This consultation asks whether our suggested solutions to reporting AI usage work for the community.

Join the COUNTER Board

We’re seeking two new people to join our Board of Directors from 2026–2028. Our Board keeps us on track, ensuring we deliver on the COUNTER mission and objectives. If you want to guide COUNTER’s future, this is the perfect volunteer role for you.

Coming soon: the COUNTER listserv

One of the questions in the 2025 community satisfaction survey was whether you wanted a COUNTER listserv. More than 60% of respondents said Yes, so we’ve been working to set one up. The new listserv is designed to allow the whole community – members and non-members alike – to discuss issues related to COUNTER. This includes the Code of Practice, publisher implementations of the Code and and the reports they deliver, library uses for COUNTER metrics, supportive technologies, and opportunities to learn about COUNTER. We’ll be opening the list in February, but you can click the link below to pre-register.

COUNTER Academy

Congratulations to our first Academy cohort. 86% of participants gained completion certificates, and we were delighted with the positive feedback.

If you would like to do the COUNTER Academy please register interest using the link below. Remember that your organisation needs to be a full member of COUNTER for you to join this course.

And if you are interested in sponsoring librarian spaces in the Academy please contact Siân.