Big shout-out to Elizabeth Berney of Kansas State University Libraries for her talk at The Acquisitions Institute 2025:
“Connecting the Dots: Leveraging Multi-Source Data for Strategic Journal Evaluation.” In a smart, practical walkthrough, Elizabeth showed how bringing together COUNTER usage, ILL activity & copyright costs, Unsub outputs, required course materials, and CELUS analytics can drive clear, defensible journal decisions at scale.

Highlights we loved:

• Multi-source = better signals. ILL borrowing/lending patterns (with per-article copyright costs) add nuance to COUNTER—especially when negotiating big packages.
• CELUS for the messy middle. Rapid comparisons across platforms, spotting duplicate access points, and analyzing non-COUNTER data helped Elizabeth’s team streamline decisions without hopping across publisher sites. (Her slide literally: “CELUS: A GAME CHANGER!”)
• Ebook & course-materials alignment. Tying usage to required reading lists and upcoming campus systems (hello, KatBooks) makes “cost-per-student” conversations concrete.

‍

We’re grateful to be part of this ecosystem—and thrilled that CELUS supports work like Elizabeth’s: fewer spreadsheets, fewer blind spots, and more time for strategy. If you’d like to explore similar workflows, our team is happy to share templates and tips.

Talk materials: The session deck is available from The Acquisitions Institute.

‍

Abstract of the speech:

Kansas State University employs an innovative, data-driven approach to journal assessment by integrating COUNTER and non-COUNTER usage statistics with Interlibrary Loan (ILL) data. Updated ILL activity offers valuable insight into user demand, including article requests and document delivery trends, and informs backfile purchasing decisions based on demonstrated need. To further align collections with research priorities, we incorporate K-State author publication data from Scopus and Web of Science, highlighting journals most relevant to faculty output. Tools such as Unsub and Celus provide additional context by identifying factors contributing to usage fluctuations, offering a more nuanced understanding than traditional metrics alone. This multifaceted methodology supports a more holistic view of resource value and user behavior. By combining diverse data sources, we improve our ability to make informed, strategic decisions that enhance both cost-effectiveness and service quality. Designed for scalability and sustainability, our model offers a practical framework for libraries seeking to evolve their collection assessment practices beyond conventional usage analysis.

‍