The Tracker Protocol
Adding Tracker functionality to repository software enables repositories to transmit usage data to IRUS for processing into COUNTER-conformant statistics
- The Tracker Protocol specification for COUNTER R5 conformance
- The Tracker Protocol specification for COUNTER R4 conformance (deprecated)
Software Platforms
Cayuse Repository (was Haplo)
A plugin is available for the Cayuse open source repository to provide integration with IRUS, which can be downloaded from Github (haplo-org/haplo-repository). Installing this plugin will enable tracking requests for items downloaded from the public interface to the repository to be sent to IRUS for processing into COUNTER-conformant statistics.
For more information please get in touch at hello@haplo.com
DSpace
Tracker functionality is available out-of-the-box as part of the DSpace 7 codebase. You will need to enable it in the config file and then contact us at help@jisc.ac.uk. Further information can be found in the DSpace 7 documentation maintained by LYRASIS at Exchange usage statistics with IRUS.
For earlier versions (DSpace 4, 5 and 6), there are patches that have been developed by Atmire. The patches are available on Github (atmire/IRUS). To be able to install a patch you will need Maven 3.2.2 or greater and Git installed on the machine (the patch will be applied using several git commands).
Eprints
There is an Eprints Tracker plug-in, developed by Eprints Services, for Eprints 3.2.x and 3.3.x. It is available from Github (eprintsug/irus)
Equella
It's possible to add Tracker functionality to Equella. For more information please contact us at help@jisc.ac.uk.
Esploro
Ex Libris have added IRUS Tracker functionality to Esploro, so it's available out-of-the-box. Turning the tracker on simply requires ticking a customer consent box in the Esploro web admin pages.
If you have Esploro and would like to participate in IRUS please contact us at help@jisc.ac.uk for further information.
Fedora - Samvera
There is a Ruby gem to provide integration with IRUS available on Github (mlibrary/irus_analytics). This latest version of the gem was developed by the University of Michigan. It can be used with Samvera (originally known as Hydra) applications, but it can as easily be used with a standard rails application.
Fedora - Other
Due to the differences in implementations of Fedora repositories, where Samvera has not been deployed, bespoke tracker implementations can be used to send us data. In the first instance, please take a look the Tracker Protocol specification for COUNTER R5 conformance and then contact us at help@jisc.ac.uk to discuss options and approaches. We can provide advice and work with repositories to test and troubleshoot.
Figshare
Tracker functionality is available out-of-the-box as part of the Figshare codebase.
A request must be sent to Figshare support to enable the IRUS tracker functionality. We will then liaise with Figshare to gather relevant details for configuring IRUS for your repository.
Pure Portal
Pure Portal does not currently support the COUNTER R5 IRUS Tracker. However, if you have version 5.6.3 or greater you can make use of the older R4 version of the IRUS tracker with partial functionality.
You will need to configure two scheduled tasks via the Pure admin pages to run nightly in this order:
- Filter download information
- IRUS download statistics
This will enable us to collect download statistics, but not metadata views. 'Request' counts will be captured, but 'Investigation' counts will be incomplete.
We ask Pure users to continue lobbying via the Pure user group for full integration.
Worktribe
Tracker functionality is available out-of-the-box as part of the Worktribe codebase.
Other software
If you use repository software not listed above, please let us know. For contact details see our Join page.
We are happy to work with any open access repository systems that can implement the tracker protocol and enable us to harvest item level metadata via an OAI interface.