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SUSHI Tools & Other Aids

pycounter
The Health Sciences Library System of the University of Pittsburgh has released an alpha version of pycounter, a Python library for dealing with COUNTER usage statistics. Version 0.5a2 includes support for reports JR1, BR1, and BR2, and can fetch reports via SUSHI or parse COUNTER 3/4 .xlsx, .csv, and .tsv files. (Additional reports are in the planning stage). The library is available on pypi at https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pycounter/ or from GitHub at https://github.com/pitthsls/pycounter (pull requests welcome!)

SUSHIStarters Client for COUNTER Release 4 - Quick Online Test
(Compatible with COUNTER 4.0)
The SUSHIStarters Client for COUNTER Release 4 - Quick Online Test is a free, no-frills, online utility, intended simply to:

  • enable developers to quickly test their own SUSHI services as they work on their implementation

  • help those new to SUSHI to become acquainted with the request and response formats of the protocol

The client, hosted by Jisc, is available at http://jusp.jisc.ac.uk/sushiservice/SSR4test/.

MISO: Serials Solutions' Open-Source Code for SUSHI Client
(Compatible with COUNTER 3.0)
Supporting NISO's Standard Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative Protocol (http://www.niso.org/standards-committees/sushi), the Serials Solutions open source SUSHI client code will enable libraries to build consistent, stable, and standards-based tools. It is the first release of what the maintenance committee hopes will be many open source toolkits for libraries.

Content providers must implement SUSHI by the end of August 2009 in order to remain compliant with Release 3 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for Journals and Databases. Libraries or content providers interested in the Serials Solutions open source SUSHI client can access the code athttp://code.google.com/p/sushicounterclient/. See the full press release here.

EBSCO's SUSHI Software Development Kit (SDK): Open-Source Code for SUSHI Server and Client
(Compatible with COUNTER 3.0)
http://code.google.com/p/ebscosushisdk/
This SUSHI SDK (software development kit), from EBSCOs developer Richard Carruthers, is now available on Google Code and is available for use under the new BSD license. The project description is: "This SDK includes .Net classes that will facilitate working with COUNTER 3.0 data and SUSHI 1.6 services. Whether the intended solution is a SUSHI client or server, these classes will provide the groundwork to allow developers to focus on the logic rather than implementing the standard."
 
The package contains documentation, source code, a sample client, and a sample server.  As the documentation suggests, the sample client is "the simplest of samples" - it does basic request and viewing of a COUNTER report and does not have the validation and error handling provided by the MISO client (see below).
 
The sample server allows pre-formatted COUNTER reports to be delivered from a folder (it works with the MISO client).  While the sample server is not intended to be used as a production tool, the source code does provide a framework that should help with more rapid development of a production server.

Open Source Functional Testing Tool for SUSHI Servers
http://www.soapui.org/ 
SoapUI by SmartBear, a free Open Source Functional Testing tool for APIs, offers a quick and easy way to test SUSHI servers.  This tool can act as a simple SUSHI client to provide an effective means to test and troubleshoot a SUSHI Server.  SoapUI can also be used to “rapidly create and execute automated functional, regression, compliance, and load tests.”

SUSHI Harvester for Consortia
(Compatible with COUNTER 4.0)
http://www.niso.org/apps/group_public/download.php/14028/SUSHI-Harvester(R4).zip
The SUSHI Harvester for Consortia is a free Microsoft Access application from EBSCO that leverages the MISO SUSHI client (see above) to help consortia automate gathering their COUNTER compliant usage statistics. With SUSHI Harvester a consortium can: organize the usage-related details of their content providers and consortium members; and, harvest all consortium members usage reports from a content provider with a single click of a button. A zip file containing the SUSHI Harvester and documentation is available for download here.

Understanding Infrastructure: Dynamics, Tensions, and Design
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/49353#
This NSF final report of the workshop, "History and Theory of Infrastructure: Lessons for New Scientific Cyberinfrastructures" creates a nice big context (and some handy vocabulary, too) for standards efforts such as SUSHI.

COUNTER-Compliant Vendors

http://www.projectcounter.org/compliantvendors.html 
With Release 3 of COUNTER, compliance with COUNTER also requires the ability to send reports via SUSHI. The deadline for compliance with Release 3 was August 31, 2009. The Release 3 COUNTER-compliant vendors list hosted at COUNTER will therefore also indicate those vendors who have implemented and are compliant with SUSHI.

Stepwise Guide to COUNTER Compliance
http://www.projectcounter.org/documents/COUNTER_compliance_stepwise_guide.pdf 
This guide is designed to take content providers step-by-step through the process of becoming COUNTER compliant.

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