Access Statistics on Data Usage

Owned by Doug Boyer
Last updated: Sept 15, 2022
3 min read

One benefit of having digital media representing specimens on MorphoSource is that museums can realize greater and more documentable use of their collections. Having specimens on MorphoSource can be an excellent way to produce statistics that demonstrate collection value.

Usage Data Collected

Whenever a file is downloaded from MorphoSource, the system records that the download happened, and the user who downloaded the file.

In order to download media, users must complete a download usage survey. An example download usage survey can be seen on the right. This survey requires users to provide:

  • Text describing the intended usage of the media (minimum 50 characters)
  • Categorical selections indicating how the data is intended to be used
  • Agreement to comply with both MorphoSource download use agreement policies and any contributor or organization-supplied additional policies, requirements, or agreements

Finally, MorphoSource uses Google Analytics to collect information on site use.

Based on the information it collects, MorphoSource can provide museums with the following statistics:

  1. Number of times a media file has been downloaded
  2. Number of times a media page has been viewed
  3. Number of different users that have downloaded a media file
  4. Number of different users that have viewed a media page
  5. Number of times a media file has been downloaded for each selectable intended usage
  6. Full transcript of free text descriptions of intended data use for every download
  7. Geographic diversity of downloads for a media file based on google analytics
  8. Geographic diversity of views of a media page based on google analytics
  9. Names and contact information of users that have downloaded a particular file
  10. Demographic distribution of users that have downloaded a particular file
  11. Changes in use rates over time for particular media
  12. Use statistics at the collection organization level or for particular projects

How to get data:

Currently usage data can be accessed from the public view of your team page.

  1. Login using an account that has a "manager" role for the team.
  2. Go to the team's "public view" page.
  3. Go to the upper right and expand the "export CSV" button.  You can choose from 3 different exports currently:

Available exports:

  1. Media downloads = 1 row per download event.  The number of rows equals the total number of download events for all media in your project.  For each download, the media id is given as well as the download date, and user name and email of the downloader. The text of the download request and the “download intent” are also included.  You could use this to tally download rates over time for particular media, for the whole project, or for particular usage intents (eg “research”) etc.

  2. Media download counts = 1 row per media. The number of rows equals the number of media in the project. For each media a count of the number of download events, the number of downloads by unique users, etc etc is given.  You could sort this by different categories to see which media are most used and in what ways.

  3. Media requests = 1 row per request that was made for the media to be released (ie this is not downloads, just requests for access).  Fields included should be self explanatory at this point.