Increase your efficiency with the OpenAthens Reporting API

Forget about spending long hours delving into usage data and user activity to understand which resources are being used and how.

Our Reporting API add-on is a time-saving tool created with librarians at heart. It offers data granularity to suit your needs, helping you understand users, improve retention and manage your budget.

Contact your account manager to find out more

Key features and benefits

  1. Time saving

    Designed to make processes easier and save you time. You can automate reports, easily download data and even use external BI tools to visualize it.

  2. Automated report downloads

    Reduce manual effort and optimizing operational efficiency.

  3. Customizable reports

    Create reports and present your data-insights in your preferred BI software. Combine it with other data sources to better understand student engagement.

  4. Enables in-depth analysis

    Our Reporting API tool offers granular details on the reportable attributes and includes reporting data on Restrictive Mode turn-aways, providing better understanding about the resources users are trying to access without the right permissions and subscriptions.

  5. User insights

    Identify users, their IP address, and locations by non-personally identifiable information.

  6. Identify misuse

    Easily identify and address potential misuse.

  7. Increase retention

    Our Reporting API tool helps you make data-driven decisions and identify where to allocate your budget to increase user retention.

  8. Enhanced reporting features

    Our reporting API tool offers two levels of granularity:

    • Aggregated data: mirrors the data in the OpenAthens reporting interface (aggregated by hour, day, or month).
    • Raw data: unaggregated authentication and resource usage data.

    It also integrates with business intelligence software such as Tableau or Power BI and is data is available in CSV file format.

What is the Reporting API?

The OpenAthens Reporting API was launched in 2020 as an add-on to our library product interface and soon became the go-to tool when viewing resource access data. While it was already a powerful tool, we have received feedback that we could improve it further, so our team started working with a small group of customers to come up with an enhanced tool in 2024.

The Reporting API not only helps you automate report downloads, combine data with other institutional information, and visualize it effortlessly using external business intelligence tools like Tableau or Power BI. It now also provides access to raw, unaggregated authentication and resource usage data, meaning more granular details, including specific times, locations, identifiers, activities, and other reportable attributes.

In our enhanced API, you will also find reporting data on Restrictive Mode turn-aways that provide you with a better understanding of the resources patrons are trying to access without the right permissions and subscriptions.

Who can use it?

The Reporting API is an add-on to our library product, so you must be an OpenAthens customer to benefit from it. Speak to your account manager to find out more.

Contact your account manager
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Reporting API features help leading research library demonstrate value

For years, the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) has used the OpenAthens Reporting API to unlock library usage statistics and inform planning decisions. Find out how enhancements to our Reporting API have helped them gather evidence of how engagement with library resources boosts student success.

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Anglia Ruskin University sees increase in student retention with OpenAthens Reporting API

Check out our case study with Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and find out how the original Reporting API was helping ARU before the 2024 enhancements. We also have a webinar recording with ARU and Nescot College during which we discuss the importance of reporting and the key metrics you need to look out for, whether it is to identify bottlenecks, improve services or better allocate budgets.

Read the case study
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